Thinking of 245/45/r18 on 18" Aero Wheels with 5mm Spacers from Adaptec

[AT40Y40]

Hello Everyone,

I am one month in with my Model 3 and I love it but I am looking at ways to subtly fill up the tire to fender gap without lowering because the Model 3 I feel sits low enough.

I am thinking of going up one tire size 245/45/r18 which I know is only going to give me about .3" additional height, and add a little more width vs. the stock tires.

I was also looking at adding in 5mm Adaptec spacers (I have used short 5mm spacers in a couple of my other performance cars in the past mainly for looks.

I want to keep the aero wheels with the covers on.

In searching and reading here and on other sites/forums/posts there are numerous discussions around the different tire sizes for the 18" configuration being discussed, but almost nothing around 5mm spacers being used (stock height not lowered).

When I was researching lowering the Model 3 I was thinking of 7mm-10mm spacers, but since I am staying stock height but looking at a slightly larger tire I am thinking 5mm.

Any thoughts or if anyone has done this, any pics?

I appreciate the feedback.

AT

 

[Wennfred]

I run 15mm Blox spacers in the front and 20mm in the rear.

I’m looking at these, https://m.tirerack.com/tires/tires....R8PCLSXL&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes

or the
Michelin - Pilot Sport 4 S

 

[AT40Y40]

Wennfred do you have the youtube describing and showing your spacer install on your red M3? I watched it a few times.

I am looking at more subtle 5mm spacers where it will show a little but not as aggressive.

The Pilot Sport 4s is one of the tires I am looking at.

Question, are the tires minus the sound foam that much louder?

 

[kbecks13]

Keep in mind how much tire you will have compared to the wheel, it might not look that great going up a size in 18"

Tons of pothole protection tho

 

[Chris3g]

You can easily run 15 front and 20 or even 25 in the rear, 5mm is not nearly enough imo, I’m not sure it would even be noticeable. Additionally on a non-performance brake car a 5mm spacer is going to be right at or possibly under the limit of safe thread engagement without going to longer studs. You’re better off with an adapter-type 15mm+ spacer.

 

[shiv.nandak]

The 5mm spacers will be barely noticeable. And it would be dangerous to do 10mm since you are reducing the useable threads in the lugnuts. I would suggest either 15mm blox sport 7075-T6 (the stronger version) or looking into 265/40/18 advan/conti tires. These tires will have the same overall diameter (thus will not affect stability control/speedometer calculations) while filling out 10mm on either side of the wheel well. You can see the tire specs on tirerack, i think Advans would look better than Conti's due to slightly different dimensions.

 

[AT40Y40]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I was looking at the Blox Sport spacers after seeing the video again.

So stock height with 15mm spacers front and rear with 245/45/18 ok?

Is 20mm needed in the rear to kick it out more or just for staggered look?

 

[Wennfred]

Here is the Blox spacers review thread with pictures and videos:

Requesting Blox Spacers Reviews/inputs

Fred

 

[rlb4]

Keep in mind that a 245 tire is 10 mm wider so it is like adding a 5 mm spacer. The rears can handle that extra 5 mm with a 20 mm spacer, but it may poke on the front with a 15 mm spacer.