Wheels Going Wide - 265/35R18 Tire Setup with Stock Fenders, Measurements Included

[1FastStagea]

Well I finally had some free time to test fit a wheel from my other car which just so happens to be the exact size/dimensions that I was hoping to run on my Veloster N; 18x9.5 +35 with a 265/35R18 track tire (Nankang NS-2R to be exact).

This setup isn't for the feint of heart, it requires aggressive camber specs all around, as well as some fender rolling and possibly even pulling (not 100% sure if it will be required as I don't have my lowering springs or camber bolts on yet) however I do think it is completely doable with the stock fenders. The most important part however is the fact that there is quite a bit more clearance on the inside of the wheel where all the suspension bits are than I thought there was going to be.

These measurements are taken with stock suspension components and height, as well as stock alignment specs (-0.7* front camber, -1.7* rear camber).

I'll be splitting the pictures up between 2 posts because there's more than 10 and posts are limited to 10. Without further ado here's how the wheel fits on the front:








Tire to spring perch fitment:




Tire to strut fitment:









How it sits on the ground:







Fender liner clearance at full lock (it doesn't rub, there's about 4-5mm of clearance):





How much it pokes out from the front fenders with stock alignment specs:

 

[1FastStagea]

Rear fitment:





Tire to strut clearance (quite close, I can only fit my index finger tip between the strut cover and the tire so approx. 7-10mm):






Tire to trailing arm clearance (bottom):






Tire to trailing arm clearance (top):





How much the wheel sticks out from the stock rear fenders with stock alignment:

 

[Cygnus X-1]

Too pokey for me, but you do you, as long as you don’t resort to one of those dysfunctional “stance” setups.

My goal is to fit a 265 without having to mod the fenders and without too much negative camber. If not, a 255 should be good enough. Thinking 17x8.5 +48 should work.

 

[GazmaN]

Rear fitment:

View attachment 5222

View attachment 5223

Tire to strut clearance (quite close, I can only fit my index finger tip between the strut cover and the tire so approx. 7-10mm):

View attachment 5224

View attachment 5227


Tire to trailing arm clearance (bottom):


View attachment 5225



Tire to trailing arm clearance (top):


View attachment 5226


How much the wheel sticks out from the stock rear fenders with stock alignment:

View attachment 5228

View attachment 5229

Whoa, tight! Just between you and me and the rest of the world - did you spin the fronts so the 'N' on the caliper was in clear view when you took the snap? Just asking coz that's what I would have done. Looks tough man .

 

[Nomad17]

Glad you guys are out there testing the limits so people like me don't have to learn the hard way. Glad to see a little more room on the inside than I expected but 265 definitely going to be close.

 

[1FastStagea]

Too pokey for me, but you do you, as long as you don’t resort to one of those dysfunctional “stance” setups.

My goal is to fit a 265 without having to mod the fenders and without too much negative camber. If not, a 255 should be good enough. Thinking 17x8.5 +48 should work.

I think this is probably one of the least aggressive wheel setups you can use to properly run a 265 unfortunately, seeing how close it is to the suspension components. Any higher of an offset and you'll likely rub on something inside, you may need to settle for a 255 on a 9. Also keep in mind that this is with hardly any camber. These cars will function very well on the circuit with -2.5* or more because of the suspension type, and also keep in mind that the rear semi-trailing arm setup also gains camber as it compresses I believe.

I wouldn't go to an 8.5 if you want to run a 255, from my experience its good to have a slight stretch on the tires to allow you to feel traction breakaway from the tire at a more gradual pace. If you have a tire that is too large for the wheel or "bulges" over the sides of the wheel lips you may have slightly more outright grip than a narrower tire on the same wheel but it will give very little indication that you are approaching it's grip limit and tends to lose grip more suddenly/unexpectedly.

Whoa, tight! Just between you and me and the rest of the world - did you spin the fronts so the 'N' on the caliper was in clear view when you took the snap? Just asking coz that's what I would have done. Looks tough man .

That was actually just a coincidence but I'll gladly pretend it was intentional lol.

 

[Cygnus X-1]

I love searching for great deals on used classic wheels. Found these forged Racing Harts but +25 is too aggressive. Sorry for the garbage pic from CL.

 

[1FastStagea]

I love searching for great deals on used classic wheels. Found these forged Racing Harts but +25 is too aggressive. Sorry for the garbage pic from CL.

