Best wheel/tire setup for 1988 Turbo

[levdeb]

Hey all!

So its time for new tires. Wondering if there is anyway to get these wheels/tires to fill the wheel well a bit more.

They currently have the stock spacers, and 3 piece BBS wheels. But they don't quite come out far enough (for my liking anyway).

Would a wider tire work? Or is a wider spacer "safe"?

Currently we have this setup:

Front: 205-55-16
Rear: 225-50-16

[Mocker]

What's the width of your wheels? Those tires are for 7s and 8s.

[levdeb]

Originally Posted by Mocker

What's the width of your wheels? Those tires are for 7s and 8s.

7 front, and 9 rear.

[Mocker]

The easiest solution is to just get two new 245s of the same tire and put those on your 9 inch wheels, and put the 225s on the 7s. See how they look and perform, and then decide if you need spacers, etc.

[vinceSPEC]

Easiest solve to the wheel itself without spacers would be to order new outer halves (34h 16”). You could even swap the rear lips to the fronts and then order a pair of wider rear lips.
I would refrain from spacers.
Tires as the others mentioned.

[levdeb]

Originally Posted by Mocker

The easiest solution is to just get two new 245s of the same tire and put those on your 9 inch wheels, and put the 225s on the 7s. See how they look and perform, and then decide if you need spacers, etc.

So would 245s be wider enough to notice? Like that idea if so. Thanks!

[Kiddwayaa]

7 front, and 9 rear.

[Mocker]

Originally Posted by levdeb

So would 245s be wider enough to notice? Like that idea if so. Thanks!

They will bulge out a bit more; whether it's enough for your liking, only you can decide.

You might have a limited selection in sizes to the tires you're trying to match up to, but you can go a little wider than 245s on 9" wheels. Tire Rack is a good first stop.

[MTN930]

I run 17" dia w/ 9" width on front and 11" width rear. Spacers on front and rear to get the wheel/tire to line up just inside the fender lip on front and back.

Agree w/ above, the easiest change for you would be new outer lips with wider rubber. Just did this on the fronts, moving from 1.5" outer to 3" outer. Pretty easy to do and Eric @BBS America was really easy to work with.

You ask if spacers are safe? Never had any problems with them, but not racing on the track either. No doubt there are tons of opinions on this.

Good luck.

///

Added - tire sizes for reference are - Front: 255/40ZR17; Rear: 315/35ZR17

[Phony930]

Wider lips is a nice option but wider lips mean an overall wider wheel and ideally a wider tire to match — just a heads up that 16” tires wider than 245s are really limited. .
Just check your options before taking that plunge.

I’m not sure if the stock wheel studs are long enough to safely add a slip on spacer or not, but even a 5mm spacer can make a nice little difference.

Hopefully we can link up tomorrow at Vehicle Vault and I can check out the car and maybe chat about this some.

[jkkarrow]

Wider lips is a nice option

[jkkarrow]

Originally Posted by Kiddwayaa

7 front, and 9 rear.

You're right.

[levdeb]

Originally Posted by Phony930

Wider lips is a nice option but wider lips mean an overall wider wheel and ideally a wider tire to match — just a heads up that 16” tires wider than 245s are really limited. .
Just check your options before taking that plunge.

I’m not sure if the stock wheel studs are long enough to safely add a slip on spacer or not, but even a 5mm spacer can make a nice little difference.

Hopefully we can link up tomorrow at Vehicle Vault and I can check out the car and maybe chat about this some.

We are heading to the lot around 8:30 this am! Probably keep the top closed though…