tires and wheels "The Stance Thread"

[02ayr]

Hi guys i`m new to the forum all the way from South Africa. Some pics of my stance below. Running 13" wheels 7j and 8j wide on a set of 175/50/13 Yokohama tyres. 

[zinz]

Love it!

 

Go 'Boks !!!

 

 

Ed Z... wishin' I was on safari

[Gordon]

Centra 15x7 ET 25 wheels with Yoko S drive 195/50-15 tires. I had the spokes painted semi-gloss black but left the lips silver.  Wheels have a huge lip to them, they are old school, made in West Germany is stamped on them. From my research, I discovered that Centra was bought out by Ronal in the early to mid 90's.  Tii has Bilstein sports, Eibach springs, ST swaybars and poly bushings.

 

G-Mn

[roundelmike]

My stance transformation is complete! It was a bigger job than I anticipated ... but it's done. I've tried to take similar photos of the car to compare a mild set of lowering springs and 15" wheels with a stock setup.

 

 

As it sits now, the car is equipped with:

 

- Eibach springs

- Bilstein HD shocks/struts

- BBS RS wheels, 15x7 et25

- Dunlop 195/50R-15 summer tires

 

I bought new 15x7 Euro basketweave wheels but while they were en route with UPS, on a less-than-sober night on eBay, I bought these beautiful refinished BBS RS wheels, 15x7 et25 with a 1" lip. I've decided to stick with the BBS wheels instead of the genuine BMW Euro basketweaves. The polished lips on the BBS wheels just really pop. That, and they'll be slightly easier to keep clean. I ran into no fitment issues with this setup and 195-series tires. I could have gone with more aggressive rubber, but if I want to go truly fast I've got other cars for that. Handling has become much sharper, and even with lower profile tires and less suspension travel, the ride is nearly as smooth as before.

 

 

It's amazing how different these cars look with a mild spring chance. To my eyes, the stock ride height with tall 13" tire sidewalls can make the car look a bit pokey, if not perhaps more authentically vintage. Throw on some larger wheels shod with modern rubber and the car looks much sportier, if that's the look you want for your car. I did. 

 

 

Only one problem spot: the car sits considerably lower on the driver side (left) than the passenger side by almost 3/4" and it's driving me crazy to drive this crooked car. This was the case before I installed the lowering springs and I had hoped that the new springs would right the issue. Unfortunately they haven't, and worse, the lower ride height exaggerates the unevenness of the car: it's noticeably crooked from behind. I'm going to look through the entire suspension setup one more time and look for anything bent or rusty, but I haven't found anything so far. Hopefully it's something I can fix and not a bent frame.

 

Edited August 8, 2016 by roundelmike

[Colin]

RSes make EVERY car look better.

[m42002]

Hey 02ayr,

 

where did you get the rear louvres, and where did they go?!?

[carcrazy]

Getting ready to buy a 2002 but can someone please tell me will 15x7 ET13 work if I wanted to lower the car a little?  Any help is appreciated.  Thanks

[roundelmike]

36 minutes ago, carcrazy said:

Getting ready to buy a 2002 but can someone please tell me will 15x7 ET13 work if I wanted to lower the car a little?  Any help is appreciated.  Thanks

 

Probably not, at least not with stock fenders. I just installed 15x7 et24 wheels on 195 series tires with mild lowering springs and fitment was just about perfect. The wheels you're considering will clear the struts on the inside just fine, but they'll poke out about 1 cm more toward the fenders and mine are pretty tight in there as it is. If you install or already have turbo flares, though, you'll probably be fine.

Edited August 10, 2016 by roundelmike

[carcrazy]

will they fit if I rolled the fenders?

[Vicleonardo1]

On August 9, 2016 at 9:42 PM, roundelmike said:

 

Probably not, at least not with stock fenders. I just installed 15x7 et24 wheels on 195 series tires with mild lowering springs and fitment was just about perfect. The wheels you're considering will clear the struts on the inside just fine, but they'll poke out about 1 cm more toward the fenders and mine are pretty tight in there as it is. If you install or already have turbo flares, though, you'll probably be fine.

 

Hey Mike. 

Two questions : 

1. 195/50 or 195/55? 

2. What do you mean by mild lowering springs? 1/2 inch or 1 inch lower? 

 

Cheers. 

[Lisa.02P]

Tesoro BBS RM's 15x7 et25
Custom Mirror polished lips with silver spray face and black paint in the weaves.
BBS valve stems

[roundelmike]

1 hour ago, Vicleonardo1 said:

Hey Mike. 

Two questions : 

1. 195/50 or 195/55? 

2. What do you mean by mild lowering springs? 1/2 inch or 1 inch lower? 

 

I went with 195/50-15 tires, specifically Dunlop Direzzas for summertime performance. I used this thread as my bible and it proved to be accurate for me. Of course if you're using different size wheels your tire size will change. I didn't want to take a chance by getting something a little too big, so erred on the conservative side, especially because in my smaller metro everything is mail order.

 

For lowering springs I went with the Eibach front/rear set. It lowered my car about 1.5" front and back, which is pretty mild, just enough to make the car handle and look better while still appearing rather stock to the casual observer. I've had no interference with the fenders, and there's enough clearance that I don't even worry about it.

[BeMyWay]

Okay, I need some help in determining how much these springs will lower my car?  I cannot find anything that will give me a hint of the amount of lowering I can expect.  

These are old springs.

If any of you have any data or experience with them will you please let me know?

 

Thanks.

 

Edited October 17, 2016 by BeMyWay

[darrinm1]

38 minutes ago, BeMyWay said:

Okay, I need some help in determining how much these springs will lower my car?  I cannot find anything that will give me a hint of the amount of lowering I can expect.  

These are old springs.

If any of you have any data or experience with them will you please let me know?

 

Thanks.

 

Those look like the same springs I installed 17 years ago. My car dropped about 1.5 inches, from what I remember.

[theNomad]

On 10/16/2016 at 7:26 PM, darrinm1 said:

Those look like the same springs I installed 17 years ago. My car dropped about 1.5 inches, from what I remember.


 

I have ST front springs installed (now have 14x6 e30 wheels)

Edited November 6, 2016 by theNomad