Jump to content
HybridZ

tire widths vs rim widths?


Recommended Posts

ok guys i searched here and on google and have not found anything that will let me know what the widest tire I can safely mount on my konig imagine rims. They are only 7" and currently have 215's on them. for the stockish L6 they weregreat but with LS1, 215's wont cut it. I was hoping that I could go to 245's or if I was REALLY lucky a 255.

 

does anyone know what the widest I can go on a 7" rim is?

 

Thanks and as always much appreciated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I read a test with 7" rims rececently. They used 205, 215, and 225 width tires and found that the best grip was with the 215's. I have 225's on 7" rims and need to go wider but am going to have to get bigger rims to have it do any good. Putting wider tires on narrow rims just screws up the contact patch.

Mike

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Most tire manufacturers tend to recomend rim widths that are within 1 inch (or 25mm) of the tire width. A 225 tire is 8.85 inches wide so you are .85 inches beyond the generaly recomended width right there. IMHO new rims cost about the same (short of some crazy bling) per piece as a good quality new tire, go ahead and get some new rims to put the new tires on you'll be better off for it. Oh yeah a 255 tire is 10 inches wide.

 

Dragonfly

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Per the folks at Hoosier:

 

"The ideal rim width for maximum lateral grip is 1/2" wider then the actual tread width - unless the tire is of a special construction (cantalievered slicks). The numbers on the side of the tire are not an accurate measurement of the actual width of the tread of the tire."

 

From my actual experience, a 225 width tire works best on a 8" wide wheel. 245s are best on 9" wide wheel. 275s work best on a 10" wide wheel and 285s work best on a 10.5" wide wheel.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

what was stock tire size again, 175? Stock rims were 5, 5 1/2" wide? That doesn't add up at all.. should I not be surprised that stock wheels are truly so woefully inadequate?

 

I ask because I may be able to easily acquire a pair of 14x6 and a pair of 14x7 dish mags that are REALLY nice looking, but I start thinking and get to a point where this logic is telling me that 6" rims get 150 mm tires..... wrong! So where do things fail to add up at this end of the spectrum?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

ok so since these rims are basically useless for the LS1 I'll be needing new shoes for the Z

I personally like the sportmaxx 002's that I've seen on a handful (maybe more) Z's on there. I see that they are 16x8 and people are recommending a 0 offest for them. If I get those rims with the 0 offest what's the widest tire that I can fit under stock 280z fenders and Eibach springs? People have 245's with coilovers but I'm not sure on the difference to the Eibach's and if I can fit the 245's or if I could squeeze a 255 on the 8" rims.

 

thoughts? comments?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Gentlemen:

 

If you were to peruse a few of the manufacturer's sites on rim width and tires, you would make the association that as the numeric aspect ratio goes down, the narrower the range of rim widths.

 

A 60 series tire has a larger range of rim widths than a 50 series tire of the same width. The stock 75+ aspect ratio would have worked on a 4 to 6" rim.

 

The higher the aspect ratio the more important it is to go high on rim width for better transient response.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...