17" rims with no lowering???

[91AccordLX]

i am fixing to buy some 17" rims with 205/40/17 wheels on them....a friend of mine told me my car will look high since i will not be lowering it...is that true? do i have to lower my car so it wont look bad?? thanks

[CrisQo]

Your going to have a nice big gap and IMO it will look funny. I bought my rims and put em on before I lowered my car, had a good laugh everytime I was looking at it.

[uncle_el]

yes, the car will look as if it is riding high.

i had the same dilemma when i first got my 17s. however, i liked 17s and riding high much more than the stock wheels. once you get a drop, it looks even better.

[kings_blend]

i got 17's with 215/45/17 tires and ppl think my car is lowered... so i doubt it will, but i cant remember what it looked like with stock rims......

[91AccordLX]

hey kings that picture of your car..are those the 17's on it?? if thats what mine will look like with no lowering i will be more than happy,that looks really sharp. wait you did say you have no lowering springs right??

[accordtunerx]

kings_blend has bigger profile tires than usual though. what is the profile size of them kings_blend? they look like 45's.

[kings_blend]

yes they are 17's and urs will look like that, and ya they are 45's but i wanna get 40, but the 45 are good for potholes and stuff i hit so many and my rims are still good as new, the reason my car looks so low is prob cuz its on a slanted driveway, and my sub box with 2 12" subs weighs like 100 lbs so the back looks lower than the front by a bit..... its the cheap way to lower ur car when u have no money..... like me

[accordtunerx]

i think that 45's may make the car look a bit lower... since the profile takes up a little more fender space than the 40's. but i guess it wouldn't make a dramatic difference.

i have the 40's on my konigs and i like the look of them, but like you said... it makes it more scary to drive around on - especially on construction roads and stuff.

[DrLove'sKuDang]

personally i think 17's without lowering looks bad, from my own experience. if you cant lower it because of local conditions, then i guess its better than nothing. just doesnt look good, imo.

before


after

[Lithium92]

i concur with everyone who has mentioned to lower the car... it looks odd. The lower profile tires will just make the wheel gap more obvious. My recommendation would be to lower the car first before putting on some rims.

[nirvoUSAccord]

Originally posted by Lithium92
i concur with everyone who has mentioned to lower the car... it looks odd. The lower profile tires will just make the wheel gap more obvious. My recommendation would be to lower the car first before putting on some rims.

thats what i wish i woulda done. when i got my 17"konig imagines my car wasnt lowered and it looked like a 4x4, so i would suggest lowering it first then springin for some wheels

[accordzoom]

not to seem pushy but yeah lower first then rims, u cna get springs installed for around 100 bones and i happen to have a nice lil drop available for that, just email me, and we can work something out
JasonB@maab.aorcentaf.af.mil

[91AccordLX]

damn that does look bad without lowering...

[accordzoom]

lol, I wouldnt say it looks bad..just abnormal but in time im sure you will work something 0ut

[Swifty1638]

Lemme break it down for you..

Let's start by looking at the
height of the factory tire :

195/60/15. Calculated out that's a tire height of :

(195*.60*2)/25.4+15 = 24.21inches

The new tire you're looking at has a height of:

(205*.40*2)/25.4+17 = 23.45inches

That means the overall height of the tire is actually shorter than the stock tire. Thus your car will be lowered by half of the difference (since half of the height is above the hub and half is below it). Thus your car will actually lower by .38". Likely it will amount to an actual change in height of nothing because this does not calculate in side-wall flex or tire pressure changes. This is also a calculated height assuming that the tires are fitted to the proper rims and a bunch of other things.

So, in other words, yes your car will look funny. I am getting a 1.3 inch drop, since the suspension geometry would go wack with too much more. Cars, outta the factory, are setup to ride and handle their best at the setup they have..throwing a lowering kit on it, with stock suspension pieces, like arms, tow, etc..will throw the "correctness" out the window. This also means you will need to get a camber kit, since front wheel drive vehicles stock suspensions allow for little play in the camber/toe department. I hope this answers your questions. A 1.3 inch drop will give you about 1-2 finger gap..good enough for me..especially with winters around here..

-A. Swift