I_Live_4_my_RS!!!

Ok ok... I've done the search but nobody has given a good enough answer to me.

Now, I don't want to buy new rims YET, but I do want the widest possible tires. I have the 215/65/15s right now.

I'd like to know widest possible in the rear and widest possible all around.

TomP

I ran P245/60r15's on the back, on the stock rims. They fit fine.

I then ran P255/70r15's on the back, on the stock rims. I had to widen the inner wheelwell, and if I didn't have the back raised with air shocks, they probably wouldn't have fit height-wise.

I'm now running P275/60r15's on the back, on 15x8 rims, and I think they'd also be too tall for a stock height suspension.

I have P225/60r15's on the front.


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l)

I_Live_4_my_RS!!!

How about all the way around? Will there be a problem with turns if I run 245/60r15s?

Oh, and I think we all will designate TomP as guru of the V6 Camaro! lol

TomP

(laughs) Let's make that "one of the gurus" instead, okay?

One thing you can check out is the "stock" tire sizes of other 3rd gens. For instance, I didn't worry about putting the P225/60r15's on the front of my car, since I knew it was an optional tire size. If nobody else beats me to it, I'll try to remember and look up the optional sizes in my '86 Owner's Manual tonight, and post the info tomorrow.


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l)

I_Live_4_my_RS!!!

Thanks man.

The tires I have on right now are pretty bald in the rear end and in the rain, this isn't a fun way to drive.

But, I am guessing 245/60r15's will do all the way around?

------------------
1992 RS 3.1
Home Built CAI
Flowmaster 80 with custom 2.5" pipes and 3" stainless steel tips
+no cat

Kills,
Mitsubishi Eclipse (he grinded some serious gears!)
Various pickup trucks
3000GT
1991 RS Camaro
and, the gran finale
A Geo Metro! WOOHOO

Camaro_hunter_d

ok. hmm. 15 by 8, the widest tire width that is advised is a 10 inch tread section. Otherwise no matter how you adjust the air pressure its gonna bow/dip. the easiest thing to look at is tirerack.com they give the tread section measurments. I would say though 245/45/15 should fit fine all the way around, since 245/45/16's will fit my other RS. Depending on rim you can go up to 265/40/17. Thats a massive meat to put into action.

Camaro_hunter_d

though right now I am running 225/60/15's and they look great. 245/60 would be way to much sidewall IMO.

SlowCamaro88SC

uh oh... tom I know you are a "guru" but aI caught ya.. P235/60VR16 was the optional size for 15" wheels.

ok here goes
--stock tire sizes for thirdgen cams/birds--

P195/75R14 82-86
P205/70R14 86 (optional)
P215/65R15 82-92
P235/50VR15 87 (optional)
P235/55R16 91-92 (V8 RS option)
P245/50VR16 85-90
P245/50ZR16 91-92

hey don't I know enough to be a guru?

as for 17" wheels 275/40ZR17 will work without speedo probs and for 18" 295/35ZR18

I know a guy with 17"/18" vette wheels on his GTA

and 275/60R15 will work, just be prepared, they will rub on anything that's a fairly tight corner.

------------------
1988 Camaro SC - Red
2.8, TCI 3200 Stall TC, B&M Transkit, Flowmaster Exhaust, 4th Gen Tips
'83 Z/28 Hood, '89 IROC Foglamps, '87 IROC Wheels
Z/28 Grille, "Heritage" Style Stripes, White Face Gauges, Homemade DRLs

1966 Impala 2Dr. Hardtop - Black
283, 3 on the tree, dealer AC, F41, Vette Wheels
98% Stock - stock besides the obvious
73,425 original miles - Slowly being restored

I_Live_4_my_RS!!!

........ Boy thats alot of numbers......

By sidewall you mean the side of the tire itself?

Now I am confused. Someone explain the numbers here

Ok lets see... 245 is the WIDTH?
60 is the SIDE of the rubber?
15 is the RIM size diameter?

So Recommended size is 215/65r15 but if I can reduce the diameter to 60 and increase the width to 225 or 245... oh no, i've gone crosseyed.


