I have had 16" rims for past 2 years and on them I hve the Bridgestone Potenza RE-11.s which are a very wide tire as well,
thing is the 7's are very tight even with some extra work on the wheel wells and the lips modified, I still don't feel safe with new paint etc I don't want to rub and blister the paint, so I am looking at options but also brings up the question of diameter since the 205/55 16 are 25" tall, and speedo is off , so I was going to go down to a 205/50 16, which is closer to stock diameter.
- tires vary with width and this tire is 8.7" wide , so I was thinking a different tire might give me an extra 1/4" or so and I could keep running the RE-11, OR
I just put these tires on my other set of 6" fuchs and I still get over 8" of tread on the ground with no issue of rubbing. BUT I still have the tall tire/wheel combo-
- I see a lot of guys running the 15" rims, and have 205/55 15, which is about the same as a 205/50 16 - is that more correct for proper diameter? I can tell you I already have lower RPM in 5th gear due to having put in a taller gear back when I had smaller wheel and tire combo on the EMPI before going to 5-lug fuchs, so I think the faster RPM with higher gear would be better,
- bottom line is I have a very nice set of RE-11 that have less than 10,000 miles of road wear on them, they are a few years old, great very sticky tires and are not made in this size anymore - I would love to sell them and get enough to go with a good performance tire that might not be quite as wide where I could still run the 7" fuchs, but at the very least change to the 205/50 16 .
I am looking for advice, as I have read LOTS of the other threads here and learned a lot, - what is your experience??
what are the best choice for a softer rated tire that still has good rain/dry performance- we get a lot of rain and as much as you try not to drive in rain its going to happen
Hi Philip, I'm somewhat confused here if this is regarding a 914. For example, my '75 came with 165R15 tires, which have a nominal outer diameter of 25.4". In this case, for a 6" wide wheel, 195/65R15 at 25.0" or 205/55R16 at 24.9" are an acceptable compromise considering market availability.
Just about every modern tire of interest for sports cars is available in 205/55R16, by the way. Strongly considering going this route with 16x6 wheels for my car, despite my opinion that it doesn't look quite right.
What type of wheels are you using and what is the offset?
Figure out what is most important to you. Look, fit, rpm’s and speedo reading. You probably can’t get all 4 so set the priority and then live with the rest or make other changes- adjust speedo, change trans gearing, change wheels and/or tires.
Remember, the bigger and wider the tire is, the heavier it is and can actually degrade your performance with unsprung weight. Our cars are light and every pound matters.
Used tires, even in good shape, bring pennies on the dollar.
Are you using any type of spacer or adapters on your car? If not maybe consider using a 195/50/16 tire. That way you still get the good look & grip and make the rubbing a non issue.
These are 195/55 16's. Sure, it may sacrifice a slight bit of tread width, but it's still leaps and bounds more traction than the original equipment. IMO it's a great fit, inner fender lips rolled flat in the rear, never any rubbing issues.
Wheels are 16x7 on all 4 corners with a 23.3mm offset.
What ever combo you come up with I'd stick with OE diameter IMHO it's more than speedo or gearing I just think smaller diameter tire looks like crap.
I will check that out- have you ever gone to the Cars and Coffee event in Shokapee? I guess it was moved down to Cantebury Downs lots after the city of Chanhassen chased them out!
Sure have, just not much this year. Luis F. is a friend of mine.
for now I pulled the 7" rims and put my Potenzas on the other 6" for the rear. It was just too tight with the 205/55's - I know that they are wider than most tires of the same size and that a different brand might fit ok or going with the 195/55 on the 7's would work but according to tire rack, my 205/55 on the 6" have just as much tread width on the ground as a 195/55 on the 7's. So I have lost nothing on grip, but maybe as you say a bit of the look, which I love too , the deeper dish on the narrow car does look great!- I will renew this thread later when I get to testing some tires on those 7's and see what fits and what does not- Bob Woodman Tires will be helping me when the time comes.
i pulled the 205/55 off the 7” rims and moved them to the other 6’s for rear, and once the car is on the ground and the motor is in it we will see how mich space i have with the half inch spacer, it should have a bit more space than the 7’s . also might have to adjust camber , but we can look at all that later. i still would like to try the 7’s with a 195 tire and see how that fits , but these tires have about 60-70% wear left so i am going to use them up before trying to make the change back.
And with the spacer i can use my closed end chrome nuts, otherwise the studs are too long and i have to use the open end steal acorns
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this is the front but you get the idea.
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