simple question

ive been looking at getting 17s and suspension lately and ive been doing alot of research on brands and whatever. but alot of the pictures ive been of rims on cars.. it seems theres some cars with an inch or two between the tire and the wheel well on the outside of the car. and some are just at the well on 1/4 inch space. help me understand.

ummm, you say "simple question"...but to be honest I see no question asked in your post. If you wondering how they keep the tires from hitting the lip of the fender, it is because the tire/wheel has more off-set, causeing the wheel/tire to go up into the wheel well. Another words, the tires don't stick out as far as the fender lip...they're set back farther.

If you asking how they fill up that much space with only 17" wheels, they most likely have lowered the vehicle.

If your asking why they did it, you'll have to ask the vehicle's owners'...cause I can't read they're minds

I also don't see much of a question, but this should be enlightening:
The people that have 17" rims yet still have a 1 inch gap between their wheelwell have stock suspension. The cars you see with a nearly nonexistant wheel gap probably have coilovers and had their allignment + cambers adjusted. you should look at a photo of a coilover strut and you will see how they are adjusted to youre preferred ride height. just type in coilover on google or ebay and a million will pop up. its not a good idea to buy just drog springs to go along with the 17 inch rims because if you dont have 35 or 40 series tires you are going to have to tap out the fender and strip out the plastic in the wheelwell and youll scrape it a lot. drop springs only replace the spring part of the stock strut, but coilovers replace the whole strut and can be easily adjusted even after installed just by jacking the ca up and turning it with your hand. the tension/pressure placed on it once the car is taken off the jack will be enough to hold the rotating bottom spring support on without spiraling it down