I have a 2004 Cooper S with the H-Sport Springs and I am getting ready to get a set of custom 17" wheels. 17x7 for the front and 17x7.5 in the rear what would be the largest tire I could use up front with out having to go through a lo of work to get them to fit.Also what is the largest tire I can run in the rear, I have a set of staggered offset wheels coming rears have a 2" lip so I would like to have a nice set of wide tires out back to compliment the rims. I know this will have not affect on my handling it is just for looks. Thanks and sorry for hi-jacking your post.

 

I'm no suspension guru, but wider rear tires WILL have an effect, namely making the OEM dialed in understeer even more pronounced unless you've made other changes to reduce it.
IIRC 215 is about as wide as you can go - I've read instances of 225's rubbing. It really depends on your offset.

 

Be sure to read through the Tire/Wheels/Brake section further down for more info on this. Most people seem to get away with a 215/40/17 and not rub when on H-Sport springs. As suggested above, you should run the same size on all 4, even with the 1/2" difference in rims. Of course, the offset on the wheels will make a difference as well.

 

Tire/Wheel/Brake section:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...splay.php?f=36

 

Are you looking for handling,.....or just the "widest tire possible"?? I mean, is the absence of rubbing your only concern??

 

I'm running 225x45x17 w/o problems. A little rubbing initially, during spirited driving and two people in the car, but after 100 miles or so it cleared up. I highly recommended.

 

This thread moved from Suspension to-
Tires, Wheels, & Brakes forum.

If going for looks-
Using 17x7 rims in front and 17x7.5 in the rear (what offsets??)
and with H-sport lowered suspension.

Using Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 as an example
Fronts
215/45-17 Treadwidth 7.1" 24.6" tire diameter

Rears
235/40-17 Treadwidth 8.1" 24.4" tire diameter
Fits rims 8-9.5" wide but will fit the 17x7.5" rim

 

What offsets will you be running? If it's a true 2" lip (no convex wheel shape to give the appearance of more lip)....you're gonna have to be really careful with tire selection. I've got 2.5" rear lips and tire size is really important to avoid rubbing or knocking off the arches.

You may wanna look into coilovers too...it's hard to pull off wide, deep dish, staggered wheels without much of a drop (1" of h-sports).

If you're offsets are as low as a 2" lip suggests....i would say you should look around for a 205/40 or a 205/45 to stretch the rears a bit to avoid rubbing.