why is there so much wheel gap?

[dnL]

The gap seems fine to me. hellaflush is not for me. Oh god hellaflush.....

[JDM_Badge]

The fenders are steel. They were trying to keep weight down by removing material.

Seriously though.. They had to get the ground clearance past corporate and know many of them are going to be lowered a bit anyway. I'd drop mine a bit if my driveway could be entered at speed. Unfortunately I have to back into a busy street as well with cars on both sides of my driveway in the street. It's a rental home, so repaving is out. My grocery store entrance would also bottom it out, they designed it to force you to slow down entering the lot at all of them in my area.

[Xenocide117]

Maybe the same reason Ford claims the Mustang always has a large gap. Make sure snow chains fit.

[Rossman]

Originally Posted by pr086

i understan the car has nothing to complain about handling wise, but why does it have so much wheel gap? i hate how you can see almost all of the top of the tire in a lot of pics.

it seems this car has more wheel gap than most sporty cars in the price range, just wondering why that is.

This is just what you hate. I personally like it how it is. Lowered cars look retarded. IMHO, I'm glad they did not give this car that look, or I wouldn't have bought it.

[rice_classic]

I love me some wheel gap! I don't have to drive sideways over speed bumps like a clown, I can leave parking garages without worrying about "scraping" and my front bumper clears most parking blocks (if I'm stupid enough to pull too far forward).

I guess it's because I'm old, or perhaps because I already have a dedicated track vehicle, or because I spent my 20's driving around in a lowered vehicle but having a DD at the stock ride height is frickin' terrific.

[VenomRush]

i think i remember reading an old article saying something about having big wheel wells and not having to roll the fenders because they know their customers were going to customize it

[r4m3n]

Saw a Fiat 500 parked the other day. Now THAT car has horrendous wheel gaps

[Razz]

So you can drive up to the cement curbs in parking lots, along with the ability to enter and exit driveways without scraping.

[BlaineWasHere]

You guys seem to be confusing ground clearance with wheel gap, not the same thing.

[SUB-FT86]

I think with 18'' wheels with a way better offset that the wheel gap will be less noticeable. The stock wheels are too tucked in so its so noticeable. Plus I think 18'' wheels is the best looking size for the FRS/86/BRZ.

[Jeff Lange]

There are really 2 things being discussed in this thread, but they are being used interchangeably and without any regard for being different.

1. Wheel gap, this can be entirely independent of ride height. Designing a car without as much wheel gap does not mean lowering the car, or the height of the bumper, or anything to do with pedestrian safety. You can just make the wheel wells smaller, but then you need to design in elements to allow the wheels (especially the front) to have a full range of movement without touching the body, including normal everyday driving conditions. You can also increase the overall tire diameter in the wheel well, same situation, but you'd probably also want to adjust gearing to compensate. BMW does a nice job with getting tight wheel gaps, IMO.

2. Ride height, while you can certainly reduce wheel gap by lowering the car, you don't get a nice even gap all the way around the wheels. I hate the look of a car with zero top gap and huge front/rear gaps. Looks bad, IMO. That being said, some cars are designed with a certain height in mind, and then for various reasons like pedestrian safety, etc., they are actually sprung higher for production.

My goal is to have an even wheel gap and a decent ride height. With the right offset wheels and lowered about 15-25mm, the Zx6 achieves this pretty well I think.

Your mileage may vary.

Jeff

[Jeff Lange]

Originally Posted by rcm47

It should, chances are that they are going to be the exact same as the eibach pro-kit except with "TRD" stamped on them.

TRD Japan springs are a 15mm drop, but you can get the adjustable suspension to adjust it further.

TRD USA springs will probably be rebranded Eibachs or similar progressive spring with about a 1" drop.

Jeff

[rcm47]

Originally Posted by Jeff Lange

TRD Japan springs are a 15mm drop, but you can get the adjustable suspension to adjust it further.

TRD USA springs will probably be rebranded Eibachs or similar progressive spring with about a 1" drop.

Jeff

Yeah I was talking about TRD USA. I would love the Japanese ones but the price on those are crazy.

[Mr. Mcoupe]

Function over form.