i was wondering how big anyone has gone with a 2" drop by the way and atat size does it look stupid
thxs

 

TWO INCH DROP!!! Damn you must not have any suspension play lol. Without dropping the car, the biggest you can go without cutting out the wheel well would be 17's. Dropping it two inches, I'm not sure lol. Me...I got 16's and I think they look pretty damn good lol.

 

i donno the guy i was talking to todaay asked me to put his company name n and hed get me into a pair of 18's 215/35/18 they should fit

 

Since when does wheel diameter have anything to do with wheelwell clearance?

More important dimensions would be:
- wheel offset
- wheel width
- tire diameter
- tire section width

Wheel diameter doesn't mean much.

 

The bigger you go the less tire you have so if you want more tire you're going to loose room, especially with a two inch drop

 

hes a 100% right there i donno if there going to fit

 

Me and radarlove are both right. I think he's right in choosing a wheel that won't cost you room or loose too much tire, but in your case if you're going to drop the car two inches and you want to go with 18's that'll work, but you'll have almost no tire, it'll be all rim

 

If you want "more tire", you're going to hit the bottom of the rear spring perch first, not the wheelwell (speaking from experience with 175/80R14 snow tires). Ideally, the diameter of the tire should stay as close to stock when "upsizing" the wheels. Going bigger (larger diameter tire) will throw off the speedometer and overwork the brakes. "Dropping" the car has no effect on spring perch height. I hit the spring perch with stock springs, Eibach Pro's clamped down an extra inch, and Mopar X-Highs - all on the same car.

A bigger diameter wheel usually means a wider wheel, but not always. For example - 14x6", 15x7", 16x7.5", 17x8" are "typical" sizes, but I can get 13x10" or 19x5" if I want. How wide a wheel is may be a determining factor on rubbing, but usually the tire will rub first. And wheel width should be a key factor in determining the proper tire to use. Some folks put skinny tires on their fat wheels for some reason.

Even tires of the same "width" (i.e. 225) have different section widths (widest part of the tire) that can easily vary by as much as 2 inches, and also vary depending on how wide the wheel is. If you don't take that into consideration, along with the wheel offset, that's when you rub on the fenderwell/cutout (offset too small) or the rear lateral link (offset too big). This is where dropping the car may come into play, because it puts that cutout that much closer, particularly when turning up front.

My goal #1 on these boards is to get peoples cars running, because I know what it's like to be stranded and have no clue what's wrong or how to fix it.

My goal #2 here is to stop people from wasting their money on crap that either won't work or won't work the way they want it to.

My goal #3 here is to educate people so they can make their own decisions.

"Yes, 18's will fit" or "No, 18's won't fit with a drop" are uneducated, incomplete and typically incorrect statements. If you want tons of detailed info on tire sizing for Neons, visit the neons.org Archived Posts (search for "will these tires fit my car"). Most importanly, get a ruler and a carpenter's square, get under your own car, and do some measuring.

 

I have done a lot of research about it underneth my car, thanks anyways, so show me 20's on a neon with a 2 inch drop. Anything is possible, but is it practical???

 

The biggest I've personally seen is 19x8" wheels with 245/30/19 tires. He was lowered with coilovers (spring perch not an issue), had Vitor's bent lateral links in back, and still had to cut into the fenderwell linings - so he could drop the frame to the ground when parked. Drive height was 3-4 inches lower than stock. Looks cool, not my thang.

With 20" wheels, you'd have to hunt down (and afford) a wicked low profile tire to keep the same tire diameter.

I'm not the one saying a 20" wheel is realistic or practical. The original post wanted to know how "big" of wheel he could go with a 2" drop. You responded with wheel diameter measurements. All I'm saying is wheel diameter is not the issue, with or without a drop.

I'm also saying that with the same tire diameter as stock, dropping the car 2" closes the "gap" by the same amount regardless of what size wheels are on the car. What would be the point of adding "more tire"? Ride? Looks? Off-roading?

I'm also saying the offset and tire section width have much more to do with proper fitment than wheel diameter, as long as you stay close to stock tire diameter.

Slammed - if you can get me the tire section width (or tire brand/model and I'll look it up myself) and the width and offset of the wheels, I'll do the calculations for you and let you know how close it will be. Tire height is smaller than stock, so no worries there (except your speedo will read higher than actual speed). Section width should be anywhere in the 8.4-8.7" range (213-220mm) on the recommeded 8" rim width. Most 1st gens will tolerate about 6" of backspacing in the rear before rubbing on the lateral link, so an offset of 40 would be extremely close, an offset of 38 would give you a little breathing room, much smaller than 36, and you'll have to start worrying about rubbing up front on hard corners. You can use spacers if the offset is a little to high, but spacing more than 5mm takes you off the hub support and generally requires longer wheel studs... I don't recommend either, unless the spacers are hubcentric ($$$), not generic/universal ($5).