Hi all,
I just switched from my 17" ASA LW5's with Kuhmo ECSTA MX's 7's to 16" Kosei K-1 with Avon 205/50/16 ( Alex at Tire rack) and I have a problem. On the way home from mounting, the front tires were hitting the plastic fender skirts and knocked one off. Any ideas? I hate to drive like this. I need a solution to this issue before I damage the the other fender. I dont own a dremel tool and I am not sure that I could remove enough plastic to solve this problem! Thanks in advance, Chris

 

Odd.. did you check the wheels to make sure the offset sent to you is the right one? Perhaps TR made a rare mistake. I'm no expert, but unless the car is slammed, I cant imagine 205 would rub.

 

This site lists both the 17x7.5 ASA LW5 and 16x7.5 Kosei K1 Racing as ET43.

What size tires were you running on the 17" wheels?

 

The Kuhmo's were 215/40/17. The Original Runflats were 205/40/17's. I assumed I would be in good shape with the 205/50/16's. I can see where the tires have rubbed on the skirts. Just a little mark. I did not hear anything though. BTW, the car has not been lowered at all.

 

205/50-16 tires have a diameter of 24.07" versus 23.77" for the 215/40-17 tires which will only put them 3.8mm higher in the wheel well ... yet they're not as wide.

 

Exactly. I suppose it is possible I was rubbing before. But I had absolutely no indication of this. I will contact Alex tomorrow and see what if any solution there might be.

 

Man there's no way you should be rubbing with 205/50/16. I've got the same size, running on the R84's and I've got at least 2 inches clearance between the wheel and the trim.

Something else is going on, are both sides the same? Who did the install / mounting? Local shop?

 

The install was done by a local shop and I watched them. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary. It is possible that they knocked the skirt loose during the install. However, there does seem to be an indication of rubbing on the tire itself. Tomorrow, I will make the 12 mile drive to work and see if I can tell anything. Patience is a virtue. But I am losing mine...:impatient

 

Where on the skirt are they rubbing? Inner wheel well or outer lip?

 

Update. It appears that the skirt was hit during the installation. Almost all the tabs were broken. Fortunately, it does not appear to be a rubbing issue . These Avons have a great feel to them. I will definately post a review after a few thousand miles. Thanks to everybody for their input. Chris

 

Glad you figured out the problem. Hope they pay for the skirt. Although your new tires are slightly larger diameter than the 40's they are smaller than the standard 45's so they should fit fine and work better than those. You should see a real performance increase in your setup.

I just made a similar change to some original Mini 5 spoke 16's from S-Lead 17's and from 205/45/17 runflats to 205/50/16 normal tires. I just drove 4 miles from the tire store and noticed that the ride is so much better and there is a performance increase as well even given the small weight savings.