Hey guys, new member here with a wheel/tire question.I used to own a 99 SVT Contour which I understand should be same chassis as the XType (Mondeo chassis). We can't seem to get away from the Fords lol.Anyways my mom bought an 03 X Type a few months ago and she's having a problem with tire rubbing/fender damage.She bought it with some aftermarket chrome 18s on it equippedwith some Nankang 235/40/18s. She's not having any issues with the rears that I know of,but she's pretty much pulled the front fenders out in multiple spots, and crackedsome paintin the process. Tostop the bleeding, I need tofix her troubles for Christmas, but I'm really struggling coming up with anything here. I was going to get her some Rial Comos with tires,which I think fit the looks of the X type from what I've seen, but she insists on having chrome wheels, which I happen todespise lol. So my attempts to convince her to ditch the chromies have failed and I'm looking for alternative solutions now...I hate to get rid of the superb quality of the Nankangs *cough lol*, but I've seen 225/40/18 and even 215/40/18 as common tires run on this platform. I know this will bring the sidewall in a little, but will it be significant enough to stop the fender bending? She's on stock suspension as far as I can tell and it looks like she should have plenty of clearance, but maybe these cars have a fairly soft suspension? I have an 06 A4 with coiloverssetjustoff the tire, with spacers flush to the fender and get little to no rub. I'm not seeing how her's is tearing the fender lip apart, the only thing I can think of is the offset being wrong or the tires being too tall. Does anybody know where I can pick upa cheap, decent lookingchrome 18" wheel/tire package? Orif I can knock the tire down to a 225/40 or maybe evena 215/40 if they're not stretching on the wheels, will that fix it? Obviously the cheaper and most logical optionwould be the latter, but does anybody know what width of wheel the 215/40 can max out on before it stretches? Is this rubbing a common problem on the X Types? Thanks, I appreciate any help you can send my way

 

the offset on the wheels, must be completely wrong for the car. i can't figure any other way it would be rubbing so bad.
my x-type is a sport model with factory 18" wheels. the tires are 225/40.
im surprised the rear tire isnt rubbing on your moms car. im pretty sure my sport model has stiffer suspension, but i cant imagine her's bottoming out and hitting the fender because the overall diameter is still close to stock. unless her shocks are just completely gone, or the car has been lowered.

maybe there are spacers behind the wheels?
at any rate, i would try buying some used factory jaguar wheels online.

 

Ok thanks guys. She's too stubborn for her owngood, so I think I'm going to try some 225/40s and hope they work. I'd say with the decrease in width and sidewall, we might havea fighting chance. To reply to the question above, you can't really see a 5mm difference. I have 5mm spacers on my fronts and it's just to clear the calipers, it's definitely not a dramatic difference. But it is just enough to cause slight rubbing every now and then, so I'll pray the 225/40s get rid of the problem...if that doesn't work, I'll just get the front fenders rolled. Thanks for the help