View attachment 5238

What's the width? +25 on a 8.5 isn't bad, that would equal about +37 on a 9.5 so still less aggressive than what's pictured above. But yes, I love getting nice wheels for good deals used lol. I've gotten some pretty crazy deals that way on a lot of my previous wheel setups. I've even imported some from Japan a few times because you can find even crazier deals there a lot of times.

Also keep in mind a lot of 17s won't fit over the N's front brakes. I tested a few, only 1 set I tried didn't have fitment issues. You'll need something with a lot of clearance around where the spokes meet the barrel if you plan on running 17s, so something with a stepped lip like those Racing Harts might not be the best idea.

 

[Cygnus X-1]

How about these? 17x9 +45

 

[1FastStagea]

How about these? 17x9 +45

View attachment 5239

Sizing is good, but you'd need to test fit on the fronts to see how clearance is. I don't think you'll get away without test fitting any 17" wheel you find to be honest. Of course if the deal is good enough and the guy won't let you test fit them (or is too far away and would be shipping them to you), it may be worth it for you to buy them anyways and just flip them if they don't fit.

 

[Cygnus X-1]

Knowing the measurements of the front caliper for clearance would be nice to know.

 

[1FastStagea]

Knowing the measurements of the front caliper for clearance would be nice to know.

Yes yes, I'll see what I can do... lol.

 

[Y0UKN0WITSCHRIS]

Well I finally had some free time to test fit a wheel from my other car which just so happens to be the exact size/dimensions that I was hoping to run on my Veloster N; 18x9.5 +35 with a 265/35R18 track tire (Nankang NS-2R to be exact).

This setup isn't for the feint of heart, it requires aggressive camber specs all around, as well as some fender rolling and possibly even pulling (not 100% sure if it will be required as I don't have my lowering springs or camber bolts on yet) however I do think it is completely doable with the stock fenders. The most important part however is the fact that there is quite a bit more clearance on the inside of the wheel where all the suspension bits are than I thought there

I think this is probably one of the least aggressive wheel setups you can use to properly run a 265 unfortunately, seeing how close it is to the suspension components. Any higher of an offset and you'll likely rub on something inside, you may need to settle for a 255 on a 9. Also keep in mind that this is with hardly any camber. These cars will function very well on the circuit with -2.5* or more because of the suspension type, and also keep in mind that the rear semi-trailing arm setup also gains camber as it compresses I believe.

I wouldn't go to an 8.5 if you want to run a 255, from my experience its good to have a slight stretch on the tires to allow you to feel traction breakaway from the tire at a more gradual pace. If you have a tire that is too large for the wheel or "bulges" over the sides of the wheel lips you may have slightly more outright grip than a narrower tire on the same wheel but it will give very little indication that you are approaching it's grip limit and tends to lose grip more suddenly/unexpectedly.



That was actually just a coincidence but I'll gladly pretend it was intentional lol.

Not to high jack your post but you seem very knowledgeable with suspension related components and suspensions in general. And I know you’ve mentioned running just springs in the future. I’ve always been told that running springs on stock struts will guarantee strut issues and ride like crap etc. I’m a big fan of the VNs adaptive suspension and want to keep the adjustability but also would like to drop the car just a tad maybe an inch at Max. And I know we’re quite some time off from receiving a set of decent coilovers with the electronic functionality. And I can only imagine what they’ll cost.. also if I do end up running just springs and blow oem strut I can imagine they’re going to cost a pretty penny. But what’s your past experiences been with them and what kind of cons have you experienced if any ?

 

[1FastStagea]

Not to high jack your post but you seem very knowledgeable with suspension related components and suspensions in general. And I know you’ve mentioned running just springs in the future. I’ve always been told that running springs on stock struts will guarantee strut issues and ride like crap etc. I’m a big fan of the VNs adaptive suspension and want to keep the adjustability but also would like to drop the car just a tad maybe an inch at Max. And I know we’re quite some time off from receiving a set of decent coilovers with the electronic functionality. And I can only imagine what they’ll cost.. also if I do end up running just springs and blow oem strut I can imagine they’re going to cost a pretty penny. But what’s your past experiences been with them and what kind of cons have you experienced if any ?

First off, you might wanna fix your post. Looks like you accidentally typed inside the quote you posted

Regarding lowering springs and stock dampers, it's generally accepted that anything around the 1" drop area is typically safe so long as you have your original bump stops in place. What often kills dampers is bottoming out, and running springs that are drastically outside of the spring rate the dampers were designed to be paired with. As long as you don't exceed the travel the shock allows with the bump stops installed, and the springs you're installing are relatively close to the spring rates of the OEM springs they should be alright for a while. I've had H&R springs on my M3 before this car for a couple years on the stock shocks and they drove and lasted just fine, and I believe it was a more aggressive drop than the one for the VN/i30N.

