Tire sizes, Buying new tires Options

[pek771]

Hi all:: I am going to the tire store tomorrow to get my wheels back from having the beater tires removed. The 185/60R15 were good enough to transport the car here from Arizona. These are EMPI 8 spoke, 5.5 W x 15 diameter. Wheels are 4 X 130, I suppose. The car is a 70, no flares, just plain old 4 cylinder config. I am putting a Hyper9 motor in it, and I expect it to come out of corners like a rocket.

What size tires can I fit in the stock wheel wells? The selection is very limited in 195/60R15. But, I can get Hoosiers in 205/50R15. Do the 205 fit? I live in Florida, and will drive the car very infrequently, so I don't care if it has DOT-R tires on it.Nor do I care of speedometer inaccuracies.

Thanks!
Pat

[brant]

Hoosier tires run wider than most other brands
Their attempt to cheat racing rules that specify a specific tire size

You’ll find they can be as much as an inch wider that a street tire
So the 205 in a Hoosier is not a guarantee fit and would really require a test mount before knowing if it will fit

You may need a smaller size or a pulled fender

also those wheels are not going to help with a bigger tire.
there are 2 different offsets available in those wheels as Kevin mentioned above.

one offset is really to fit the VW, and doesn't work well on a 914
you may have the better offset since you had 185's on there...

but a stock offset wheel... (similar to the stock rims) will still fit a wider tire than the empi 8 spoke wheel allows....