[csg]

Just wanted to share with everyone what the 18" Sportline 8S looks like on stock suspension. I'm not 100% happy with my purchase, but it looks pretty handsome from the right angle. Some notes for those who are wheel shopping..

-Front Wheels: 18x8.5 ET45
-Rear Wheels: 18x9.5 ET45
-Front Tires: 225/40R18 Michelin PSS (OEM)
-Rear Tires: 245/35R18 Michelin PSS (OEM)

Front Fitment: These wheels will not fit without a 5mm or more spacer (inside barrel rubs on strut housing), I learned this the hard way.... In my opinion (and i prefer a more conservative look on my cars) anything more than 5mm is pretty aggressive if you aren't lowered. Tires are pretty stretched IMO, and I'm not sure 235s would work without rubbing on the strut. If the car was lowered and could afford a 10mm spacer, it might work.

Rear Fitment: Not my favorite, in fact it's an eyesore for me. The tires poke beyond the body by about 7-10mm and it looks bad in my eyes. These wheels look ill fitting out back on stock suspension. If i could bring the top of the tire in by 12-15mm, I would be a happy man. Tires here are very stretched, recommend at least a 255 tire if you run 9.5" rears. Not sure a 265 would fit on an 18" wheel back there.

Overall: From the right angles, the car looks gorgeous. From the wrong angles, it looks way too "hella flush" for me. Can't say I 100% recommend these wheels in this specification to anyone unless you like aggressive fitment or are willing to put up with something that doesn't fit quite right. In my opinion if the rears were 9" wide with a slightly higher offset, they'd be picture perfect. The fronts are about as wide as one can run on a stock suspension. I've put about 4 miles on them so far, so no impressions of highway driving or tramlining quite yet. I can tell you that i'm even more strongly considering DINAN springs now to add a bit of camber to the equation. I might pick up another set of 8.5" wheels and eventually switch to 235 square if the fronts will work without even more spacer. Can't beat the price though! $1160 shipped to my door. I definitely learned that these cars are NOT set up for much tire, which is quite a disappointment to me (wouldn't it be nice to run 245 square with room to spare on a common offset wheel??). Oh well, I still love this car!

Shut up and show me pictures!
New shoes on Tuna. by Colby Gregory, on Flickr

My qualms with rear fitment:
Wheel fitment by Colby Gregory, on Flickr

Front fitment with 5mm spacer:
Wheel fitment by Colby Gregory, on Flickr

Needs more low:
Wheel fitment by Colby Gregory, on Flickr

Wheel fitment by Colby Gregory, on Flickr

Wheel fitment by Colby Gregory, on Flickr

[wntrsnowg]

Thanks for posting. Now I have an idea what to expect without getting a drop. Looks like the dinan springs are the way to go for the least drop and cleanest look

[Anthony235]

same spec as my old setup, but I had a 12mm spacer up front. lowering will make all the difference.

[XutvJet]

A drop will help the look and will also push the tops of the rear wheels inwards. I'd also consider 255 width rear tires. It will help a lot.

It's interesting how significantly stretched tires appear visually shorter, even though that's not physically possible, and make the wheel gaps appear larger. The depicted is a big reason why I went with 18X8 et43 wheels and not the more common 8.5" ~et45 front and ~9.5" et45 rears. For one, I think 9.5 in the back is overkill on these cars and two, I can run a 245/35R18 square setup if I want because of the ~10mm clearance I have with the front shock assembly. The setup I'm running is very flush with the fender lines and the visually meatier tires make the car look lower.

[knoteasy25]

Originally Posted by Anthony235

same spec as my old setup, but I had a 12mm spacer up front. lowering will make all the difference.

Lowering on dinan springs will correct the poke in the rear ?

[csg]

Originally Posted by Anthony235

same spec as my old setup, but I had a 12mm spacer up front. lowering will make all the difference.

PM'd

[csg]

Originally Posted by XutvJet

A drop will help the look and will also push the tops of the rear wheels inwards. I'd also consider 255 width rear tires. It will help a lot.

It's interesting how significantly stretched tires appear visually shorter, even though that's not physically possible, and make the wheel gaps appear larger. The depicted is a big reason why I went with 18X8 et43 wheels and not the more common 8.5" ~et45 front and ~9.5" et45 rears. For one, I think 9.5 in the back is overkill on these cars and two, I can run a 245/35R18 square setup if I want because of the ~10mm clearance I have with the front shock assembly. The setup I'm running is very flush with the fender lines and the visually meatier tires make the car look lower.

