Less beaten path...18x7.5 and 225/35-18's

[F1Fletch]

Hi guys

Just wanted to post my brief review of this set up on my Fiesta. I have Mountune lowering springs so I am at about a 1" drop all round. Let me first off say I was pretty dedicated to sticking with 17's and even considered 16's. Ultimately my problem was finding the combo I wanted with a near perfect offset. Tire choices also become much less as you decrease in diameter. I really wanted to try the P Zero GT's as well and I have to say, glad I did.

It's funny, I have fixed up dozens of cars with probably 30 sets of wheels and tires over the years so I have seen a few combo's and been able to record what works best (subconsciously sometimes). Other times its a bit of an educated guess but in this case it worked in spades. The net result was a -1lb + weight savings per corner and a bigger contact patch and the offset at 38 in a 7.5 is frankly perfect. Now let me digress for a moment because I have not even really pushed the car yet and I am still finding my comfort zone of pushing to the limits. With the stock set up....it felt a bit lost. Very choppy and the stock 050's are lumpy and strange. Enter the Mountunes and it felt 5-10% better. Now with this combo it has improved substantially. The ride is more taught but feels correctly damped now and not choppy, the turn in is amazing and I instantly felt more confident with grip and stability. I do get a slight run at front left but I believe this is my camber needing another .1 to .2 and it would be safe as the left already is.

I will also apologize for the dark pictures but you get the basic idea. Tire lettering should be installed in a few days and will post pics if it comes out as intended.

 

[StayPuft]

those look great. Wish I could run 18s but the roads here would turn them into paperweights

 

[eleven]

So you basically kept the same sidewall depth but went up an inch in diameter overall. Ride feel should be similar to stock, yeah?

 

[F1Fletch]

Overall diameter of the tire didn't change by much (less than specs said) which was good. Ride is quite nice considering I did go +1.

 

[M-Sport fan]

That DOES look good, and NOT too 'rubber-bandish' as some/most of the -1/-2 folks on here would say about the looks, let alone the weight/performance.

There are NO problems with the ABS/Traction Control/nannies on these cars when going to a higher overall tire height, as long as they are EXACTLY the same front to rear (I KNOW the speedo would have to be tuned/set to the new height to be accurate)??

What is the upper limit on tire height (and even width for that matter) before one runs into problems with clearance, both on slightly lowered set ups AND on factory stock suspensions???

 

[F1Fletch]

Thanks for the kind words. I can only say the diameter for me only changed 1/4"- ish and that is well within tolerance from tire to tire and way they are molded etc. if anything my speedo is probably more accurate now as typical is a few percent optimistic/higher than actual.

I would guesstimate that 23.5 at the upper end of diameter max while the stock tires were taller than the specs showed at 22.4. I am 1" lowered and with slight rubbing on big bumps front left. As previously eluded to neg camber is your friend and if you have 1.5 deg neg you will prob be fine. It's all a game of fractions between rubbing or not, too low, not low enough...