Guys, I was having a heated argument with one of my friends, and here's the question:

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I'm on H&R Sports right now... 15' rims.

For sake of argument, if I get 18' rims, the clearance between the car and the ground will increase right?

 

Ill play.

not necessarily. doesnt matter what springs you are on. depends more on the size tire you use on the bigger rim. chances are that you will use a 35(yikes) or 40 series tire, so the overall diameter of the wheel and tire might actually be smaller. for instance, my old Del Sol had 14" wheels, with 55 series tires. I went and put 17's on it with a 40series tire, and the total diameter was actually less than the stock set up, therefore my car was actually closer to the ground.

 

wrong forum?

 

yeah, there will be many variables with it.

LIke RTW DC2 said. It'll depend on what series tire you run and how low the springs actually drop your car.

I had 40 series tires on my old civic on 17"s and it was pretty damn low. So think about that.

If you put something drastic on there like 19"s, that might totally change all of this.

 

It's not about rim size, it's about TIRE SIZE. A 205/55/15 has almost the exact same height as a 205/30/19 tire, so the height of the car wouldn't change at all, you'd just have a lot less sidewall to look at.

 

as for 195/55-15 vs some 18's..

diameter of 195/55-15 is 23.44
205/35-18 is 23.64
205/40-18 is 24.45
205/45-18 is 25.26
215/35-18 is 23.92
215/40-18 is 24.77

so not much difference..

also consider tire thread - some tires have more thread than others, so it would add to difference in diameter and might make a difference.

now 205/30-18 is 22.84

 

I assume you are on 205/50-15 tires right now. Diameter is ~23.1". The smallest 18" tire available is a 215/35-18 which has a diamter of ~23.9. So your car will sit about 1/2" higher than it is right now *BUT* you will also have 1/2" LESS fender gap.

And those, folks, are the facts.