I have 18x7 et38 wheels currently on 215/40/18 tyres. i have AP coilovers curently set at (approx) 40-45mm and i want to go around 25mm lower. only i have one problem - my tyres are currently catching the wheel arch, will a 35 profile tyre stop this problem? ive searched and searched and can only find 1 205/35 tyre but its way out of my budget!

 

You have to pay to play.

You have not provided eough information. Front or rear? Tire clearance has a lot of factors. How much camber? Your offset is a lot less than some combinations. ( 52 is standard for that size) That may be your main problem. You just can't stick the tires out there and expect them to magically stay under the fender. Smaller tires in not an appropriate fix.

I know some will disagree, but I consider anything less that 45 series as totally unsuitable for street use. Actually, not much use on the track either. Just show. The tire is half the suspension. Suspensions are there to keep the tire in contact with the ground. You go much quicker with the tires on the ground.

Reducing the diameter of the tire will get you better off the line performance, but worse gas mileage, and of course make the speedo even further off.

So either flair your arches or buy the correct rims.

 

have you thought of spacers?

 

im guessing you are going for the poke/stretch look... if not, you may be able to squeeze 225s thus giving your more options in terms of finding 35 profile tires

 

"correct"

Spacers will lower the offset and if his problem is rubbing on the arches they would only make things worse.

Poke or stretch with a 7" wide wheel? with a high offset like 38? I don't think so....

Depending on how badly you're rubbing, a 35 may help a marginal bit. I would exhaust the other solutions before turning to that option.

Have you trimmed the arches yet? That will give you a few mm's of room as well. They're just plastic so it's rather easy. There's just a little lip on the inside of the arch. Trim that a bit.

Another option is camber. Even just adding a slight bit of negative camber can give you the needed clearance. An added bonuses being that negative camber up front can aid your handling performance as well.

 

What year is your car? I've been told that 8" wheels with et38 and 235 tires will fit on an r56 without rubbing.