What's the most rubber you can have on 01' clk cabrio with 18" rims? I'm looking to upgrade my rims to 18" and want to sacrifice as little as possible in the ride quality considering I live in NY.

 

Well its not just how much rubber you have its also the type of tires u buy if u buy a tire for performance or ride. And by how much do u mean sidewall height or tread width?

 

Sidewall height I want as much rubber as possible between the rims & the road.

 

I recomend a 225-40-18 but my guess is ur could get away with a 45 or 50

 

Wow 18's.

So you want 18's AND a good ride? I wish I could tell you what you want to hear, but that wouldn't be fair to you. A shorter sidewall means less air between your wheel and the road, and a firm ride. I'm sure you will have to sacrifice a percentage of ride comfort for the 18's.

Charles

 

I guess the real question is can I keep 225/45/18 on the front and 245/40//18 in the back or do I have to step down to 40/front 35/back?

 

I'd say u can keep the 45/front 40/back speedometer might be a mph or 2 off but it shouldnt hurt anything else.

 

go 40 all the way around.

I've got 18s (with stock suspension), and I run 225/40 (front) 245/40 (rear) and there is no noticable change from the OE setup. My rears used to be 35... so now I'm saving up on the miles too.