Just put on my rims and tires that i ordered from Discount Tire Direct.The Rims are MB Motorsport EXE II.
18-9 rear and 18-8 front.Tires are Falken,s275/40ZR-18 rear and 255/45ZR-18 front.I was surprised to see that I have a ton of wheelwell space left in the rear.I think i will lower just the rear.Any Opinions?I dont want to deal with the fronts(caster/camber adjustments).Has anyone just lowered the rear?

 

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My car is lowered with Steeda Sport springs, rear only. I'am running 285's on the rear.


Paul

 

Looks good.I think i will do just the rears also.

 

another

 

Wheels look good, I was just going to ask if you had a side pic!

 

I will take some better pics later.

 

Why are you surprised? The 285/40-18 tire is shorter than the stock 235/55-17 tire.

 

What a waste of money!

Looks very nice!

 

Like Don said, the tires you bought (275/40/18) are a smaller diameter than the stock tires. Yes, you went with a bigger wheel, but then you put a smaller tire on it. That's why you have so much of a gap. It's also why your speedometer, odometer, and tripometer aren't working right.

To bring it back to the stock gap and have your instruments correct, a 295/40/18 would come the closest to the stock tire diameter. (assuming you want WIDE tires)

Stock diameter = 27.2"
295/40/18 diamter = 27.3"
Your 275/40/18 = 26.7"

1/2" is a LOT when you're looking at a wheel well gap.

 

A few months ago, when I was researching tires/wheels for my car, I put together a quick little spreadsheet that calculates approximate tire diameters (see attached). The gray areas are smaller than stock (27.2"), the yellow ones are between 27.0 and 27.4 inches (within 0.2" of stock), and the blue sizes are larger than 27.4.

Maybe this will help someone decide what size tire they should buy.

 

Did you have to adjust the panhard bar or anything of that nature? I have heard that any mods to the rear suspension will throw off the geometry of the panhard bar....

 

Yes, I installed the BMR adjustable panhard bar.



Paul

 

Sorry, I just realized that I could have looked a little closer and saw that it in your sig. :bang:

 

From my experience, lowering the rear didn't require a new panhard bar. The rear end was actually off center from the factory. Just as a lot of, if not most, '05's are.
I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the lowered cars that suddenly had off center rear ends actually were that way from the factory. It just made it more noticable once the car was lowered. Just like it's more noticable when you put on wider wheels and tires.