Bean ...

you have been one of the few to tell it like it is ... thanks, really helpful.

I am ordering A6, R6 & wheels today

 

This is exactly the size of wheels and tires I am planning to go with. The A&E shop here in the city of Campbell has shown me those size on one of their client's car and they looked perfect. I mean perfect.

Now, I'm not sure what modifications they had to do to make them fit but they did it. I was going to have them do the work for me eventually however the shop has since been bought by none other than Dinnan engineering.

This is the biggest delima for me right now as I'm torn between just keeping it more simple and going with 17 x 7 wheels and 215-40-17 tires or just research around and find out exactly what are the issues of the fittement with the 235-40-17 size because that's really what my heart is set on to go with. If anyone has done any research and knows what modifications you need to have to make this work would be great.

 

235/40/17 is great, but it's a right mix of tire specs, offset and tweaking. Not all tires are created equally. RE01R's for example....a 225/40/18 RE01R is actually wider than a 245/35/18 Goodyear F1 GSD3. If you tried to squeeze a 235/40/17 RE01R on a MINI, it most likely won't work as it runs very wide. Be sure to check the manufacturer's specs for section width, treadwidth, etc.

After all that, you won't know for sure until you try. I'm running 215/45/17 RE01R on 7.5ET42 and with -2F/-1.5R camber, they tuck all around (just a hint of touching in the rear). My new wheels are 7.5ET41 - I suspect I'll be trimming the fender a bit in the back to clear.

 

Oh great, more things to worry about now. :impatient

Is there anyone that has tried this size combination without too much complications?

I was looking at Yokahama's S drives to get but now with all these specs to watch for and tire thread and all that it takes me all the way back to square one in my search.

 

S.Drive gets terrible reviews in EVO mag.

If you are going for bragging rights, shop by tire size. If you are going for max rubber under the fenders, shop by treadwidth and outside diameter

 

So I'm guessing this definitly isn't possible on a 05 MCS stock SS suspension and R99s? Is my only real choice for wider a 215

 

No kidding there. My 215/40 17 F1 GSD3s appear to be the narrowest tires I have ever had on my car, having greater clearance everywhere than the 205s I had on previously.

 

Just did a test mounting today with 17 x 7.5 Enkie racing wheels (ET45)
Hoosier A6 (auto x) 225 / 40 X 17
NO spacer on the rear (highly modified fender inner and trim !) and NEEDED !
10 mm spacer on the front.
BR racing BC series coilovers and it is REALLY closer to the coil over.

Will be racing tomorrow on the new tires and will be looking for a 12mm spaacer for the front.

Best advise ... when you are pushing the size limits, is to research the specs for each tire on the rim width you will be running ... amazing how the "same " tire size has many different specs from manufacturer to manufacturer.
Even different tires from the same mfg ...

 

I checked widths on the F1 vs. RE01R for esmturbo - he needs a wide patch for the turbo car. The 225/40/18 RE01R is wider than the 245/35/18 Goodyear F1. He was shopping by size....a perfect example of why shopping by width and outside diameter is more important.

which did you get? I got the NT03+M and they sit awful close to my Cross in the front with a 215/45.

 

YEP .. NT03M
ET 45 ... and with the BR -BC series coilovers 2mm clearance at the tire and shock with 10mm spacer

 

Was just browsing this section. Came upon this and thought I could give some input if not too late.

Here are a couple of pics. Both have 17x7.5 +45 with 235/40s
A good amount of work had to be done for fitment, but as you can see it's not at all noticable. Car is lowered.

 

Could you please give info?
-If used, spacer sizes F and R?
-Camber settings F and R?
-Estimation of severity of trimming F and R?
-How much is the car lowered and is the suspension otherwise stock?
-Wheel offsets?
-Specific tires?

Thanks.

 

Also, the car appears to be set up for the track. What made you choose to go to a 17x7.5 235/40 wheel-tire combo? What specifically seemed to improve over stock size with regard to handling?

Is the car also driven on the street? If so, how different is the street setup?

 

• Spacers were used, 5mm front and rear to clear the front struts and the rear trailing arm.
• Well, don't remember 100%, but front was like 2.5 and rear was like 2. But I didn't set up camber to fit the wheels rather set up the body to fit the wheels with what camber was best for the track.
• Front trimming was easy. Trimmed a good amount of the outside of the plastic wheel well and trimmed some of the inner lip off the arches. The rear was a bit more work. Trimmed away the outer part of the plastic wells, cut off some of the plastic well mounting studs, ground away what I could of the outer edge of the metal fender and then banged it out a bit with a hammer. Trimmed away the inner lip of the plastic arch and had to trim some of the backside of the arch to fit perfectly over the now slightly faired out fender. This may all sound like a lot but it was pretty easy to do and completely un-noticeable when all was done, unless it was studied by a sharp eye.
• Car was lowered maybe 1.5" on PSS9s.
• Wheel offset was +45
• The tires I ran with this setup were the Toyo RA1s, 235-40-17s, shaved and full tread, and the Hoosier rains, 225-45-17. The Hoosiers are actually a bit wider.

 

Car was very setup for the track at that time. Main reason for the 17s is that I had to clear the BBK. I ran the shaved RA1s in a 205-40-17 at first and really loved them. Then when I was heading to Watkins Glen I decided that maybe a 235 would be better. Handling really improved a bunch, but mainly because these tires were R compounds made for the track. I think running a wider tire in a street compound is detrimental to handling and would in no way do it if I wanted to make better times on the track. The car was in fact driven on the street at that time, but not a whole lot. Car felt very nice of the street. Was running the full tread RA1s.

To note, that car in the pics has changed a bunch. It's now the car in my sig.

 

I like the low stance of the car and was wondering, Mine is lowered as well. I bought it that way and all I can see is the coils are blue. other then that no ID tag or company name visible.
The car handles awesome in the turns, but when i go into most driveways I get one of the rear wheels to almost always come off the ground because of how stiff everything is.
i dont mind the ride quality, its tight and choppy but feels real sporty. my concern is that the rebound seems to be a little to fast.
does anyone have any recomendations to slow the rebound (strut change,spring brand)?

 

Blue springs might very well be H-Sports.
Rebound can't be changed with a factory shock. Need to get aftermarket that offers a rebound adjustment.
If your feeling that your rebound is to soft at this point you may have an issue with failed shocks due to the lowering springs.

 

ill have to look into that, I dont think they feel worn just feels like its under to much pressure and when you come on the upside of a bump it is to lively.

any suggestions on brands of shocks, er struts?

 

How did this project work out for you? Rub like crazy, or OK?

 

I am going to update myself

I now run a 15mm spacer on the front and a 5 on the rear

both front and rear fenders have been trimmed

 

Any more research or info you can share on our common dream to put 235/40-17s on an R53? For me this dream includes the RE-01, or the PS2, both relatively large for their size. From what I have read so far, significant trimming and banging is required and still may not be enough for these large running tires.

 

stay tuned.....i have two new sets of 17 X 8 wheels coming. one set will get 225/40/17 Hoosiers R6's (wider than many 235/40's available) and the other set will get an even wider 234/620 Hankook F200 race slick. i have run the Hoosiers on another set of wheels. they did a little self clearancing on the plastic inner liner. no other mods required. we will see what is required for the Hankooks.

 

Hoosier 225/40 (I am 17) are WIDE

 

my Hoosiers "self-clearanced" the inner fender liners.

the Hankook F200's have a significantly wider tread w/ only a slight increase in section width. i'm thinking that these will work well on 8" w wheels....

 

I'm bumping this thread up to continue the flow of information regarding this tire size.