I am maybe looking at running 215/45/R15's, but I need them not to rub.

When I say not rub, I don't mean just with no people in the back or tiny rubs on bumps... I mean 3 fat guys in the back while doing a Dukes of Hazzard jump over a speed bump as you crank the wheel hard to the right.

Anybody able to achieve this? What offset are you running?

Thanks!

 

Get wheels with a 45mm offset. Ive ran 225/50/15's. Youll be fine.
Im running 215/40/16's right now.

 

With 45 mm offset and tires that are a bit smaller (22.7" vs 23.44") You may be fine but there is a good possibility they rub with such a rear seat load. The 215's are 5 mm wider to the outside than the 205's we've mounted on 4 cars which essentially makes the offset 40 and that is very close even tho the tire is shorter.
Why not go with 205/50x15's? The diameter is closer to stock and there won't be much speedo and odo error. And it will fill the 'gap' better; not quite as good as stock but having the edge of the tire closer to the fender lip looks better.
PS if you get rubbing with the back seat load you may want to substitute Monroe Airlifts MA811's for your rear shocks. See the posts for new rear shock design for photos and details. You may want to do that anyway regardless.
good luck.

 

I am worried about the +45 offset because I was having issues with a 205/40/R17 tire and swapped it out for a 195/45/R17. I was thinking of going with a +48 or higher offset, however I have concerns about coming in too far as well.

Those rear Monroe shocks are pretty slick, the only thing is I might spring for a whole new suspension setup pretty soon.

 

why do you want to run such a wide tire? im just wondering

 

need more traction for autoX

 

aah gotcha. maybe try running 13's. that's what my buddy does in his racecar neon

 

I am not sure if you can get 13's onto the Fit.

My poor Fit could take the corners, but I could feel the tires kept failing me

 

maybe try a better tire? idk. i bet 13's would fit in the back. and in the front if you ran a low enough offset wheel

 

How much offset do you figure you might need? We are getting into unknown territory for me.

A 225/45/R13 sounds like it would do the job! That would give me about a 21" overall diameter. I don't know if that is small enough to avoid hitting the fender

 

Sugarphreak:
I personally have 205/40x17 tires on 17x7 wheels with 42 offset and no rubbing. we have mounted 2 other Fits with 205/45x16 tires on 16x7 wheels with 42 mm offset; and one lowered Fit with 45 mm offset wheels with 205/45x16 tires. None have any rubbing issues.
What offset wheels were you using with the 205/40x17 tires? And how much are you lowered?

 

I started off running 17" +42 rims with 205/40's which rubbed very badly. I went back to the tire shop a week later and exchanged them for +45 rims which worked great....

......until I put in my Tanabe GF210's, then the rubbing returned both in the front and the rear. After that I switched out for 195/40's

Some of it may be attributed to the type of tire, but if I rub even a bit it will do some serious damage when I really push the car later on. I just want to be careful and err on the side of caution.

 

Whew! Really bad news. Can you tell me just where the rubbing occurs both front and back? And just how much did you lower? (the height from the road at the fender lips is good enough for us. Thanks)
I know there are manufacturing tolerances but that much is sad. Has your car been damaged and repaired?

Based on our measuring cars we can lay hands on I will stick by the guidelines we posted.

 

The car was only a few weeks old when I went through all the aftermarket fitment issues with it. Car has never been damaged or reparied.

The Tanabe GF210's offer the lowest amount of drop I know of when I was doing my research, it should be around 1" of drop.

Rubbing occured not only against the rear clip, but into the fender as well. We even trimmed the inside lip to try and allivate the problem with no luck.

 

You have to remember youre running 17in wheels. Going all the way down to a 15in wheel will save rubbing space, you can fill that space with tire. And remember the wider the tire the more weight also (depending on tires) weight isnt always the best thing.

My blue 15's are 215/50/15's. Grip is pretty damn good. Im also on negative camber up front also.

Stock suspension and 15's even with wide tire should not be a problem, if you keep the offset to +45mm.
Believe me a Ive done it on my lowered Fit.

Stick with 15's. I was running GSR Fat5's.

 

I have been running the theorectical cacls on what I know, it seems like the overall diameter is not nearly as big a problem as the width.

A 215/50/15 will have the same theoretical diameter as the 195/55/15, however on a +45 offset rim will stick out 20mm more than stock while the backside face of the tire is essentialy unchanged in position and size.

I know on my car with the 205/40/17 the diameter was about 20mm larger (so 10mm higher at the top) and 5mm smaller on the side and I was rubbing. Now a 195/40/17 dosn't rub at all, I am pretty much at the threshold with a +45 offset.

This is specifically for my car I beleive, subject of course to tire variation.

I am thinking a 225/50/R14 will fit with an offset of +50 right now, I modeled it up (don't ask) and the size seems to fit up nicely
-all I need to do now is find a 14" rim with +50 offset, lol

Hmmmm, It is looking like stock rims with 5mm spacers are the best candidate for phat tires right now

 

My 215/50/15's were on a 15x6.5in wheels with a +42mm offset.
My 225/50/15's were on a 15x6in wheel with a +45mm wheel

 

think everyone missed important part..

i want to see a pic of the FIT painted like general lee with 3 fat people in the back jumping a speed bump!!!


1) you need a bigger jump than speed bump to copy the general lee
and
2) why would u have 3 fat people in the back jumping...

 

First, if you search for 215/45-15 you will find not much.

So really you need to look at what will work for the Fit.

One strategy is to go wide on the wheel and work with tires up to 225mm wide like 205/50-15 and 225/45-15 both giving tire diameters of about 22.8 to 23".

A good example for track or autocross would be
Hankook Ventus Rs2 Z212 for about $99 each
Fits rims 7 to 8.5" wide.

So using 15x7 rims +37mm offset would work-
Fits 205/50-15, 225/45-15 and if you have stock suspension then 225/50-15 which is a bit taller at 23.9"

If you want wider there are 15x7.5" rims

And wider still 15x8 rims +36mm offset will fit the FIT with stock suspension front and rear. I have tried it with 205/50-15 and with 225/50-15 tires which are pretty wide and stick out quite a bit.
No rubbing (one person).

With lowered suspension you don't have much clearance to go as wide.

Remember that wide is nice but you need to have enough negative camber to make use of that wide tire. A camber kit up front and shims in the rear for max negative camber would help.

 

i dont think he's telling us the whole story.



+1 for MINI-Fit. even 195/50/15's on 15x7 looks pretty wide
on the car cause the car itself is so narrow. i would first achieve more
grip by compound, then try camber, then add more width.