Didn't want to clutter up the will-it-fit thread with my problems.

Basically I'm having trouble with my tires destroying my fenderwell linings. I checked it today and it seems only the drivers side front tire is doing the most damage by far. The others are doing negligible damage, if any.

What confuses me is you see all these other RX8s that are slammed, hellasunk, hellaflush, etc. Then there's mine using the recommended wheel/tire specs, nothing crazy, I lowered it maybe an inch and a half (?), rolled the rear fenders and I'm still having problems with it. The rear coilovers bottom out if I have any passengers at all in my car, front or back seats, and the front tires are causing damage.

And I have people constantly telling me "It looks ok, but you gotta lower it more" and I'm like "HOW!?" I don't have the luxury of constantly being around gear heads who's brains I can pick. I'm worried that if I even try, I'm risking catastrophic tire damage. Not to mention the fact that I had to get my car towed last month and only 1 guy would do it because it was "so low" they all thought they would damage something.

In my limited experience and from what I've learned so far about tires and wheels, I'm guessing the problem is a combination of the offset of my wheels and the spacers pushing my wheels out too far, and possibly a little not enough camber. I just found out today that my wheels were +45 offset... But hey, I don't claim to be an expert. Here's my wheel specs and a couple pictures. I'd really love some advice, thanks in advance.

25mm spacers
8x18 wheels, +45 offset
245/40/18 tires

 

WTF, that is some damage but i know why. You should have went with 20MM spacers and your spring rates are too soft.

 

Either slow down when you're going over bumps or get some coilovers with better dampening and higher spring rates. What ones do you have in there now?

I've never had damage like that to my liners and I'm way lower with way bigger tires and I jump off rumble strips at the track all the time.


Also next time you need a tow in Arizona, contact Delta Towing at 6oh2-45one-47six3. Dragan is the guy you're looking for and he can tow anything. Eastern European dude, he's hilarious and also has a 800+WHP MKIV Supra. He's at the racetrack almost every event, there's always at least one person that breaks.

 

See that's what I'm talkin about, you guys are awesome

Tanabe Sustec Coilovers - Pro FIVE - JM Auto Racing - Intensify Your Ride

There's the coilovers I bought. For what it's worth, the damage was 10 times worse before I had them replaced. Seems to me the issue was the wheel specs you (9K) suggested were for STOCK wheels, and I incorrectly assumed that those wheels were more or less identical to stock, but instead the offset on these was lower than stock and that pushes the wheels out more. 5mm more as you mentioned.

I'm deploying in about 2 months so right now there's not much point in spending more money to fix the issue. Normally I would immediately but It seems to be stable enough to drive for now, and when I come back there's a good chance I'll be changing out those wheels for something far far nicer anyways.

Right now I'm figuring out what I need to fix and what I want to change for when I come back, so I know how much I'm gonna be spending. Looking at new headerback exhaust (hopefully BHR will be done with theirs by next year LOL), G25s and tires.

As for the wheels/spacers, oh well, live and learn I guess. At least now I finally know, and that makes me feel better I'm finally getting the hang of wheels and offset. Tires, well, I'm getting there.


Arca ex, I'm assuming he's based out of Phoenix, possibly Tucson? I'm 3 hours from Phoenix, and 1 hour from Tucson. That's one helluva bill, and I don't think my insurance's roadside assistance would cover that lol

 

Oh geez you're out in the boonies huh. Yeah he's Phoenix area.

 

Sucks living down here usually. What spring rates would you guys recommend?

 

9k/6k is a good street setup.

 

Except those springs are already 8k/6k and I'm still having problems...

 

You shouldn't be......bigger issue at hand most likely

 

Quality of the dampers have a lot to do with it as well. Add more camber and reduce spacers by like 5mm should help...

 

But what else could be effecting this other than the coilovers sucking?

I dont have any scraping.

 

I'm a little bit lower than you on 18x8.5 +25 and I have zero issues in the front. I rolled the rear fenders and shaved the bumper tabs. I'm running -2.8 degrees of camber on all 4 corners for autocross. My tires are 265/35R18.

 

Is there a downside to removing the fender liner?

 

A 245/40-18 has a 25.7" O.D., most others are running a smaller diameter tire which provides more clearance especially with a tire that is also wider than OE and spaced outward

 

Well now that I figured out the problem with my wheels, now I'm wondering why the rear coilover springs aren't doing the job. There's not much extra weight in the trunk, at least not so much that just 1 passenger gives me issues. I don't have much time before I deploy. I should get it back from the body shop tomorrow (involved in a hit and run), I might take it down to my mechanic and ask him what the deal is.

 

On the '8, the fender liner protects a number of sophisticated components, including the rear of the headlight housing, the oil coolers, and separates these from the tire and crap/road sludge the tires spin up.

Remember, it's a fairly precisely engineered sports car, not a ford f-150 lol

Legit question though man, cuz that was my first thought when I realized I was having similar issue.


Causes:
Car is too low
Spring rate is too soft
Spacing is too wide
Not enough negative camber for full clearance

Some combo of the above.

Now, I'm not going to recommend that you going alter any or all of those specs on you car, this enters the realm of the unending hot debate: FORM vs. FUNCTION

Personally, I had the same problem very recently. My solution, was to raise the car up on a taller, stiffer spring on all four corners. solved about 95% of my rubbing issue, and I even kept my spacers (25mm) and stepped up my front camber to -1.8
For me anyway, this was a better balance of driving Preformance and aesthetics.

In addition to doing all of this, I replaced the inner fender liners
( which are 2 pieces each, and like $50 per piece for freakin plastic sheets!)

Absolutely recommend you replacing them! As far as maintaining ride height, camber, the slammed look or whatever you're going for. If you want to continually replace those liners every so many months is up to you man.

Keep in mind, a lot of these guys on here that are "hella-slammed" are not daily drivers, living areas with smoother, more even roads, or just genuinely more careful with cars because they realize they're nearly undrivable due to the slammed look they were trying to achieve. Or on bags: the ultimate compromise.

I realize that I'm reviving a thread that's like four months old now, but since I recently went through all this myself, I figured I would share some insight for the record.