[PeDL2DaMeDL]

How big of rims can I go with my car? Will 17's fit fine? How about 18's?

 

[Ness1216]

up to 19's depending on offset.

 

[PeDL2DaMeDL]

all 17 and 18's will fit

or

17 and 18's depending on offset too

 

[Iceotron]

you need a 40 or 42 mm offset to be worry free. Also with most rims you'll need 63.5mm hub rings as most rims come bored as 73mm which leaves the cars weight on the studs and not the hub where it belongs. Please check the wheels, tires and brakes section for more info. Also this post will proll be moved there.

PS: My 18's are for sale!!

 

[PeDL2DaMeDL]

Originally posted by: Iceotron
you need a 40 or 42 mm offset to be worry free. Also with most rims you'll need 63.5mm hub rings as most rims come bored as 73mm which leaves the cars weight on the studs and not the hub where it belongs. Please check the wheels, tires and brakes section for more info. Also this post will proll be moved there.

can someone explain the 3 numbers on tires...i know the last # is the size (17 or 18s etc), first is mm and second is ratio..but i dont get the importance...also importance of mm hub rings? can someone explain...how do i get 63.5mm hub rings

 

[Iceotron]

ok, for instance I have 225/40/18 tires on my rims for sale. 225 is the width, 40 is the height and as you know 18 is size of rim. The hub rings can be obtained from a rim distributer or local wheel shop. And now onto importance. The wider a tire generally the better the grip = 225 is good and just about as wide as you'd wanna go on a cougar. Some here use a 235 width though and may or may not experience rubbing depending on other factors. The 40 height is how much tire between your rim and pavement. If you use an insanly small or too thin of tire your chances of bending or ruining a rim is greater. Also a low profile tire is not preferred for drag racing due to the fact that there is very little give in the sidewall which is key in drag racing grip. The hub rings are important b\c they will prevent vibrations at speed, and saving you from replacing broken wheel studs eventually.

Hope that helps

 

[CougarXR02]

just to be a little more specific, the 225 is in fact the width (in mm), the 40 is the percentage of the width that the height of the tire is. (in this case 225 x .40=90 mm tall). and the last is of course the rim size. The middle number is called the "aspect ratio".

as an example a 225/40 18 would be virtually the same overall diameter as a 215/45 18.

 

[cwtIII]

Everything the members have posted so far is VERY helpful information...19" wheels WILL fit (along with 225/35/19 tires) usually in 7.5" or 8" width. The manufacturer you buy the wheels from will be able to determine the correct offset for your application. 19" wheels WILL also fit with lowering springs as well. I am personally running 19"x7.5" Centerline Vantage wheels w/ Yokohama Parada Spec 2s (in said 225/35/19 size) and have NO RUBBING whatsoever. They look great and the handling is PHENOMENAL (IMHO).
~CIII

 

[PeDL2DaMeDL]

Right now I don't want to put money into lowering springs...would 17's look fine w/o them on my coug?

 

[PeDL2DaMeDL]

Thanks Iceotron - that's helpful...it's all still new so I'm still slightly confused but I've got a better understand now. So you would suggest 225/40/17 for me? If I but my tires online do I have to make sure there is a cartain lug nut pattern? -Also I can just get the hub rings at a local tire store once I buy my rims + tires?

-Thanks guys

 

[sonza68]

I went with 225/45/17 on my car.

 

[ZEXCougar]

Originally posted by: PeDL2DaMeDL
Right now I don't want to put money into lowering springs...would 17's look fine w/o them on my coug?

Any upgrade in rims will give you a larger wheel gap. I have 17's and the rear looks good, but you could fit a football in the front gap! It will still look good, but you will definitely want to lower it when you see the way your car looks with them on. You can click on "See My Car" to see how mine look. Right now I don't have it lowered. Also, to answer an earlier question, our bolt pattern is 4X108.

 

[Iceotron]

here's a common misconception

Any upgrade in rims will give you a larger wheel gap

As long as the rim/tire aspect ratio overall is the same the wheel gap will NOT change. However the appearance will, and can fool one into believing there is more or less wheel gap.


If your running 17's the ideal size is 225/45/ that will ensure the same overall size and great handling characteristics.

Our bolt pattern is 4x108, and also alot of the wheels available for our cars come with a dual bolt pattern drilled on them of 4x100/4x108. As long as it's a 4x108 pattern your good to go. Also note that the Focus,Contour, and Mystic have the saem bolt pattern as us. I believe there a few more but those are the BIG 3.

I'd advise going to the group buy section and checking out my rim gb's to see a sample of whats available to our market. Then 'd start looking through the vid's/pic's section to see what other members currently have.


cwtIII - Thank you, that's the exact info I was hoping someone would supply from first hand knowledge.

 

[PeDL2DaMeDL]

how much would it cost to the lower the front so 17s would look good?

you wouldnt need to lower the back...right?

 

[Iceotron]

in order to keep the ride height even between the front and rear you'd need all 4 springs. Which they only come in sets of 4 anyways. The rear looks lower but in actuality it isn't. Check www.customcougars.com for spring prices.

 

[PeDL2DaMeDL]

thanks, ill check it now

 

[PeDL2DaMeDL]

couple hundred for an inch drop...i live in the back country up in maine, roads are **** anotherwards so i dont think i want my car dropped.

Would 17s look decent though, would i be happy without a drop??

a lot of people have to have had 17s with no drop.

 

[Keliente]

17's, or any aftermarket rim for that matter look like 4x4's without a drop. I just think if you're going to spend $1000+ on rims/tires what's another couple hundred for lowering springs? If you're worried about driving around lowered, get coilovers, and jack it up to stock height when you know you're gonna be hitting some bad roads....

 

[PeDL2DaMeDL]

is this what everyone thinks?

 

[cwtIII]

Even if the roads in your area are BAD, an inch drop really shouldn't be a problem. You don't REALLY have to lower your car if you're going with 17s...You just need to keep a reasonably high sidewall height to keep from looking like a 4x4. (Don't go with something like a 205/40/17!) I'll attach a couple of pics of my car (on my old 17s) BEFORE I lowered it for reference. (The tires I had on the 17s were 215/50/17, but I would receommend going with 225/45/17s which would be approximately the same overall diameter.)
~CIII

EDIT...Here's a pic of the LOWERED car (Roush springs = approx 1.8" drop) on 19s for comparison (you can see the difference in the front wheel well gap much more noticeably than in the rear).