This may seem like a really stupid question but an honest one. I have had my car for many years now and am beginning to wonder if it is lowered or not. I have no real way of telling. Reason why i'm asking is that i'd like to lift the car by about 1/2 inch to accomidate the new tires i put on and don't know if i can change springs to do it. I just put 245/40/18's on it and don't like the lack of clearance between the fender and tire. If i hit a pot whole i'm going to crack a fender. Maybe somebody with similar setup can look at my pics and tell me if it is lowered or not? The pics in the link in my registry are 225/35/18's
Kris Bloom
Street Challenge
http://www.streetchallenge.info
Http://www.streetsourcemag.com/projectz/ <--- The Cav
your Cav is lowered. what setup? I have no idea. best bet would be to get a pic of the strut/spring with the wheels off and post it up.
Desert Tuners
“When you come across a big kettle of crazy, it’s best not to stir it.”
get the right tire size. do you know how tire sizes work. that tire size is way and i mean way too big for a cav. your speedo is off and your causing your tranny to do more work than it has to. get rid of those tires and get
225/40/18 tires.
Agreed. The tires are both too wide and too tall for the car. Even at stock height, you'll probably have issues with them hitting the rear fenders unless you roll them or do some sort of widebody over them.
Even stock tires tuck under the rear fenders if you hit a big enough bump. If they're too wide to tuck, you're not going to just raise the car so high that they'll never travel that far.
You could put stiffer springs on to limit the amount of contact, but the better solution is to properly engineer what you're doing to make that contact impossible.
Heres an easy tip: If it looks like you can off-road in your Cavy (i.e. 6+ inches of ground clearance) then its stock. If it is less than 6 inches of ground clearance, get the fat guy off your bumper and remeasure.
225/40/18 is way to big of a tire for a cavalier. i have 205/40/17 which should tell you something.
BTW:
205 is the width, the 40 is the ratio of the side wall compared to the width of the tire/ and the 17 of course is the rim size. so now imagine the 225/40/18. wider tire means the 40 has a taller side wall compared to mine, and the rim is an inch bigger. figure it out.
225/40/18 is the correct size needed. your 205/40/17 is way too small
Kevin Pecoraro wrote:225/40/18 is way to big of a tire for a cavalier. i have 205/40/17 which should tell you something.
BTW:
205 is the width, the 40 is the ratio of the side wall compared to the width of the tire/ and the 17 of course is the rim size. so now imagine the 225/40/18. wider tire means the 40 has a taller side wall compared to mine, and the rim is an inch bigger. figure it out.
Idiot, you know NOTHING about tire sizes, don't go around spreading misinformation.
225/40/18 is the proper size for 18's, with 17's you can do either 225/45/17 or 215/45/17, depending on your preference.
To the original poster, I assume you bought your car after it was modified. From the pics in your reg, it is definitely lowered.
It's not substantial, probably Eibach Pro-Kit. Don't raise it.
" To study and not think is a waste. To think and not study is dangerous. "
^^^ It is hard to tell because the drift kit sit really low with out having a drop and 1.2" may be the lowest you can go with out major problems
2004 Grand Prix GTP (Competition Group)
SOLD-->1999 Z24 5M-#30 to register on JBO
"You can please some of the people some of the time but you can't please all the people'
all the time
Yea, the guy that owned it before me did modify the car a little. When i bought it it had shaved (but cracked out) taillights and black with blue pearl paint. I thought it was lowered a couple inches but never knew for sure. But i apreciate the confirmation. I was trying the 245/40/18's cause that is the smallest 18 inch drag radials they make. After putting them on i think i may want to change the size of the front wheels to 17's and go with a set of 205/40R17 BFGoodrich g-Force T/A Drag Radials. That seems like the best size for looks and performance (to keep the tire/wheel diameter smaller for better acceleration.
