Guest jjohart Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 Hi...on a 83 ZXT, needing spring wheels/tires, I am finding there are more 14"s in decent looking styles, e.g mag/mesh. Exactly what will the trade off be in going from 205 60 16 to 195 70 13? I'm imagining they might actually ride better and pound less than 15/16", as well possibly weigh less=faster take offs...the only tire choice for me would be the Toyo TS-1, which is summer ultra high performance. I am street driving only, no autoX. Is this nutso or what? Thanks John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utvolman99 Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 Hi...on a 83 ZXT' date=' needing spring wheels/tires, I am finding there are more 14"s in decent looking styles, e.g mag/mesh. Exactly what will the trade off be in going from 205 60 16 to 195 70 13? I'm imagining they might actually ride better and pound less than 15/16", as well possibly weigh less=faster take offs...the only tire choice for me would be the Toyo TS-1, which is summer ultra high performance.I am street driving only, no autoX. Is this nutso or what? Thanks John[/quote'] As I understand it, the smaller diameter wheels would give you better straight line traction for the same height tire/wheel combo. While the larger diameter wheels would give you better handling through the twisties for the same height timer/wheel combo. I'm sure there is a lot more to this but I think that this is the general rule. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad-ManQ45 Posted March 24, 2004 Share Posted March 24, 2004 I have amn '83ZXT and it came stock with 205/60/15 tires. I went to 205/55/16's in front and 225/59/16's in rear w/GSC's - which didn't last very long but ride was fine. I then put on F1 Steels, and the ride got a bit worse. I would not put 13's on - I'd go with 14's if you are concerned with ride - 7" rims and 215/60/14 tires ride pretty well on my '75... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted March 24, 2004 Share Posted March 24, 2004 It will be very difficult to find 13" wheels that will clear the ZX brakes. Keep that in mind. Generally the smaller the wheel, the lighter it is. It has a smaller moment of inertia and allows the car to accelerate, brake, and change direction more easily. It also means that you need a taller tire to maintain the factory size. A taller tire means more sidewall flex, and is generally undesireable for performance. (to a point!) The other reason to go with larger tires is so that you can package larger brakes inside of them. ie: trying to fit a 13" rotor in a 13" wheel isn't going to happen! But throw on 16" wheels, and all of a sudden you can run really big brakes. To my eye, the Z always looked best with either 15" or 16" wheels on it. 14" seems too small, and needs too much sidewall for the right size for spirited street driving in my opinion. If you are building a track car, things change a bit and often you can get away with a smaller diameter tire, so 13" & 14" becomes more of an option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
materchan Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 if you want some mesh rims looks at these http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2468533426 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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