Quick help on tires

[armandodiaz]

Well I waited too long to order my tires and now I need new tires for this weekends DE.

My plan is to put BFGoodrich g-force on my BBS 7X8X15 rims.
fronts: 205/50/15
rears: 225/50/15

Problem:
My local dealer has plenty of the rears in stock, but the fronts have to come in from out of town. He says earliest Monday (too late).

Question:
Can I fit 225/50/15 in the front? The car is an 85 Carrera stock suspension, alignment and height. Will it stick out from the flare? Does anyone have pix?

[cbeers]

I tried 225s on my 7x16 on the front and they rubbed too much. You may have better luck with 15s since you will have more clearance with the smaller diameter wheel right?

-Chris

[Andras Nagy]

Hi Armando,

I ran with 15" wheels at Moroso last weekend, and they have always worked fine. My car is very low, lowered to Euro specs, and I've never had a problem with 15" BBS wheels.

Just as a rule, it would be best if you have rolled fender lips, and if you do, then you will have no problems with the 225 on the front. You might take your 225s from the rear, and put them on the front and see how the clearances are.

Write me for more specific questions if you wish: anagy@zeidlerpartnership.com

[thabaer]

If you have to put 225s on the front, you should consider 245s on the back to balance the 10% tread increase up front.

[armandodiaz]

Originally posted by thabaer
If you have to put 225s on the front, you should consider 245s on the back to balance the 10% tread increase up front.

tough to find 245s in a 15". I think with the 8" in the back it should give it a wider stance than the 7" in the front.

[thabaer]

The 8" will spread the bead apart but the tread contact with will be almost unaffected. I know about the problems getting wider 15"s these days, my urq has 15x8 all around and the guys running 15x9s on 930s frequently lament about the lack of choices.

Dunlop SP8000s tend to show up in 15" diameters with a decent width/aspect range, don't know if your shop can get a truck from their distributor but you could ask.

[armandodiaz]

I called them at 10am, they didn't call back until 1pm. Then they tell me they would have been able to get the tires if the order would have been in by 12pm. Of course I had a few choice words (*%#@!#) for them since I did call them before the 12pm deadline. If they weren't so dam cheap I'd tell them to f**koff.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

I've done an extensive search for 245/50 15s in thinking of putting 8x9x15 Fuchs on my 84 and a max performance solution just doesn't exist. Here's what does:
8000s as you mentioned
Hoosier
Goodyear makes a 13 inch slick that will fit a 9x15

and at a Pantera site, found a set of 245 Euro T/As that are new.

I've talked with many departments within Michelin and BF Goodrich, and they are all gone.

as to a 225 fitting in the front of a lowered Carrera, I run 225/45 17s in the front of mine, very low, fenders rolled and don't have any problems.

[armandodiaz]

Right now I have 235/45/17 with 1" spacers. I have no problems (I did have to lift the lip at the track with a prybar, once). If these fit should I assume the 225/50/15 should work?

[Andras Nagy]

They work on my Euro-lowered stiff suspension 911SC.

[armandodiaz]

Originally posted by thabaer
The 8" will spread the bead apart but the tread contact with will be almost unaffected.

I've taken this into consideration, as well as the availability. I've decided to go with the only place that can gurantee the right size tires."The tire guy" he shows up at the track with a truck full of tires and equipment. I called him up and he told me he has the 2 sizes in a Toyo Poxie RA. I really wasn't looking for "R" compound yet but if this is the only thing available and they are the same price, then I'll run with it.

[Andras Nagy]

Armando,

Is the "tire guy" by any chance Ernie Bello? If so, he's a great guy, and a very nice person. Also good to work with, as he knows his stuff.

He also allows us up north here to inspect our cars for DE events.

[armandodiaz]

It's Jason Barrto, he is officially know as "The Tire Guy" (it's on his buisness card). He's usually at the track with a truck full of tires and equipment (mounter, balancer, shaver...). This will be the first time I use him, but I've heard of others talk good about him.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Armando, would you mind asking his opinion on a track tire for a 9x15 Fuchs rear? Car will be used on both street and track, I could probably groove the tires myself or have a shop cut them, and if I got 5000 street miles out of the rears, I could probably live with that. Of course DEs will shorten that life considerably.

[armandodiaz]

Shuan here's his number 770-266-5659 his name is Jason. His email is:
tirguy@aol.com

[Shaun @ Tru6]

thanks Armando, sent him an email.