I currently have Enkei PF01 wheels 18x9.5 +35. The tires are PSS 255/40. I'm ready for more grip. I want to go with a 265/35 tire and have found that they will hit the suspension.



I am thinking about buying Konig Milligrams 18x9.5 +25. I have read on here and other places that I should be able to run the 265 tire without rolling my fenders. I am lowered on Swift R-spec springs. I don't want to roll the fenders.



I have only 21,000 miles on my car and this will be the third set of after market wheels I have bought. I don't want to make another bad decision. Is there a better option?



This will be my summer DD and track day set. I plan to buy Potenza RE-11 tires to go on these wheels.

 

Because a 265/35/18 is shorter than 255/40/18, depending on the tire, you can run the 265s on a +35 wheel without rolling the fender-lips. Here's a good example (with my favorite dry-pavement tire, as well): https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/ev...ock-evo-x.html

265s would be slightly happier on an 18x10, but I think that you can switch to 265/35/18s (again, depending on the tire) without swapping wheels.

 

Easiest solution since you're hitting the suspension on the inside with 265s is to get some 5mm spacers

 

Tire rack gives a warning on three of the tires I have looked at buying.

 

Please note that I warned that it would be tire-specific. Some tires are very "square" (which means that they are wide at the tread for the sidewall width). RE-11s fall into that category, but R-S3s don't. The R-S3s are known to work and probably have as much if not more grip than the Potenzas.

As to 5mm spacers ... I am not a fan of slip-on spacers on a track track. The loss of a hub-centric connection to the hub makes me nervous. Maybe you (plural) are cool with this; I am not.

 

Thank you for the feedback. Tire rack gives the same warning with the RS-3. Do you know someone with my current wheels and that tire? If so that would be great. I have gone against tire racks recommendation in the past and it did not turn out well.

 

You mean someone other than he or she who wrote the post I linked to in the first reply in this thread?

The brand and model of the wheel is irrelevant. Someone has reported that 265/35/18 R-S3s on a 18x9.5 +35 doesn't rub. That's all you need.

Unless you're looking for two people, in case the first person is lying.....

 

I am not saying anyone is wrong. I am just trying to feel better about the purchase. Here is a pic of the available space on my current setup. I am concerned that with a wider tire and cornering forces moving the tire, it could hit the suspension like Tire Rack warns.

The tires I am looking at could also fit wider than my current Pilot Super Sports on top of the 10 mm.

 

Pics are useless when you're cutting it close. You need to actually measure the clearance.

A 245/40/18 R-S3 on OE wheels has a bit more than 0.5" of clearance to the front shock when the bolts are flipped. A 265/35/18 R-S3 on a 9.5"-wide wheel is 0.9" wider at the sidewall and 0.7" wider at the tread than a 245/40/18. The wheel is, by definition, 1.0" wider. Thus, the math backs up what was said in the post to which I linked, as long as the new wheels don't have thicker lips than OE.

Whether they will rub a little under a cornering load depends on many things to which I cannot speak. In general, however, the wheel flexes around the center, rather than moving inwards at the top and bottom, so I'm not too worried about it.

And then there are the other posts I just found all saying that several 265/35/18 work on 18x9.5 +35 without rubbing. So I'm done.