TOWN FAIRE TIRE (SP?!) VS. TIRE RACK VS. HYBRID Z

[Guest jjohart]

Hi, take the case of an average 83 280ZXT owner, anachronistic stock tire sizes as 205 60 15...add the possibility of imitating, if not completely duplicating the scores of HybridZ owners who, at the risk of ride, have used larger than stock sizes (16" for this entry's benefit!), and then staggered their front/rear sizing of tires/wheels. Now, add a trip to the local outlet for tires/wheels, as in Tire Faire (more like Tire Fairy in Massachusetts, for telling stories about how much better Toyo is than all others!)... they tell me I can't fit larger than a 215 in my front, since "there was only the width of a hand between the stock tires and the suspension.."...could it be I can't fit what has been recommended to me by "experts" on this site (with MY stock suspension) of "225"?!!?

If so, then the folks at this local outlet have gone on to confuse me further vis a vis internet chat advice, in that they recommend 215 by 45, and THEN 235 BY 40 rear, in order to keep that rear/front equal height. NOW, I am not looking simultaneously at previous post replies to see if I am a complete fool, but, written from memory, I recall people telling me I could use 245 or even 255 with stock suspension in the back side, while using 225 front. I am thoroughly confused....SO...can someone tell me what the optimum ride/performance staggered set up is without hitting the front/rear suspension? Furthermore, what do I do for wheel width front rear....Centerline customer service told me that more than 7.0 for stock suspension is NOT allowed unless I do coil-over (which I won't!)...so what do I order for wheels? 6.0 front vs. 7.0 rear?!!? 6.5 front v.s 7.0 rear?

Any suggestions FROM STOCK DIMENSIONS appreciated!!!!

THANKS

John-83 280Z I/C'd Turbo

[VRJoe]

I know where you're coming from, it gets very confusing. You must take rim dimensions into consideration. If 225 gets to close to the sping, then you can use a spacer to move the rim out a little, or get rims with less offest. Try this website http://www.1010tires.com/tiresizecalculator.asp it may help you understand what's invloved. And yes, believe it or not, all the answers you got might be correct. In other words the Tire Faire guys may be correct if you use the rims you have now without a spacer, the folks here are correct because they've used different rims, different offsets and/or spacers.

 

Hope that helps

 

 

- Joe

[ZROSSA]

John,

I had a 79zx 2+2. Ran 225/50/15's on 7 inch rims on the front and 245/50/15's on 7.5 inch rims on the back. The car was lowered about a inch all round and I never had any problems with rubbing. If I were to do it again I would keep the size the same front and rear or run some sort of balance bar to better tune the brakes for the difference in traction front to rear. You need to remember that the more you change something from stock the more tuneing you will need to do to make it work. I think that the zx could be a bit twitchy if you mess with the ride height difference between the front and rear to much. If you could get a 235/50/15 on all four corners thats what i would go for.

 

Douglas