millfire517

What would be the maximum amount of lowering and widest set of tires I could put on my car with 4 people in it? I want to drop my ride height and put staggered tires and rims on it but I don't want to have rubbing issues if the whole family wants to go on a long ride. Thanks

Jazzer The Cat

It is not soo much the amount of drop, but rather the springs be heavy enough to avoid bottoming out. That is to say, if you had a large enough family, if you know what I mean, you could bottom out on OEM springs. This is because enough weight would cause the suspension to run out of travel and would bottom out anyway.

In general, one should stick with about 1.5" of drop, to avoid some geometry issues going lower. Damping is quite important when going shorter/heavier springs, as the OEM shocks/struts are not going to work well and make the ride/handling less than they should. You would be safest to stick 9" wheels all the way around, as your clearance will improve.

The trick is to pick up a matched set of springs/shocks/struts for your New Edge. You can check with UPR suspension (sponsor here) or Stranoparts (sponsor here) and either will be happy to help you find what you seek

Jazzer

UPRSharad

Yeah, this is a tough one man. If you're looking for the maximum drop, I might try 255/40s in the front with 275/40s in the rear and about about a two inch drop. It should still have plenty of tire clearance with a full load.

Honestly though, if you're wanting to slam the car but maintain functionality for family trips, you are a strong candidate for adjustable coilovers.

We can definitely set you up at www.uprproducts.com.

Here's my '99 GT with about a 2" drop. Rode like poo, but I could drive it anywhere with four people in it. With a few tweaks, it could be made to have an acceptable ride quality.

millfire517

My main concern is cutting a tire, I really like the looks of the FR500 Black chrome rims in 17x10 or 17x10.5. But with just me I am not to worried about it. Just want to make sure I won't cut a tire with the whole family in there. PLus I want to go the the track once in a while, so I also want a suspension to help with that. Kinda sounds like I should go with Coil-overs. I have already thought about upgrading the rear end to get rid of the upper control arms by getting new Lower control arms and a Pan-hard bar. So I can use all the suggestions, I really would hate to have to do something twice. lol

Jazzer The Cat

Cutting the tires is relative to the width/off-set of the wheels and the sharp edges of the fenders. It makes no difference how low you go, if you have these two items addressed properly, you will NOT cut the tires. Now..... you may still rub, due to excessive compression of the suspension, but CO's are not going to avoid this in any way. This is controlled by the ride height of your car and nothing else.

You will not have an issue sticking with a 9" wheel and a 265 tire with a +24mm off-set. Still a good idea to bend over a couple of the sharp tabs on the insides of fenders, but you won't have any cutting of this set-up on your car To run a wider wheel/tire combo out back, might necessitate further rolling of the fenders, so you will need to do some research to see if this is something you are willing to do.

Jazzer

millfire517

Thanks for the help, I guess I am going to look in to having the Fenders rolled just for added security cause I would love to put a 10.5 rear wheel and tire combo out back, and my long time plans are to go FI, But I still might just stay with 10 inch out back. I just want a really good handling car at the track and something that won't beat me and my family to death on the trips to the country. When I get ready to do my suspension upgrades I may pick your brain a bit more.

UPRSharad

17x10.5s with 315/35s are a nice fit, and you can go low with them. I recommended the coilovers because if you knew you were going to be loading the car down, you could raise it up a little, very easily.