Kris Bloom
Street Challenge
http://www.streetchallenge.info
Http://www.streetsourcemag.com/projectz/ <--- The Cav
if your looking for acceleration and speed why not just get some light weight 16s?
cause i want wheels/tires that will look good as well. I'd like to be able to keep from swapping out rims/tires all the time. I have a set of 15 inch rims with drag radials for the track, i just want a good bix of performance/looks for the street. I'm putting down over 300 WHP on pump gas, more on race fuel so traction and performace are important.
Kris Bloom
Street Challenge
http://www.streetchallenge.info
Http://www.streetsourcemag.com/projectz/ <--- The Cav
Kevin Pecoraro wrote:225/40/18 is way to big of a tire for a cavalier. i have 205/40/17 which should tell you something.
BTW:
205 is the width, the 40 is the ratio of the side wall compared to the width of the tire/ and the 17 of course is the rim size. so now imagine the 225/40/18. wider tire means the 40 has a taller side wall compared to mine, and the rim is an inch bigger. figure it out.
dont talk @!#$ unless you know for sure. i have the same tire size as you but i was well aware when i bought them that they were to small but that what i wanted.
205/45/r17..thats what i have. little typo, my bad....and trust me. i know a thing or two about tires
BTW...a 205/45/17 is appropriate size for my cavalier. my wheels are 17x7 so 205 is perfect width, in fact the tire is made for that size.
however, the info that i gave him about reading a tire is all correct and i wasnt talking @!#$ and dave, i wish you wouldnt be so quick to judge.
Quiklilcav wrote:Kevin Pecoraro wrote:205/45/r17..thats what i have. little typo, my bad....and trust me. i know a thing or two about tires
A little typo? 
You restated 40 three times in your post.
Also, even at an aspect ratio of 45, your 205 is too small. Proper aspect ratio for a 205 on a 17 is 50, but 225/45 is the best match to proper overall height on a J-body with a 17" rim.
Maybe you know something about tires, maybe you don't. However, when giving advice, make sure you know something about articulation, and make sure your information is accurate. Makes a world of difference. 
let me come out and apologize for giving out the wrong info. i could have swore that i was correct but after doing the math, you, i guess y'all were right.
i broke down the numbers and compared the stock tire size, which I BELIEVE to be is 195/70/14 for a base coupe.
circumferences:
195/70/14: 77.9"----->813.4 rotations per mile
205/45/17: 76.0"----->833.7 rotations per mile
205/50/17: 78.5"----->807.1 rotations per mile
whoa, that adds up. for every 1000 miles you put on the 14" steelies, you would put roughly 1024.9 miles on the 17" with the 205/45 ratio. The 205/50's would show up as 992.3 miles
. if my calculations are correct.
you can check the numbers, im already what, 0-3 on this thread so far.
good thing the tires were free.
http://miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html
Using the stock 14" size (which you had correct): 195/70r14 (815 rev/mile)
Going to 205/40r17 the speedo is 5.2% fast w/ 860.0 rev/mile
205/45r17 = 2% fast (831 rev/mile)
215/45r17 = .5% fast (819 rev/mile)
The numbers you posted are close to what I got using the calc, (your circumferences were a bit off) so within tolerance.
You rock for not getting all bent out of shape from everyone ragging on you. Props to you man. There are few people on here that can admit they were incorrect and continue on posting without going on a rant.
Kris Bloom wrote:cause i want wheels/tires that will look good as well. I'd like to be able to keep from swapping out rims/tires all the time. I have a set of 15 inch rims with drag radials for the track, i just want a good bix of performance/looks for the street. I'm putting down over 300 WHP on pump gas, more on race fuel so traction and performace are important.
I'm going to be honest with what you have don to your car and your goals for power etc.... I do not understand why you want 18's or even 17's for racing tires. If your going to be going to the track have some stock 16's, or some aftermarket leight weight racing wheels would be best. Why put all this time in one part and then slack on another part. Also thinking of raising the car, you are working against the work you have done. All this power but can't put it to the ground properly. I can understand wanting nice looking wheels, who does not. At some point you have to make a choice.
FU Tuning
isnt any one curious about his 300 horsepower claim?? i know i am
