235/40/18 vs 225/45/18 on BL/BP

[Artizan]

I'm having a huge struggle deciding which size to put on my soon-coming wheels (18x8 +35).

 

Could you share pics if you have one of these two sizes? 225/45/18 appears to be exceptionally rare.

[Febreze Mee]

225/45s seems to tall to me. My fitment is not exactly where I want, being that the offset of the RPF1s are +35. I tried to choose pictures that show the profile of my setup best. Not too shadowy, but a definite wheel/tire profile.

 

A biased answer to your original question - here are my 18x8 +35 's wrapped in 235/40/18s on my Outbacks:

 

 

 

 

[Artizan]

225/45s seems to tall to me. My fitment is not exactly where I want, being that the offset of the RPF1s are +35. I tried to choose pictures that show the profile of my setup best. Not too shadowy, but a definite wheel/tire profile.

 

A biased answer to your original question - here are my 18x8 +35 's wrapped in 235/40/18s on my Outbacks:

 

 

 

 

 

You see, mine is a sedan, so it doesn't have the fender flares like yours. So +35 will be poking a little bit as is I believe. If I go with 235, I'm afraid it simply won't clear the fenders, as I'll be cutting it super close with fitment.

 

I know lots of people run 225/40/18, but it doesn't fill the wheel well, so I prefer slightly bigger ones in terms of looks.

[Febreze Mee]

Forum member Gex has a LGT wagon in my exact same wheel spec. You may gain another perspective of these specs on his car.

 

My cars were not properly aligned in any of the above photos. In the first photo, the front camber is close to 0° camber. It's been aligned since, and now the fronts sit at –2.4° camber. They are tucked in a lot more. The car will be going in for a re-alignment sooner than later to get closer to the value I originally requested, that being –2.0° camber up front. After that, I'll entertain almost any option to get my fitment to where I desire, which won't take much. The rears are naturally sunken in and have changed much post-alignment.

 

This is a very low-maintenance, functional, and modest wheel tire setup. I have had zero issues with rubbing under all conditions, in both cars —none of which were properly aligned, and still aren't. So long as your car is built in a functional, you should have no issues running these specs. More wheel and tire will require more work (i.e. rolling, pulling, cutting, removing, spacers, etc.)

 

I have my winter set on now, and I'm hoping to throw these RPF1s back on this weekend for another attempt at an alignment. I'll post up pics that may share a little more detail of how it sat then, how it sits now, and I'll post more up of how it changes with a re-alignment come this weekend.

[Febreze Mee]

FWIW, the Outback factory flares are just mounted to the body via plastic clips, and give me no advantage whatsoever to wheel fitment. I have not rolled or pulled my fenders. I still have wheel well liners. I am not running any spacers. So I have the same fitment you would on a LGT.

 

I could take advantage of my fenders by using them to hide minor rolling, minimal pulling, and I could cut the underside of the flare's plastic back to fit a few more millimeters of tire, but again, I have unmodified guards.