Wide Tires Can Be Bad!

As more power is added to our cars, we naturally look for more rear traction.  Wider rubber with wider wheels becomes the natural solution.  Ensuring you have good clearance is important as you can rub many different parts on your car, including:

• Fenders
• Wheel well liners
• Wishbones
• Suspension
• Chassis

Remember your tire (maybe even you wheel!) can flex under heavy cornering loads.  This reduces your clearance so it is critical that you leave room.  

The picture above shows a Nitron race shock that has a remote reservoir attached by a hose.  This joint can come in contact with an improperly sized wheel/tire combination.  

Recently we learned that a Lotus owner knocked this hose loose and lost his shock performance at the track.  He blamed the clip that holds the hose fitting to the shock.  We've never had any failure from this design but recognize that if something rubs it - like a tire - it could come loose.  Frankly, we think properly sizing your tire is the correct solution.

Recent track testing of our ETHOS 17x9 with 245 Hoosiers revealed that we were rubbing the outside fender.  Adding ReVerie rear fender flares would resolve this completely.  We will be adding these fenders soon to test but for now, we would admonish all y'all to watch clearance when adding wider wheels or tires to your Lotus!