Wheel, tire, brakes, and suspension question?!?!?!?

[FestiHauler]

Okay before you respond with "Use the search engine", I have and I have found mixed answers and holes in a lot of the info so I am making this post to get the exact answer.

So, here is my scenario and questions. First a little info about the car: it is a 1988 Festi with 230,000 miles that a friend gave to me because he didn't want to work on it. It is carbed and has a 4 speed tranny. I am using it for my daily driver and dog hauler (hence my user name). Like most of you I can't own a car with out modding it, so the new addiction begins. I have been combing the forums for weeks now looking for the best route to go with my Festiva and came to the conclusion that the best upgrade dollar for dollar to do first is the aspire brake upgrade. I bought all the aspire parts and a set of wheels and tires (this is where the problem is). After combing the forums I settled on a set of 15x6.5 wheels with a 38mm offset and 195/50-R15 tires because there were quite a few people saying they were running these and the only complaint was a little fender rub, which no problem b/c I plan to roll them. Here is where the issue and question come in. The other day I attempted to just put them up against the stock hubs to check where there might be clearance issues and to my horror they wouldn't sit flush with the hub by about 1/8-1/4" because they are hitting the spring perch. Now my question to those who are or have run this combo is do the Aspire hubs stick out further giving me the clearance I need? If you are running this wheel and tire set up, what brakes (Aspire or Festi), struts, and springs do you have on your car with this combo? I would really appreciate any help because I want to get my brakes on but don't want to start it if my wheels and tires won't fit because I will be without a car.
Thank you in advance!
Robert

[skeeters_keeper]

The aspire drums + hubs will give you about another 1/4-1/2" clearance from the springs. If it is too close you may still rub when cornering hard, but they should fit. If you do need a little more spacing than the aspire components will give you you can always get some spacers or, preferably, go with coil-overs and cut the spring perches back to give you plenty of room.

I have 13" wheels on my aspire swap, and have compared them to 13" wheels on stock festy brakes and thats when i noticed that the aspire drums + hubs are a bit thicker.

[festivaWES]

My advice would would be to get rid of the 15 even though i probably sure they will look good with your setup. But your rolation weight will increase drastically, stick with some 13x6 or 14x6 wheels that way you'll never have that problem of fittment. I myself think 38mm offset is a bit to much

[Safety Guy]

Aspire rear shocks have a higher spring perch and give you about 1/2" to 3/4" more room. If it was the very top of the tire preventing sitting flush, then this might be your answer.

Both my suspension swaps used Aspire rear shocks. However, I am running 165/70-13s on each, with 38mm offset for my 5.5" wide VW alloys on the Mutt.

Karl

[FestiHauler]

Thx Nate for the helpful info!! WES i have paid for the wheels so I am not taking the hit reselling them, if that was the case I wouldn't have asked the question!! As far as the rotational weight is concerned it is not a race car and I just don't like the look of huge sidewalls on 13s and 14s. I plan to upgrade to 195/45 tires when these wear out but the place where I bought these from did not carry them. Karl you say the perch is higher on the Aspire rear shocks, but the front hit too are the aspire front strut perches higher too? If so can I use my springs on the Aspire shocks and struts and just cut a coil or so to keep stock height? Also does any one currently have this wheel and tire combo on there car??
Thanks again for the speedy responses!
Robert

[festivaWES]

http://tinyurl.com/2l5swy

Well you say that the wheel won't sit flush because its hitting the spring perch. 25.4mm's are in an inch so you could buy a set for the rears for now and just do a lugnut conversion on the front. Maybe you might get lucky and use the stock bolts to hold on these spacers on the back. Mine sat right in the resessed area on my forged civic VX rims. Hope that helped. I've dealt with this company by the way and they shipped my product lightning fast. You can also search lug conversion for a bmw for the fronts about 20 bucks i think.

[festivaWES]

You know i just thought of something....what are the centerbore hole opening on the wheel its self....maybe its too small by a couple mm's

By the way where in socal are you located?? i just moved from chino/ontario/moreno vally area

[FestiHauler]

I was thinking spacers but want to make it a last resort b/c of the added bump steer and the added stick out factor. The centerbore is plenty big enough, I made sure of that. I live just north of you on Edwards AirForce Base.

Robert

[Safety Guy]

Robert, the Aspire front struts are visually the same as Festiva front struts, so they would fit the same. It's only the rear struts that are different in perch height.

I don't know what to tell you about your fronts. The largest size I plan to go to is 195/45 on 14 X 6 Mazda wheels with (I think) 40mm offset.

You might find with the Aspire knuckles that your clearance issue up front is nonexistant. I do believe folks have gotten that size to work.

Sorry I can't be of more help.

Karl

[Maxtiva]

On my festi I use 15x6½ RTX Falcon 38 mm offset with Kumho ECSTA Supra 712 195/45R15. On the back I use coil spring spreader (to prevent rubbing and to make it harder) and 1/4" spacer. I also have KYB GR-2 front & rear strut and FMS coil spring drop 35 mm. I did not have any problems or rubbing.

[FestiHauler]

Thanks to everyone thus far for all the info!! Maxtiva, did you ever run 195/50 tires or just 195/45? Also do you run spacers on the front and how bad do your tires stick out?

Again, thanks everyone for the help!
Robert

[Maxtiva]

I dont have spacer on my front wheel. And my tire are flush to the fender.