Tire size help

[Raypratojr]

I have an 84 Carrera that was lowered by the PO. Wheels are Fuchs 16x7 / 8. Tires are 205-55-16 and 245-45-16. The front tires have too much profile. I can feel the softness of the sidewall. It's just a street car but I tend to drive it on twisty, mountain roads. The current tires are Kumho and to be honest, they're dulling the road feel. I think the car would look a lot better with a lower profile tire also. I've searched tire rack only because they have a wide selection. I'm coming up short. Anybody? The car in the pic below is perfect, imo.

[VWLoosenuts]

I am running 195/45-16 on the front of mine. They are 16x6 though try the 205/45-16

[VWLoosenuts]

I am running 195/45-16 on the front of mine. They are 16x6 though try the 205/45-16
I use tire-seasy.com. Free shipping and tires are typically cheaper the tire rack

[kjchristopher]

Looks are subjective - your car looks great to me. Another option would be to choose a tire with a firmer sidewall construction. The RE71R is good in this regard. Not sure what Kumho you have or how the Bridgestone would compare.

Are you sure you’re feeling sidewall flex and not bushing/suspension flex? Your car “looks” a tad low to me. Can’t recall off the top of my head how going too low impacts the 911 suspension geometry. One thing you could try is increasing front tire pressure. In Autocross world, we routinely run pressures in floppy street tires up around 43-45psi. Bump up your pressures and see how it impacts your feel.

[Flojo]

Originally Posted by Raypratojr

I have an 84 Carrera that was lowered by the PO. Wheels are Fuchs 16x7 / 8. Tires are 205-55-16 and 245-45-16. The front tires have too much profile. I can feel the softness of the sidewall. It's just a street car but I tend to drive it on twisty, mountain roads. The current tires are Kumho and to be honest, they're dulling the road feel. I think the car would look a lot better with a lower profile tire also. I've searched tire rack only because they have a wide selection. I'm coming up short. Anybody? The car in the pic below is perfect, imo.

first thing imho: skip the 245s on the rear 8th (245 are for 9th).
for the front, the 205/55 on 7th are ok, but you need -when lowered- at leat -1.3 camber an a little/gentle fender rolling (not full).

or bring it back up one inch.

here's mine on 7x16/205-55 and 8x16/225-50 and 63cm(camber -1.4) front and 62cm (camber -1.1.) rear

Originally Posted by Flojo

[Bill Verburg]

Originally Posted by Raypratojr

I have an 84 Carrera that was lowered by the PO. Wheels are Fuchs 16x7 / 8. Tires are 205-55-16 and 245-45-16. The front tires have too much profile. I can feel the softness of the sidewall. It's just a street car but I tend to drive it on twisty, mountain roads. The current tires are Kumho and to be honest, they're dulling the road feel. I think the car would look a lot better with a lower profile tire also. I've searched tire rack only because they have a wide selection. I'm coming up short. Anybody? The car in the pic below is perfect, imo.

First thing i notice about your car is- rake-, actually lack of rake

If you are going to keep the 245/45 on 8 I'd want 205/50 on the 7s. This would help add some rake and the shorter sidewall will flex less and be more precise.

205/55(or 50) & 225/50 are a better fit for 7 & 8. You give up little to none in terms of grip. while 245/45 cn be used on 8s, 9s are a better choice.

You don't mention which Kumho or how old they are but a modern tire like RE71 or similar performance tire would also help.

[pampadori]

Fixed your link below.

Originally Posted by VWLoosenuts

I am running 195/45-16 on the front of mine. They are 16x6 though try the 205/45-16
I use tire-easy.com. Free shipping and tires are typically cheaper the tire rack

So it sounds like you think the original 205/55 and 225/50 are too tall. Too much aspect ratio. I kind of agree and have been looking at a slightly lower profile tire for mine too. Unfortunately there are very few options for 225/45/16 and I don't want to run 245 on the rear. i might just stick with what it came with and find a sportier tire that has a stiffer sidewall or run more pressure.

[VWLoosenuts]

Originally Posted by pampadori

Fixed your link below.



So it sounds like you think the original 205/55 and 225/50 are too tall. Too much aspect ratio. I kind of agree and have been looking at a slightly lower profile tire for mine too. Unfortunately there are very few options for 225/45/16 and I don't want to run 245 on the rear. i might just stick with what it came with and find a sportier tire that has a stiffer sidewall or run more pressure.

in my personal opinion yes. I wanted a bit smaller side wall and not so balloony looking tire personally.
here are 3 options for the size of tire you wanted.

https://www.tires-easy.com/tires/225-45-16

[Trackrash]

I know this seems counter intuitive, but I found that with 7 and 8 x16s that a 225 in the front is a better match with the 245 in the rear. My car is more stable with that combination.

In fact Toyo lists 8" as the preferred width for the 245/45-16 RA-1 and 7" rim is preferred for the 225/50 -16.

Look here at Sizes & Specifications for the 16s. https://www.toyotires.com/tire/pattern/proxes-ra1-dot-competition-tires

This is my other set of BFGs, but the same size.

[Bill Verburg]

Originally Posted by Trackrash

I know this seems counter intuitive, but I found that with 7 and 8 x16s that a 225 in the front is a better match with the 245 in the rear. My car is more stable with that combination.

In fact Toyo lists 8" as the preferred width for the 245/45-16 RA-1 and 7" rim is preferred for the 225/50 -16.

Look here at Sizes & Specifications for the 16s. https://www.toyotires.com/tire/pattern/proxes-ra1-dot-competition-tires

...

225/245 will have a bit less understeer than 205/245, some of the extra grip potential is lost to greater sidewall flex on a 7 wrt an 8. The 205/55 on the other hand is closer to the max wheel width for that tire and thus can perform closer to it's potential.

Max performance will always come for using the widest wheel for which a given tire is spec'd.

you misread the spec sheet,
for the Toyo RA1, which is a great track tires and street usable, the 225/50 x16 is spec'd for a 6 to 8" wheel, the 7 indicates that the dimensions in the data sheet are from that tire mounted on a 7" wheel. When mounted on an 8 the section width is stretched ~.2" from that on a 7. Unfortunately I don't see the relevant data on the Toyo site but that tire is 24.9" tall, 9.2" s/w when mounted on a 7, 8.5" t/w, on an 8 it is slightly shorter, 9.4" s/w, 8.5" t/w

[Trackrash]

I agree, in theory, that the maximun rim width should give the best performance. As far as maximum cornering potential goes, there probably isn't an advantage to going to a 225 over a 205 on a 7" wheel.

That is why I said "counter-intuitive".

My observation is that the car feels more planted at speed with the 245 225 combo over the 225 205 sizes on the 7 and 8 inch wheels. Might have something to do with my cars setup, noticed this as soon as I went from 6 and 7 inch wheels to 7 and 8 inch wide. Long story, but my car never felt as stable or planted after going to the 8" wheel in the rear. Much better with the wider tires.

Yes the highlighted rim width is the measured size. I remember, (I think), that somewhere it was mentioned as the preferred width. Could be my old brain?

[larrym]

use this calculator

Custom wheels, rim tire packages