------------------
1992 RS 3.1
Home Built CAI
Flowmaster 80 with custom 2.5" pipes and 3" stainless steel tips
+no cat

Kills,
Mitsubishi Eclipse (he grinded some serious gears!)
Various pickup trucks
3000GT
1991 RS Camaro
and, the gran finale
A Geo Metro! WOOHOO

kamac

265\50-15 Dunlop GT Qualifiers work real well. Slight rub in the front at full lock, and a little bit of sidewall bulge. But I think that looks good. Check my site for a side-by-side shot of the 265's and 245\45-16's.
<www.angelfire.com/fl5/thirdgenbird/

------------------
1989 Firebird 2.8L MPFI
K&N cone filter
Flowmaster series 80 w/ custom 2.5in Cat-back
Accel Cap, rotor, coil, 8mm wires, Rapidfires
Energy Suspension bushings
Edlebrock springs
Bilstien Shocks & Struts
Shift Kit
245/45-16 Goodyear GSC's on polished stock rims
Lots of TLC

kamac

Let me try this again
<www.angelfire.com/fl5/thirdgenbird/>

kamac

Once more
www.angelfire.com/fl5/thirdgenbird/
sorry it is not a link, I am not a HTML guru

SlowCamaro88SC

lets take a size common to 3rd gens for example

P235/60VR15

P means passenger tire

235 is the width in milimeters

60 is a percentage of how much sidewall v.s. the width. so on this tire the sidewall = 60% of it's width

V is the speed rating

R is Radial tire

15 is the size of the wheel/rim in inches

I_Live_4_my_RS!!!

Gees... 265? Thats a wide *** tire.

I don't want to go too wide, just a bit wider so I can get more rubber to the pavement. 235's were an option.... maybe I'll just do that, and ask about 245's.

silverstreakII

Hey guys, as was specified earlier, a 10" wide tire is the largest recommended for an 8 inch wide rim, as his is. if you don't know the calculation, 2.54 cm=1 inch, so 255 tires are the widest that will fit the rim. your stock tires 215/65r15 have a sidewall height of 139.75 mm, approximately 5.5" from the lip of the rim to the top of the tread. with a 255 tire, to get the appropriate sidewall for no problems with the speedo, youd nead a 255/55/r15. you dont have to worry, the 16 inch rims use te same wheelwells obviously, and have the same overall tire height.16 inch rims use a 245/50r16 tire, the sidewalls of which are4.8", however you have to add half an inch to that to make up for the 16 inch rim. that equals 5.3" which is close to the 15 inch rims overall height. amid all this math, the biggest tire you can safely mount on your rim and still not rub is a 255/55r15. good luck finding one though... call the tirerack and ask if they carry that size. oh and by the way, this size tire is close enough to your stock diameter tht no speedo calibration should be necessary, unless you really can't cope with it being off 3-4 mph at 75. later

Jason E

I'm not concerned about rubbing, but I AM concerned about inaccuracies with the speedo. 2 questions:

-Can I go from a 215/65/15 to a 235/60/15 and have the speedo accurate?? I just bought new 215/65/15 Firehawk GTA's, so this won't happen for awhile (or unless I do the V8 swap I am still thinking about)

-Can I go from a 185/75/14 to a 195/70/14 on my girlfriend's '94 Grand Am? I know it isn't much of a difference, but she needs new tires, and I figure this is a cheap way to add some handling to the car.

------------------
Jason E

'89 Camaro RS
-Medium Grey Metallic
-2.8, A4, T-tops, 95k miles
-Hypertech chip, Accel 8.8MM wires and coil
-K&Ns with gutted airbox
-Alpine 60x4 with Boston 746s and RX97s

'97 Z28
-30th Anniversary package (white with orange stripes)
-LT1, M6, t-tops, 46k miles
-Xtant 403a 50x4 + 300x1 powering a 10" Eclipse Aluminum in a JL Stealth box, Boston RM6 fronts, Monsoon rears (temporary!!), Eclipse 5341R CD, All Monster's goodies...
Speed Kills...Wanna live forever? Drive a Ford.
Long Live #3...

