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Lowered new tire size

widetrack2000

widetrack2000

New member
My '00 GP came with the OEM 16" wheel/tire combination which I quickly upgraded to a set of 17" Eagle chrome 5-spoke wheels wrapped in 245/50/17 Goodyear F1 all season tires but now I'm running into a problem that I can't seem to get a straight answer on so I really need everyone's help please. I recently bought a set of Eibach lowering springs which dropped the vehicle 1.3" all the way around and as you would expect, my tires are now to big for the wheel well and both the front and rear end is bottoming out going over the slightest dip in the road and really rubs while turning so I knew going in that I'd need to buy a smaller set of tires but that when I seemed to hit a wall. First of all I waste anyone's time with a post without thoroughly checking out the various web site links posted in the "Tires & Wheels" thread trying to get an accurate measurement of exactly what tire size I need to go down to and took that information to both regular and aftermarket shops in the area and it seems like everyone I talked to is telling me a different size than the guy I just talked to and none of them will do a test fitting for me without actually buying the tires first. HUH? Anyway, I'm turning to my Grand Prix brothers (and sisters) hoping someone happens to have the same exact setup I do running a 17" wheel with a 5x115 offset and Eibach lowering springs and can tell me the exact size I need to solve my clearance problems so I'll leave it up to you and would appreciate any help you could give me because even with measurements in hand, the retailers in my area are all telling me I need a different size tire and are basically worthless to me at this point so HELP!!! Thanks.
 


What offset are the wheels? 5x115 is the bolt pattern. And you can always roll the fenders
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If the wheel you have chosen has an offset of greater than 38, you will need to roll the inside edge of the fender like noted above. Usually, a switch to that size tire would not affect front for sure, so I am afraid the wheel offset may be 35, and ideal would be about 40 (35 meaning it is pushed out further from the hub).

With that size of tire, you are likely only clipping a very small part of the inside lip edge. There are many ways to easily roll the fenders yourself. Just to give you an idea, I have rolled many using only a 1.5" plastic ABS pipe. What I do is lift the car enough to get the pipe between the tire and wheel well, on an angle towards the ground, and roll it around the tire to force the inside lip to fold upwards. Its a gentle process, but it is easy. I suggest a search on rolling fenders online or here to know what you are up against.
 
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The tire width is probably affecting you more than the overall diameter. I would never recommend going with a shorter tire than stock. Go with 225/55/17 and that should help some. As smutty said though he still had to toll fenders with that size on his car.
 


play with that chart i posted, the 55 is a bit larger.

my next set of snow tires will be 225 50 17 for the winter wheels i got. they are like 3% taller then stock.
 


It's "only" 3% shorter, but that is almost a full inch. As I said I would never recommend going with a smaller tire than stock. You can lower and keep stock sized tires. People do it all the time.

Besides going to a shorter tire is defeating the purpose of lowering. Lowering makes the car look better by filling the wheel well better.
 


Doesn't matter how far off the speedo is when it looks like crap with such short tires. 225/45/17 is 1 3/4" shorter than stock.
 
Hey, thanks to everyone for the help and great ideas proving that my only mistake was not starting here in the first place instead of trying to have local shops give me the run around with there worthless opinions which is not something I EVER plan on repeating in the future. Thanks again, I really do appreciate people taking time to help a brother out!
 
I sent out a general thank you to everyone for replying but wanted to give you a quick shout out personally as you and I seem to be on the exact same page of what I'm looking for since there's really no point in owning a "widetrack" Grand Prix if the wheel/tires combination isn't pushed out as far as possible without rubbing to retain it's aggresive stance so thanks again!
 
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