question about lowering and tire size

ok so i've got a 96 lx 2.2 non vtec , stock suspension currently, however i am getting a nice set of drop zone coilovers from wheelbroker, i plan on lowering around 1.5 in , or to get rid of the wheel gap, i have 17x7 motegi mr7's currently, just wondering what tire size i should have on this, with the drop so not to rub, maybe some of you have 17's and have dropped maybe i can get what tire size you guys are running, i plan on keeping the 17's not going any smaller or bigger, currently have 205/40/17's , but they are so thin, i was hoping to go with a bigger tire, what do you guys think?????

7" width is good for 205 or 215.  225 is pushing it.  Offset is the most important thing in fittment .... should be around 40-48.  In the wheels and tires sticky, I posted a few links to tools to compare old and new tire sizes and rims.

i'm told the offset is +40

I think accords use +45 for all of the stock rims.  plug the #'s into the calculator and see how it affects the wheel placement.  Then after you drop the car with the coilovers, see if you have the space where you need it.

ok so i did some research, i found out my stock rims were 15x5 1/2 with a 50mm offset , when i plug that into the calculator along with my new 17x7 40mm offset  it says inner clearance  THE SAME    outer position    THE SAME   so what does this mean?

My rims are +42 and they stick out to the fenders, my steelies on the other hand sink in a lot, I wouldn't be surprised if the offset is around +35. I'm running 205/40R17. The best advice I can give you is to stick with a tire size as wide as the rim can hold and keep the rolling diameter as close as possible to stock as to not mess too much with suspension geometry and speedometer issues. If you want to rid yourself of wheel gap, lower your car more. It's cheaper too, the one time cost of suspension upgrades vs. buying bigger new tires for the rest of your ownership?


PS - This was my 1000th post. HOORAY FOR ME!

check to make sure that you entered the #'s right.  A 5.5" rim will never have the same inner and outter clearances as a 7" rim.


EDIT:  I tried it with your #'s and got 9mm less inside clearance and the outside will extend 29mm further.

A correctly sized wheel will (usually) keep the inner clearance as close to stock as possible and, as you go wider, push the wheel out towards the fender.

oh, i redid it, i had put in  5 1/2  not 5.5 , now i got the same as you inner  9mm less  and outer  extend 29mm  so what do those numbers mean?
 
 
EDIT, i  mean i understand i have 9mm less clearance inside and it goes 29mm more outside, but how does this help me to figure out what tires to run with a 1.5 in drop , to whole point is, i am sure i can achieve that drop with the 205/40/zr17s i have now, but i do not like them, they are to thin, when i hit a bump i could damage rim or tire or both, would like 215/50/zr17 but not sure if i can do that with the drop

the inner lip of the rim will ride 9mm tighter on the inside.  At max turn, you need to see if it will rub on anything.  Also, the outter surface when going straight will be 29mm further out than the stock wheels .... see if that's ok too.

There are no hard fast rules for combining lowering and upsizing rims.  There are just too many variables.  In general, I think those rims will fit fine, but at full turn, they might rub a little, though to say for sure (I don't think so).  If that is the case, you lose a couple of degrees from your tightest turn that you can make .... not a big deal for most people.

I had a 1" drop on my 5th gen, 1.5" will look even better. I bent my rim in a pothole a few weeks ago, it definitely sucks, but I don't think such a small increase in size is going to protect you much better.

so basically might as well just do the 1.5 in drop, keep the 205/40/zr17 and just becareful or go 215/50/zr17 and maybe lose a little turning radius, not to bad i guess, glad i didn't go 18's like i was thinking about, then my choices would be very little to none.  thanks guys

You'll have to even more careful pulling into parking spots. For some reason I always scraped the tow hook and not the lip... odd. Anyways, it was half worn down when I totaled it.

Also, you should upload some pics to your galley. I don't think I've ever seen a 5th gen in such an awesome blue.

ok i made a gallery, my digital camera is on the fritz, but i had these already on my pc, keep in mind the car is dirty and i've done some more things to it since then, but i got some pics up, will put better ones once i either get a new camera or fix mine !

For the tire size change, use the miata tool.  It will tell you how the overall height compares between the 2 tires and also with the stock setup.  It also tells you how much off your speedo is.  A 50 sidewall will give a descent amount of cushion over the 40's.

my 95 has a 1 1/2" drop.   Do a search on yahoo on "tire size calculator".  Discount tire has one.
Here are pics of my car.   It's not bad for a 13 year old car:
http://www.hondaaccordforum.com/m_104675/tm.htm

hey you are rolling on the same rims as me louofm, and the 1.5 drop is about where i wanna go, so  what size rubber are you running?

For 17x7 wheels you'll want to go 205/40/R17 or 215/40R17, the first is a little smaller than stock and the second is a little larger than stock, plus they are pretty common sizes. I had the Pro-Kits too and they advertise 1.2 inch drops, but they settle to about 1.4-5.

miata.net has a nice tire calc too.