virgin1
Posts: 5209
Joined: 3/15/2007
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The profile of the tire you are considering is a bit shorterer than the OE 17's, but not by much. The wheel is +10.5mm greater than OE (+10.5x2= +21mm overall,) 2" taller and 1.5" wider. And you want to lower the car too.
I would guess that yes, you might have some issues using them. Here's how I got there:
1. Pushing the wider wheels out another 10.5mm/side (nearly 1/2"/side) will almost certainly rub @ the fender, if not now than for sure after the springs are installed. You would be in for a fender clearance issue and probably have to roll the fenders, front and rear. It is also likely to throw out the handling, steering, cause tramming or "tracking," braking and cause wear issues w/front end bearings. Remember that you want to hang all that weight and additional pressure out past where it is designed to go and that can put serious strain on axle bearings. +45's or +48's would be the better choice. The good news is, you should have plenty of clearance behind it for the strut assem and other components. I'm running 225/45's (also a touch shorter than 205/50's) on 17x7x-50mm's and have a enough strut clearance left to get my hand comfortably between the wheel/tire and strut.
2. Any wheel that much over-sized from the OE's is likely to add unsprung weight. This also reduces performance, and often fuel mileage too. Steering gets heavier and sluggish. Braking too. Any amateur autoXer can tell you that most of the weight is in the wheel, not the tire and it generally increases exponentially with size... that's comparing apples to apples of course. If you want bigger with little or no weight gain you better plan on spending the bucks on high quality forged wheels, and that too goes up exponentially.
3. With the rubber bands you are thinking about putting on your new wheels, the ride will get much harder, not firmer but jarring. And, there is less shock protection for your new wheels too!! Hit a bump or pothole the wrong way and you might easily bend or break a wheel.
IMO, it may look cool to you but for the cost to your wallet (19" tires ain't cheap either y'know and fender rolling,) cost of additional repairs and reliability, not to mention that it might just be down right dangerous, it just ain't worth it Dude! Stick with 18x7.5x+48's if you want to go bigger. Then you can safely run 225/40's!!
Just my .02.
< Message edited by virgin1 -- 2/23/2008 8:37:10 PM >
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Will 19x8 Rims fit on a mazda3? - 