silverstreakII

well going to the 235/60's will add .1 inches to the overall diameter, and since that could wear off in a matter of weeks or months, or even days depending on how ya drive, the difference will be negligible, a matter of .02 feet per rotation. might come in to play around 200 mph, which youll never see. as for your gf's grand am, the difference is slightly greater, .04 feet per rotation, which can influence it by one or two mph at arond 90. unfortunately, as negligible as the speedo difference is, the handling difference probably won't be felt. maybe .1-.2 mph through the slalom. as for the 235/60/15's, you can feel the differrence, almost n inch wider tire, and it will be alright, won't rub. speedo will be very close. but i dont know if you can find a company that uses that size. cll tirerack and find out. as i stated earlier,a 255/55r15 will fit with no rubbing nd a correct speedo and is almost exactly 2 inches wider than the current tire, and will increase handling drmtically, but again, im not sure you could find one in that size. all in all, the sizes you suggested will work, and for the grand am, just get the cheaper one, and if theyre the same, get the 195's. on the thirdgen, 235's would be great, if you can find them. alright? later

SlowCamaro88SC

grand am? for some reason the size 215/60R14 is popping out @ me. oh yeah. I had em' on my old cutlass calais, which is the same as a GA (back in the day)

isn't the stock size of the GA like
175/75R14?

i bet you won't find a 255/55R15... when I had 15" wheels I looked high and low and found nothing.

Justin 87 GTA

iTrader: (3)

i have a gta with 16" rims and 245/50/16 radials. I need DR's. i wanted to go to 255/50/16s , are they the same height/diameter but wider? I was also looking at 275/45/16, but again i want the same height as the 245/50/16, just wider and NO clearance issues in the rear. thank you

AM91Camaro_RS

245/50/16 is 9.6 wide and 25.6 tall.
255/50/16 is 10" wide and 26" tall
275/45/16 is 10.8" wide and 25.7 tall

please do notice that this thread is about 10 and a half years old, though.

Justin 87 GTA

iTrader: (3)

cool.. how do the 275's fit on 16s and in the rear wheel well?

AM91Camaro_RS

depends on the width of the wheel. someone else will have to chime in here, I only have 15s on my car.

Atilla the Fun

Trying wide tires isn't going to do you any favors with that featherweight V6. As you increase contact patch, you lose contact pressure. Want to try the 275/40s on 17x9s, fine, that's relatively affordable, and easy to re-sell when it disappoints you. You can get new 17x9 wheels that fit for just under $100 each, and the tires for $120 each, delivered. Add another $40 for mounting and balancing. Wide looks mean, no doubt. But plan on a V8 swap if you want to enjoy the wide tires.

AM91Camaro_RS

so, you want a heavy race car. that makes no sense. good bye.

Anthonyse

Can I run 28" high on my stock rs?

conlinj

iTrader: (3)

In the back, I doubt it will clear in the front

SKELITOR117

iTrader: (3)

I've got 285/40-17s in the rear and 225/17-50s up front. No spacers and no rubbing.

GunsNroses87

lol...look at these!!! type this in google, and buy them, then put them on your car.Ultra-Wide (385) New Street/Track Tire from Kumho

Justin 87 GTA

iTrader: (3)

how do the 275/45/ 16s fit in the rear wheel well?

Ron U.S.M.C.

For those of you considering/or already have staggered wheels (7"x15" front and 8"x15s rear) 235/60r15 front with 255/60r15s rear is what I run on those and have found its a perfect fit for my style of car..The rear tires are listed at 27"diameter while the 235/60r15s are listed at 26" diameter.The gear change and tire size has put my speedo right on so I don't have to worry about that.

jdracer13

please do notice that this thread is about 10 and a half years old, though.

315/35/17 rear
275/35/17 front

HAHAHA

86_irocz-28

Running 275/60/15 out back and 235/55/15 up front on my 86 iroc(pics below) my previous iroc had 245/45/16's all the way around

Ron U.S.M.C.

10 1/2 years old,that's just a little out of date. May be it can help someone today.

articwhiteZ

iTrader: (56)

stuff a 325/50/15 under it..and call it good!