Wheel and tire alchemy for 2001 Accord LX
 

No pun intended, but I don't want to have to re-invent the wheel.

I'm an older guy who has gotten dragged into the weeds with his son's 2001 Accord LX.

At present, he has a car which has tires rubbing against his wheel well protective plastic shrouds. His friends and he lowered his car. Then he went and bought Hena 225/50-ZR-16 tires, mounting them on AVID 16"x"8" wheels.

I have read up a little on the effects of lowering a vehicle and using low profile tires (change in diameter, mileage, instrumentation panel shenanigans, potential for wheel damage, etc...).

I'm fresh out of ideas on how to stop the tire rub except for having him raise the car. He, on the other hand, is of the belief that he simply needs to go with smaller diameter wheels (15 or 14) in order to stop the rub. My opinion is that if he does that, he's going to be driving a cheese grater, grinding his way down the street until there is no more oil pan.

I'm hoping that there is a solution that doesn't involve taking a beating on selling off his wheels and tires.

Can someone help me untangle this mess?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Sorry, my advice is to raise the car back up to stock height; doing so will make the vehicle safer, handle better, and of course stop the rubbing.