Cosmetic Differences between 15" and 17"

UKMX-3 · Post by **UKMX-3** » July 14th, 2005, 8:24 am

Hey guy's

Ive got 17"s on my car at the moment, but im thinking of going back down to lightweight 15"s to get that acceleration and smooth ride back, but i have a problem.

My Pet hate is having huge gaps between my wheels and the wheel arches. I have my car lowered 30mm so its not to bad with the 17"s, however how is it going to look with 15"s

will it be

a) The same
b) Worse, the gap will be bigger
c Better the gap will be smaller.

Let me know as the time for new alloys is fast approaching and i need to start making choices!

Selecta · Post by **Selecta** » July 14th, 2005, 9:11 am

I would imagine with a small rim the gap would be bigger

Chino921 · Post by **Chino921** » July 14th, 2005, 9:44 am

most people don't relize this but the overall size of the wheel/tire doesn't change. If you move down to 15's then the sidewall of your tire will be larger. Bigger wheel=lower profile tire, smaller wheel=higher profile tire. So fender gap will be the same. The reason that the overall size stays the same is because if it changed it would screw up the speedo.

ccreech · Post by **ccreech** » July 14th, 2005, 10:42 am

That is true in theory but if you dont have an extremely low profile on your 17's then it will in fact be larger than say a 50 profile on a 15" rim. Here is a picture I found of stock rims on a lowered car. (and the link to the thread)

neutral · Post by **neutral** » July 14th, 2005, 11:21 am

Chino921 wrote:most people don't relize this but the overall size of the wheel/tire doesn't change. If you move down to 15's then the sidewall of your tire will be larger. Bigger wheel=lower profile tire, smaller wheel=higher profile tire. So fender gap will be the same. The reason that the overall size stays the same is because if it changed it would screw up the speedo.

Agreed. The outer diameter of your tires on 15" rims should be the same as the outer tire dia. for tires on 17" rims so the gap is unchanged. It's only the tire's inner diameter that changes to fit a smaller rim. That's why you end up with a smoother ride cuz the side profile of the 15" tires is taller than would be the case for tires fitted to larger rim sizes. Maintaining that outer tire dia. measurement also preserves accuracy of the speedo.

UKMX-3 · Post by **UKMX-3** » July 14th, 2005, 11:37 am

Thanks for that guys,

I'll be putting on some OZ SuperL's with a slightly lower profile tyre .

Hope it looks as low as the one in the article!

Gro Harlem · Post by **Gro Harlem** » July 14th, 2005, 7:40 pm

Lemme see here....lemme find pics.

here's one:

here's another...guess what rim size those rotas are

Same zx2/eihbach suspension on the car, minus the paint color change lol.