 

[Cygnus X-1]

Leaning towards doing a conversion to a smaller GM/Brembo 4-piston front caliper that will allow usage of 16s, while leaving the rears alone. The N fronts are only 2-piston jobbies and overall braking numbers were worse compared to the CTR.

 

[1FastStagea]

What tires were used for both tests though? The CTR has wider front tires than the N doesn't it? That would have a bigger impact in braking than calipers at this point I think...

Most brake comparisons are useless because of this. I'm straying away from brembos because of replacement costs personally. I know I'll be going through at least one set of pads and likely rotors a year since I'll be beating the hell out of it on the track. On top of that, weigh the 4-pots and compare them and their rotors to the stock ones. Curious to see what the difference would be since that's an important weight figure (unsprung). Would probably offset the small weight savings you'd get from running 17s vs 18s.

 

[Cygnus X-1]

The braking numbers are in the C&D VN vs. CTR article (scroll down and view the test data PDF):

https://www.caranddriver.com/review...r-versus-hyundai-veloster-n-hot-hatch-battle/

GM Brembos are OEM & cheap. Just need to find rear 4-pots that will work up front. Might have to swap to thinner rotors to accomodate the rear calipers. Already way ahead of you re: unsprung weight. I did a bunch of research and saved weights for each caliper variant.

 

[1FastStagea]

The braking numbers are in the C&D VN vs. CTR article (scroll down and view the test data PDF):

https://www.caranddriver.com/review...r-versus-hyundai-veloster-n-hot-hatch-battle/

GM Brembos are OEM & cheap. Just need to find rear 4-pots that will work up front. Might have to swap to thinner rotors to accomodate the rear calipers. Already way ahead of you re: unsprung weight. I did a bunch of research and saved weights for each caliper variant.

Just looked at the results from C&D you posted, and tire specs. The CTR stopped 10 feet shorter than the N from 70mph (113km/h) in their tests. The CTR uses 245 width Continental SportContact 6 (240 treadwear) whereas the N has 235 width Pirelli P Zero PZ4 (300 treadwear). So right off the bat there's a fairly large grip difference from the tire setup alone. One size wider and also softer compound tires on the CTR which could easily account for that 10 foot distance.

I am interested in seeing what you've come up with for an upgrade though... I'm a sucker for BBKs

 

[Y0UKN0WITSCHRIS]

First off, you might wanna fix your post. Looks like you accidentally typed inside the quote you posted

Regarding lowering springs and stock dampers, it's generally accepted that anything around the 1" drop area is typically safe so long as you have your original bump stops in place. What often kills dampers is bottoming out, and running springs that are drastically outside of the spring rate the dampers were designed to be paired with. As long as you don't exceed the travel the shock allows with the bump stops installed, and the springs you're installing are relatively close to the spring rates of the OEM springs they should be alright for a while. I've had H&R springs on my M3 before this car for a couple years on the stock shocks and they drove and lasted just fine, and I believe it was a more aggressive drop than the one for the VN/i30N.

That’s embarrassing.. lol but thanks for the input I’m assuming the H&Rs are similiar to the spring rates of the VN. And I figured a one inch drop wouldn’t do too much damage since the car fully loaded prob sits an inch lower anyway. But I see a lot more negative stuff from internet mechanics and local guys here.

 

[1FastStagea]

That’s embarrassing.. lol but thanks for the input I’m assuming the H&Rs are similiar to the spring rates of the VN. And I figured a one inch drop wouldn’t do too much damage since the car fully loaded prob sits an inch lower anyway. But I see a lot more negative stuff from internet mechanics and local guys here.

A proper coilover setup or a properly matched shock and spring setup will always perform better than lowering springs on stock shocks, but for what we're doing I don't see a reason to drop $2k+ on a setup that may only ever see its proper use once a year if that. I think choosing the lowering springs that offer the drop you want (assuming you don't want to do some silly stance setup where you'd get stuck driving over small cracks in the road) and using them with the OEM dampers is the best choice for most people in here, myself included. The OEM dampers are quite good in my opinion as well.

But then again, this is my daily and occasional track toy. I have a much more serious car for my dedicated fun car