Calling all tire technicians!

scottmandue · 02:49 PM

You may have seen the post that a guy local to me is selling some early offset 7" x 16" Phone dials, this is my story

I have 15" Cookie's with 215 front 225 back and depending on my driving technique I can get understeer/oversteer/drift... therefor I want more stickydown i.e. more rubber on the road. The fact that it would look really cool doesn't hurt also.

I don't know for sure if 16" PD's with 225/40 (or wider) tires would give me the grip I want.

So can an old fart who likes going fast sideways in his 1984 944 find happiness in a set of 16"x7" PD's?

Tune in next week to find the answer to this and many other questions...

TIA

1.2gees · 1.2gees's Garage

I think undertired tires feel much better than over tired cars. You don't push the chasis as much when you have less grip, thus all the responses are crisper, cleaner. If you want a more "fun" drive, I'd go after things that make the suspension geometry change under load.

Shocks/bushings/springs(and torsion bars)/sway bars, in that order.
Ahmet

scottmandue · 07-24-2003, 07:07 AM

Re: the phone dials with early offset, seeing as I would be buying from a private party I may not be able to try them on.
Is there a part number on the PD's that show it's the offset for my early 84?

TIA

interglossa · 07-24-2003, 10:28 AM

I've got 225/50 16 Fuchs, early offset on mine. Makes a HUGE difference compared to the 205 55's i had on before. They're the same height, just wider and they look cool! They protect my rims too since they protrude a bit from the lip.

scottmandue · 07-25-2003, 11:39 AM

Well I presume going to a 16" from my 15" will give me a firmer ride. I emailed the guy and he seems willing to wait untill I get back from vacation. Anyone know if a 225/40 has a bigger footprint than a 225/50?
Also I am kind of bummed about the Cookies on my car now have good rubber on them but I don't think I will be able to get any $$$ for them.

Owain · 07-25-2003, 12:17 PM

I have 15" Fuchs (7" front and 8" rear, I believe) on my '84 with 215/60s on the front and 225/60s on the back. The big problem with tires for these wheels is the selection. When I was looking for new tires last year it was quite difficult to find a single tire design that had both of these sizes in their range. I ened up getting some Dunlop Sport A2s which I think were the only ones I could find to meet the criteria. I'm not very happy with the A2s as the sidewall flexes way too much for my liking (compared to my previous Michelin MXXwhatevers). I would like a higher performance tire (the A2s are classed a 'All Season High Performance') but still the selection is very small.

I'm thinking about finding some 16" wheels to replace them as I'd like to get some Yoko ES100s. I wouldn't mind some wider wheels than 7", though. Were the PDs that came on Turbos all 7" as well, or were they 8" on the rear?

I would think that as long as the PDs were from an 86 or earlier they will have the correct offset. Anything later than that will need spacers to fit properly. Dunno how you can tell just by looking at them, though.

My experience has been that going to a larger-diameter wheel with lower-profile tires will give a better cornering feel just because of the lower, stiffer sidewall (all else being equal). The difference is more than quite noticable. The only drawback that I can think of is the slightly greater mass of the larger wheel. That might be offset, though, by less mass of the tire (theoretically speaking, no idea for sure).

I say go for it

interglossa · 07-25-2003, 12:28 PM

No 225 40's and 225 50's will have the same width footprint. 40's will just be shorter and will upset your speedo accuracy. If you get the 16X7's, I think 225 50's is as wide as you can go. Really that's as wide as you need to go.

scottmandue · 07-25-2003, 01:47 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by interglossa
40's will just be shorter and will upset your speedo accuracy. If you get the 16X7's, I think 225 50's is as wide as you can go. Really that's as wide as you need to go.

My bad, I must have 60s on my 15" wheels and plan on going to the 16" with 50's to get the above mentioned advantages.

Thanks all!

Owain · 07-25-2003, 02:05 PM

According to the calculator at:

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

a 225/60-15 tire is within 0.3% of the diameter of a 225/55-16 tire (of course tires from various manufacturers will vary in diameter so this is theoretical rather than empirical). But then again if your car came originally with 215/60-15 tires on the rear you probably want to go with 225/50-16, which will be 1.2% off.

Fun calculator!

Owain

scottmandue · 07-25-2003, 03:50 PM

Thanks guys, look like if I can scrape the coin together I'll pick up the 16/7 PD's and look into some 225/50's
What's you favorite brand in that size?

interglossa · 07-26-2003, 05:40 PM

I'm running pridgestone potenza RE910's, but bang for your buck i've heard kumho ecsta supra 712's are the best

scottmandue · 07-26-2003, 06:39 PM

I hate to say this but if I'm going to spend the money I may hold out for 16/8 on the rear just so I can have the 245 "look" even if I don't "need" it.

If I am going through the PITA of what to do with my old wheels/tires and buying new might as well get exactly what I want...
Dunno...