Hey guys, looking for some recommendations on tires for my 914-6 GT. I am running 7's and 8's on stock GT flares. Current tires are 205/50-15 and 225/50-15, which are too low of a sidewall. I am looking for a more vintage look with the same width, but a taller profile. Ideally, I would like 225/60 on the 8's to take advantage of the wider wheel, but damn if I can find a performance tire in that size for a 15" wheel. The closest I can find is 215/60. The fronts are easier as 205/60 performance tires are readily available.

What are you guys using on your flared 914's? Thanks for the help.

My question is why you think a 50 Series Tire is too low? Performance & Tall Profile don't work together.

Tire selection for 15" wheels are getting scarce. Only a few brands with 55 or 60 series profiles in 205 and 225 widths.

For street tires I'm using 215/60-15 in the rear and 195/65-15 up front.

I can probably safely get 225's in the rear I believe. I like the current combo though. Everything fits and clears all the fender lips perfectly with 7&8x15's.

That depends. People tend to forget that their tire choice represents a gearing change. Low profile may handle better but the lower the profile the higher the RPM at cruising speed. I have low profile tires on my 240Z that have basically forced me to look at finding a ZX 5 speed. 4th gear cruise on the highway is just annoying. Gets to speed really quick but top speed and driveability suffer.

You are correct though, I wouldn't look for a higher profile because my priority is performance. We just don't know what his priority is...

Eric, t6dpilot from EarlyS here. Yes, I am asking the question...again... I want to go a little larger than your tire sizes to take advantage of the wheel width, but I keep hitting a wall on this. It seems your sizes are going to be what I end up with, but figured I would try here for one last ditch effort as to what is available.

Pirelli P6000 seems to be the most economical performance choice in those sizes 215/60 and 205/60 (or 195/65). May be what I ultimately go with. Oh, and the question about performance versus vintage look? I want both (and think I can get it). I think 50 series tires on 914-6's and early 911's just don't look right.

I have a 72 911 targa here that I am working one. It has 15 X 6's on it now. The owner moved to 16" X 6" and 16" X 7" wheels to get tires. His new choice are 205/55/16 and 225/50/16. The choice to move to 16" wheels was purely based on tire selection.

True about the sidewall height and performance "but" getting a "vintage look" involved hunting down tires that have a tall sidewall. Some of you young guys may not get that. But that is the reality. It's about the cool factor. 20" wheels with rubber bands stretched around them do not look period.

Hi Scott! Demanding aren't we?

Hans recommended some Michelins at one time. Look for 7 and 8 combos that fit under RS flares as well. That's how I found my combo, by accident.

I still think you can get a 225/60-15 back there...

I have some older Yokohama tires on my car in 205/60 15 in front, and 212/60 15 in the back on 7 and 8" rims. Plenty of room left under the GT flares, but the selection is getting scarce.

Might just stick with tires on the 15s to look correct, and get some larger diameter rims if needed for track events or auto crosses. Don't do many of those anymore, so it's not as big of a deal as it was 30 years ago!

I ended up running BFG TA Radial's, 205/60 fnt and 225/60 rear on 7's and 8's. Not a lot of choice in 15" tires but these look nice on the car and should be OK for a street tire.

205/60 and 215/60 15 on my GT conversion.

I found the same issue when looking for 15" tires….just not a lot of tires sold in that size anymore. So, I decided to go up on wheel size, finally settling on 16x7 and 16x8 wheels.

If you are running 916 GT flares on the car you should be able to fit 225/55's on the front and either 245/45 or 245/50 on the rear. These are a lot wider than others mentioned in this thread, but they will fit under the 916 flares.

The comments about tire aspect ratios affecting gearing is confusing. What does affect your final drive gearing is the tire's outside diameter, and not the aspect ratio.

As tire widths increase, tire diameters will also increase naturally. Since you normally want to keep the tire diameter unchanged to retain the accuracy of your speedometer, you are forced to select smaller aspect ratios to compensate for the tendency for wider tires being taller.

So, wider tires dictate lower aspect ratios….which is what you want for better handling. What you give up with lower aspect ratios is ride comfort since the smaller aspect ratios result in a stiffer tire.

I just re-read this and hope that it is not confusing!

http://www.avonmotorsport.com/historic/road-legal/cr6zz