Looking for some help/insight here regarding wider wheels and tires on my 2005 S2000. The car is turbo'd making mid 500hp to the wheels, and that might be increasing soon too, so I'm in the search for more traction. I do track days and roll races on the track, and wouldn't mind a little drag racing here and there. I am running SBG Ohlins coilovers. Wheels are Enkei PF01, tires are Hankook RS4: 17x8 +50 235/45/17 up front and 17x9 +48 255/40/17 rear. I'm installing Vaikhari +30mm front fenders since one of my stock fenders got a little tweaked from my current wheel/tire setup somehow. Rear fenders are rolled and tabs relocated since the rear tires were rubbing over large bumps.

How wide can I go in the rear without cutting/pulling the rear fenders? I've been looking at fitmentindustries.com and it looks like some people run 11" or even 11.5" wide rear wheels without too much drama, as long as the offset is high. I really don't mind the look of the Voltex +25mm rear fender flares if I needed to add them to create more room for more tire. If a guy did all that, how wide can you go then?

 

There was a response that was apparently deleted right away but it had some relevant info that is good to know. Here is what it said:

Chibo has just replied to a thread you have subscribed to entitled - Increasing Contact Patch - in the Wheels and Tires by The Tire Rack forum of S2KI Honda S2000 Forums.

This thread is located at:
https://www.s2ki.com/forums/showthre...6&goto=newpost

Here is the message that has just been posted:
***************
If you're putting flares on the car then you're cutting the underlying fender, otherwise there is no point to doing it. People have fit a 315 hoosier in the back of these things with mangled up rear fenders, so it really depends on what your plan for the car is.

Something like a 17x10 with a 255 fits under standard rolled stock fenders.

 

Sorry, yeah, I deleted it after I posted it because I figured it didn't really fit the post.

A 17x10 +55 will 100% fit a 225 Hoosier or 255 non-Hoosier under stock rolled front and rear fenders with a normal track alignment. You can get a 245 Hoosier and larger non-Hoosier under there with that size/offset if you're a little bit more careful.
If you want an 10.5"+ wheel then you're going to have a little bit harder time due to availability of workable offsets at a reasonable price. If you want to fit specific wider and lower offset wheels then that is when you get into overfender territory, unless you just like the way they look.

 

This is why I always say the fronts are at much higher risk or damage even with higher offsets. Rear over fenders only add space if you cut the the quarter panel. You can fit 11 inch in the rear. Just need a high enough offset. Look at people running ccw’s on oem fenders.

 

Its all good. Any bits of information are helpful here. Just weighing the pros and cons of trying to go really wide.

I was noticing some 11" wide wheels on the rear of some S2000s, which seems just crazy to me, but hey if they fit, thats probably big enough for me. I would like to avoid cutting the quarter panels of course, but it wouldn't be the end of the world if I had to. The body of this car isn't perfect by any means.

 

I do think it is funny when people are willing to do a pretty extreme turbo build but won't cut a fender or sometimes even roll them. @s2000Junky is the resource for wide wheels on this car. It is worth noting that with that wide of a wheel you'd be better off going with 18's since you'll have more tire choice for wider than 255 tire sizes.

 

If your going to stick with 17's then naturally your next size up is a 315/35. 275/40 isn't worth it. Same rolling diameter as the 315 but not much more width over the 255 to make worth while. But to run a 315 you really need over fenders because the inside clearance starts becoming a factor, so you have to be able to run a more aggressive outer fitment to insure clearance there. 18's you wouldn't have to run over fenders if you didn't want to hack the fenders given the proper wheel spec and you can get 285/30 and 295/30 options which are good enough width with the proper compound, but 18's tires are much more expensive and also not the best overall for hooking up for strait line out of the hole because the sidewall is so short/doesn't flex. So there is some pros and cons to each. Also consider you could send any cast or forged aluminum wheel to weldcraft to get the inside widened for a couple hundred bucks each. Your current wheels wouldn't have the proper starting offset to do this and make a 315/35 work however - not without running wheel spacers and over fender, but that is still an option.

 

https://www.apexraceparts.com/18x11-...ang-wheel.html

Off the shelf cast wheel that will fit the rear and will theoretically fit the front with fender mangling and/or wide fender replacement.

18x11 +52

 

I forgot to mention that I don't plan on sticking with my current wheels at all. They have been fine but I want to go with something different. Thanks for the info about going 18" instead of 17" and I'll have to dig into that more.

Ideally I don't want to cut the rear quarters, but like I said earlier, I'm not opposed to it. Its more the time/money for fixing the body that bothers me about that, plus I really don't have a clue when it comes to adding rear flares or over fenders. No I don't want some big ridiculous over fenders either, it would have to be something that looks clean.

 

@s2000Junky would you mind sharing your wheel and tire specs? Also how much wider are your fenders and quarter panels?