The more I read now, the more I wish I read before I bought those wheels. Oh well! You purchased those Alutec wheels, right? They look pretty great! I'm strongly considering a set of 8.5" wheels out back (Anthony's that he has for sale) with the 245 section tire I have on hand to make it work. Once it's time for new tires, the car will be lower and I can look at going 245 square for next year. It would be nice to be able to rotate tires.

[Anthony235]

Originally Posted by knoteasy25

Lowering on dinan springs will correct the poke in the rear ?

More than likely. I had h&r springs for awhile with my setup. No poke.

[mrfattbill]

What part of Dayton are you in? I would love to see that in person.

Thanks

Bill

[XutvJet]

Originally Posted by csg

The more I read now, the more I wish I read before I bought those wheels. Oh well! You purchased those Alutec wheels, right? They look pretty great! I'm strongly considering a set of 8.5" wheels out back (Anthony's that he has for sale) with the 245 section tire I have on hand to make it work. Once it's time for new tires, the car will be lower and I can look at going 245 square for next year. It would be nice to be able to rotate tires.

The 8.5" width rims out back should get things more to your liking. You could run the OEM 245s or 255s. If the 245s are worn out, definitely go 255s as the tires sidewalls will look more squared off and will fill the wheel wells more.

Yes, I'm running the 18X8 Alutec Drives. If there was an option for 18X8.5, I would have done that for the rear, but they don't make them unfortunately, at least right now they don't.

[csg]

Originally Posted by mrfattbill

What part of Dayton are you in? I would love to see that in person.

Thanks

Bill

I'm in Oakwood, send me a PM and we can meet up sometime. I will only be on stock suspension for another 2 weeks, just pulled the trigger on a set of DINAN springs 😃

[knoteasy25]

[QUOTE=csg;21639321]I'm in Oakwood, send me a PM and we can meet up sometime. I will only be on stock suspension for another 2 weeks, just pulled the trigger on a set of DINAN springs 😃

Please let us know if dinan springs solved the poke problem in the rear.

[csg]

Well, I figured the best way to solve my wheel problem is with more modifications, so I did just that. A set of DINAN springs! Springs were purchased at Mod Bargains with their tax return discount (which was only a few bucks, but hey). Installation was done at my favorite local indy shop, P3 Autokrafte in Centerville, OH. All in, the job cost me around $1,200 parts and labor. Why not just double my investment, right?

How do I feel now?
I like the wheels more, much more, but they still aren't perfect. The back protrudes around 3-5mm now as opposed to more than 10mm before. It now looks amazing from every angle except one, where you need to know what you're looking at in order to point and laugh at my inability to purchase wheels that fit properly. I'd say it's job done this season.

What do I do now?
Keeping these wheels as is until the season's over and I decide on a direction. Leaning towards staggered 18" silver CH-Rs next year, or just keep this and be happy. I like the widths and offsets of the CH-Rs more for my use, but they're twice the price, and next season I'll need tires too.

What do I recommend?
If you are like me, get a set of 4 8.5" wheels unless you have a need for a lot of tire. 245s will fit fine on an 8.5" wheel and with the right front alignment/spacer, you may just be able to run square 245s. If you primarily street drive the car, that's my recommendation. I think the 9.5" wheels I have out back are good to something like 265, which without lowering more (and bringing the wheels in a bit) would look ridiculous. I'm as low as I ever want to go with this car (before I'd just say eff it, and buy an M2 instead).

Pictures? Yes, those.
Tuna: Now with springs as well as new shoes. by Colby Gregory, on Flickr

Tuna: Now with springs as well as new shoes. by Colby Gregory, on Flickr

Tuna: Now with springs as well as new shoes. by Colby Gregory, on Flickr

Tuna: Now with springs as well as new shoes. by Colby Gregory, on Flickr

Tuna: Now with springs as well as new shoes. by Colby Gregory, on Flickr
SO CLOSE!!!

Tuna: Now with springs as well as new shoes. by Colby Gregory, on Flickr

Sorry my photos are crapola, I was too lazy to break out the XT-1 and take big boy photographs.