I am planning on putting 17's on my cl and I was just wondering if I had to lower it or not? I don't really want to spend the extra money to lower it PROPERLY, so I was just wondering if switching to 17's with 215/45/17 would look retarted or fine. The overall diameter of the tires and rims would be the same as the stock 205/55/16 that are on our cl's.

Any opinions?

 

i think i'd look fine... hey, think of it this way, you'll be different... everyone with rims on their cl (that I know of) has a drop. Or you could just get aftermarket 16's and keep the same size tires.

 

I think it would look a lot better if you dropped it.

 

ok.. check out my pics... I have pics of my car with the stock rims and 50s, and pics of my car with aftermarket 17s with 45s... see what you think... and then realize that i have a 2" drop and there isn't much difference....

if you like the ride height of your whip as is now.. then why bother... if you do not... then you have to drop it!

if you want the dropped look with 17s... keep the tire at a stock size of 55 and it will fill the wells up more.. but thats alot of meat on a tire for my liking!

 

IMO, I think it looks nasty when people get rims without lowering their cars - the gap seems to be more noticable. My advice is to drop it first, then get rims.

 

Dropping the car is the first thing I wanted to do to the CL. Damn good ride but rolls too much on cornering. Dropping it a bit (1.2" - 1.4") should make it handle much better. Don't get bigger wheels without lowering, it would look nasty.

s7s

 

If you put on 18"s, wouldn't it be nice to put them on first, then you'll know how much you need to drop it so you don't tuck in, or rub?

 

I think cars without the drop look fine, as to where some cars with too much drop look retarded. There are always advantages and disadvantages to lowering.

Nothing against to all of those who have lowered their Cl.
I cannot justify spending the amount of money for such little advantages.

---Buy the rims and put the drop money in your 401k

 

theoritically you'd want the 18" rim plus sidewalls to equal or be slightly bigger (but not much) than your stock combo. So you should be able to figure out how much you want to lower your car with the stock wheels on. If you have figured out the correct tire size and have the correct offset on the rims, then all you may have to do once you lower it is possibly pounding out the fender well to make some room.

on 18's, you'd want a 225/40 - 0.18 in. diameter more than stock. ifyou run 215/40 or 225/35 or 215/35, these will all be smaller than stock so you're gas mileage will go down, which it will already by going to 18's so why make it worse. and make sure it's a 7 in. wide rim. Oh oops, this is all for a 1st gen...sorry

 

I think a CL looks better with a drop and stock rims than aftermarket rims stock height. The low profile tire makes the wheel well look larger to me. I have an Eibach Pro drop and it only lowers the car like an inch and a half, just enough to fill the wheel well gap and doesn't slam the car. The ride still feels stock, no bounce or anything, but corners a lot better. Noticeable less body roll. I am now waiting a few months and getting some rims. My 16's will do for now.

 

springs = $250
rims and tires = $1500 ++

if you're talking strictly performance, lowering your car with good sport springs for 250-300 bucks will give far more considerable gain than getting wheels for 1500 bucks on stock springs....

if you're talking about looks, well that is this threads debate but I'd spend the 80% less first and keep the stocks (which still look nice) than spend 80% more off the bat and have my car look like I couldn't afford to lower it.

 

The key word was, PROPERLY
sure you can throw some springs on the car for about $250.00 but after awhile your going to be needing some shocks etc... which are how much?

Perfromance wise better handling,cornering etc...
(when lowered), but I'm not entering the formula1 circuit anytime soon. So I don't need better handling and the ability to take fast turns.

When your cars going down the street it might be a little hard to notice that one inch drop or so. But hey, its all opinion

 

ahhh.. yes but $250 and $250 is still only $500 for a JOB DONE RIGHT! And non of us are GT racers.. but even w/out racing your new suspension will save your a$$ around that sharp unexpected turn off the highway when you are doing 40-60 MPH where a stock suspension and tires would roll you , jump you, and make you loose control!... No doubt your opinion is your opinion... but don't argue with unknowledgable FACTS!