Advantage of a 25" tire over 23" tire

[Poundz9oh9]

OK, while thinking about the gearset I'll need for the tranny I came up with this question. I have 205-45-zr16 tires on the car and want to go to a 225 (at a minimum on the rear). If I'm not mistaken the stock tire diameter is 25", but the tires I have are 23". This changes things enough to where I'll need a completely different set of gears. My question is this...........Is the only advantage of having a taller sidewall the smoother ride? I wouldn't mind filling the gap a little with a taller tire, but should I stay with the shorter tires? Will the taller 225's fit under the fender as well? Either way I need to order a gearset, so I'm just trying to decide to get gears for the taller tire or just keep the tire height where it's at. Here's a pic (not a very good one though) just for reference. Lets assume the the car is at or very near the stock ride height also.

 

[johnc]

A 225/45-16 tire will give you a 23.9" tall tire. Probably a good compromise size and I think it will fit.

[Brad-ManQ45]

Marcus:

 

What size rims are you using? 225/50's will work on 7" rims but will probably not handle as well as 205/55's.

 

Better ride, more consistent behavior near cornering limits, less rim damage from potholes, fills up wheelwell better - plenty of reasons to go higher sidewall/aspect ratio.

 

I really wish I could get good 15' tires - I'll probably go w/16's for my V8 '75.

 

I have an '83 ZXT with swaybars/tokico/eibachs and 7" wide 16' wheels that I run 205/55 on front and 225/50 on the rear. The rear is a little squirlier than when I had 205/55's on the rear too, but it does ride a bit better.

 

Had Goodyear F1 Steels which you can't get any more and one caught a nail (warranty was worth paying for!), had 2 replaced with the 225's - latest and greatest Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3.

 

The F1 Steels were much loved by the Impala SS crowd as long lasting. They certainly had stiffer sidewalls than the GSC's I had on the car before (that only lasted 10K miles). I had the same setup with the GSC's as I do currently.

 

I almost wish I had gotten 205/55's to compare against the F1 Steels. It is my understanding that the sidewall of the F! Steel was steel too, which would explain why they were stiffer than the GSC's. The current rears have a nylon sidewall ply. I went back to 225's because it was too easy to spin the tires w/the 205/55's and I'm not gonna autocross the car.

[johnc]

I really wish I could get good 15" tires

 

Not sure why you're having problems. Tire Rack has all of these great tires in stock in 225/50-15 size:

 

BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KD (Max Performance Summer)

Bridgestone Potenza S-03 Pole Position (Max Performance Summer)

Dunlop SP Sport 9000 (Max Performance Summer)

Dunlop SP Sport 8000 (Ultra High Performance Summer)

Yokohama A022A (Ultra High Performance Summer)

Yokohama AVS ES100 (Ultra High Performance Summer)

Kumho Ecsta V700 (Competition)

Kumho VictoRacer V700 (Competition)

Michelin Pilot Sport Cup (Competition)

Yokohama A032R (Competition)

Kumho ECSTA 711 (High Performance Summer)

Sumitomo HTR 200 (High Performance Summer)

 

There's more in size 225/45-15 and more again in sizes 215/55-15, 215/50-15, 205/55-15, and 205/50-15.

[Poundz9oh9]

Good call John, I think the 225-45-16 is what I'm gonna shoot for.

 

Brad, I'm not really sure of the width of the wheel, the rims were on the car when I bought it and I've never really looked/measured them.

 

I do like the way the car handles with the 205/45's, but I'll need the traction assistance in the rear with V8 swap.