Tire Sizes, Tire Sizes Options

[makinson1]

What are the biggest, lowest, widest tires I can stuff under a stock 914/4 without runing into interferance problems?

[JWest]

335/10/10 but you would have trouble finding and rim and you'd have to run pedal brakes from a Schwinn. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ph34r.gif)

Oh, you want a serious answer? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cool_shades.gif)

How about 205/50/15 or 205/45/16 with the typical rims.

[URY914]

I've said it before and I'll say it again.

All tires of the same size are not the same size. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif) What?

Not all 205 are the same. Go to the TireRack website and look up the tire's specs which has the actual overall, tread size, diameter, etc. Compare the tires and you'll see there is as much as a 1/2" variance between some of them.

And also your car may be different side to side.

So start with a 205, check out which one you what (Kumhos, Toyos, etc) and than see if they will fit your car.

Paul

[GaroldShaffer]

Be careful with the 205's. If you know someone that is
running 205's ask them to try them on your car. You might have to roll your fenders to get them to fit. The
PO of my 914 rolled the fenders so he could run 205's
for autocross.

-Garold

[rhodyguy]

for me, 195/60 15 yoko as302 on oem 4 lug fuchs. clears the lip (unrolled) nicely. no front rub, lock to lock. i think that size looks proportional in the wells.

kevin

[Bruce Allert]

I run the 205/15's Nito on a repro Fuch. I have loads of clearance. Was thinking of trying the 225.
bruce

[Dave_Darling]

195s on stock wheels will fit pretty much any 914 with no fender modifications required. They will often rub the front inner fender just aft of the shock tower, but that's only when you crank the steering wheel all the way to the end. Most people just accept that some wear will occur like that and are careful.

I've seen 195/45-15 tires on a 914. Black rubber bands. Too short-looking for my tastes... (Picture below.) I run 195/50-15s on mine. Still pretty short...

205s will fit on most 914s on stock wheels without requiring any fender modifications. Some 914s have to flatten the lip on the rear fender, and some have to pull out or roll the fender itself out to fit them. 205/60-15 is a popular size that is close to the original overall diameter. 205/50-15 is a very popular size locally (PCA Zone 7) for autoXing.

Some aftermarket wheels won't let you fit anything wider than 195s at all. Some will actually let you fit 205s. VW Bug wheels won't fit anything wider than 165s under stock fenders.

Some very few 914s are fortunate enough to have room for tires wider than 205s in the back without modifying the fenders. Nice trick...

Most tire shops won't want to put tires wider than 205 width on a 5.5" wide rim, which is the stock size. Lower profile tires will be harder to mount on a "too-narrow" rim as well.

Note that tires with a smaller overall diameter than stock will give you shorter gearing than stock. Better acceleration, but you will have to shift more often--and you will have to run higher RPMs on the freeway.

Hope this helps some.

--DD

[JmuRiz]

I am running 205/55/16 Yoko ES100 on my stock fendered car right now on 16x6 5-bolt fuchs wheels. This is w/ a little lower car but running little to no wheel camber.

I also have a set of 205/55 or 60/15 Bridgestone's on 2.0 4-bolt Fuchs wheels (anyone wanna buy them?) They both fit in no problem, maybe I'm just lucky w/ my car.