i have a 04 xfire, and was wondering how much inner wheel clearance we have to play with.i want to get some new wheels, but will loose an inch of clearance in the back, and 19 mm in the front, due to the different offset. any advice is helpful

 

You've got about a half inch of clearance in front, and a lot in the rear. I went from 255s to 295s in the back with no problem. The picture is of 235 35 18 Hoosier A6's with a 5mm spacer up front. Including the spacer, I had about 1/4 to 3/8" clearance from that pesky upper control arm bolt (some folks have done a little grinding on it). If you go from the stock 40, to 35 height, you can gain some width. And remember, all tires are a little different. Good luck.
Mike

 

I run 10MM spacers with my 245 or 255's. Also polished off the side of the stud, to remove the outer threads at a bevel just to keep from EVER cutting a tire. Doing max corning on the track ( summit ) and autocrossing; I have never had the slightest issue. Wheels are aftermarket.


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Woody

 

(You've got about a half inch of clearance in front, and a lot in the rear. I went from 255s to 295s in the back with no problem. The picture is of 235 35 18 Hoosier A6's with a 5mm spacer up front. Including the spacer, I had about 1/4 to 3/8" clearance from that pesky upper control arm bolt (some folks have done a little grinding on it). If you go from the stock 40, to 35 height, you can gain some width. And remember, all tires are a little different. Good luck.
Mike)

Mike did you use the stock rims or aftermarket for the 295's in the rear?

 

I used the stock rims, and the 295s were Hoosier R6s. I've done a lot of experimenting with tires during the autocross season last year and tried 235s, 255s and 295s in the rear. Good luck.
Mike

 

Who's 5mm spacers are you using? I bought a set and tried several times to carefully tighten the bolts but still got a wobble. I have clearance on the control arm but it is minimal. I will be auto-xing and want room for tire distortion.

I read through a lot of the posts and it looks like I should be looking for Hub Centric???

 

Get Eibach hub centric spacers, will cost you more, but well worth it...

 

Yes....they need to be HUB CENTRIC..... otherwise you are just fighting to get them centered and balanced.. as you are finding out...

 

Agree with the hub-centric. I messed with a small 5mm non-hub-centric (is that a word) spacer when I autocrossed two years ago, and manually centered the wheels on the fronts. I wanted to stay in stock (1/4" max) and never noticed any wobble on track. It showed up in spades on the highway if it was slightly off though. I now use a 10mm hub-centric spacer, and it is perfectly centered. It puts me out of stock, but with all the other off-season mods I've done, the wheel spacers are minimal.
Mike

 

Hub centrics on the way. I am looking to stay stock for my first season out so the reason also for the 5mm. next year could be different!!

Mark