Tire sizes

What are the largest tires I can run on this car with stock fender wells and maybe 2 inch rear flare extensions. I guess the fronts are the most difficult to fit. I would love to run the goodyear big letter treaded tires or the blue streaks but I think the tire sizes are going to be difficult to fit. I thought about the big letter avon's but I don't think they make a tall enough rear. Any ideas?

Dlampe said:

What are the largest tires I can run on this car with stock fender wells and maybe 2 inch rear flare extensions. I guess the fronts are the most difficult to fit. I would love to run the goodyear big letter treaded tires or the blue streaks but I think the tire sizes are going to be difficult to fit. I thought about the big letter avon's but I don't think they make a tall enough rear. Any ideas?

Click to expand...

Overview :: Sasco Sports has both ranges of tires, and I think roger kruse (don't have the website).

You can likely use the some of the Goodyears vintage bluestreaks, or the cobra tires but don't know if they have the Big Goodyear letters, they do have some of the CanAm series in 15" too, but usually odd sized diameters. The Front's are not a problem as I recall, it was getting rears to fit with a suitable 14" wide tire. A bit smaller and you might be able to find one of the Cobra/Bluestreaks that works. Some of the Rain Tires (Racing) might also work, but as I recall could not match up a front and rear set that were from the same family of tire. Also you can just make a stencil and spray them on, probably won't look much different then the racing tires.

The Avon range has most all sizes for front and rear in plenty of diameters. I think the I got the 27" at 14" wide, I think you can get 12" in the 26" diameter. Check out BillD's build, I think his front and rear are a bit wider then mine, but his rears are 26".

Loads of fun trying to piece it together.

Sandy

You could use some modern R compound tires from Toyo or Hoosier. Some Toyos shaved to 4/32 will work in the rain just fine, or if rain isn't a concern then get the Hoosiers. Easy size selection, 275s in the rear, put some 225s in the front. You'll be faster than the Goodyears and Avons, and your wallet will be happier too I think!

Can you fit a 25 or 26 inch tire in the front or did you guys use the 23 to 24 inch tires? The rear doesn't seem to be the issue.

Dean, this is the stcok front tyre size ...as you see its pretty close to 25inches....so as long as you stay in the same ballpark you will be fine.

Stock Tire - 205/60R15 >Search Tires
Section Width: 8.07 in 205 mm

Rim Diameter: 15 in 381 mm

Rim Width Range: 5.5 - 8 in

Overall Diameter: 24.68 in 626.87 mm

Sidewall Height: 4.84 in 122.93 mm

Radius: 12.34 in 313.43 mm

Circumference: 77.53 in 1969.2 mm

Revs per Mile: 842.7

Hope this helps you.....

Goodyear doesn't make a big letter tire with a cross section that small. 8 inches is pretty narrow. I need to go to a 10 C.S. to find anything that is close! We talked about the Blue streaks but they are much bigger than that. They are 10.6 on 8 inch rims and 25.5 diameter. Will that work? That is pretty close to a 225/ 60-15.

They will work....
Ron McCall has 225's on his car

What is the rear tire diameter? I had been figuring based on 27 inches or so. When looking at tranny ratios, the difference between 25 inch and 27 inch diameter is not insignifcant. A 295 50 15 gives a 26.6 inch diameter in theory.

My front tires are AVON 9.1/23.5-15 and my rear tires are AVON 15.0/26.0-15

Thanks Bill, that is what I was looking for. How is the clearance around the front tires when the wheel is turned all the way? Could you get a larger tire in there or is that about the max?

The tires I got in Avon Bias Tires and had them Groved Sizes were -

8.5/23.5-15 Fronts
14.0/27.0-15 Rears

Fran can comment on the fitment on them. BillD's tires ara just a tic bigger in the front and rear, but I figured I would go with bit taller tire (27 vs 26) due to the low final gear ratio that I have. Use one of the gear calculators and you can see how the diameter affects your RPM through each gear.

Here is the link to a good simple program GearCalc


Sandy

My front tires are as big as I would go. They are very close the body





Bill

I ahve 225/50/15s on the front and 295/50/15s on the rear. They fit perfectly!

Ron do you have any extra flare added to the rear?

Dlampe said:

Ron do you have any extra flare added to the rear?

Click to expand...

None. I trimmed the inside wheel "lip". That's about it.

Hi Ron,

Did you need to trim the rear lip for the 295s, or the fronts, or both?

Thanks & Regards,

Al

ahirsbrunner said:

Hi Ron,

Did you need to trim the rear lip for the 295s, or the fronts, or both?

Thanks & Regards,

Al

Click to expand...

Only the rear. NOt very much at all.I could have probably gotten away with not trimming them,but I wanted to be sure.

Ron, what make/mfg are your tires? I like the dimensions you have indicated but have only been able to find those (relatively easily) in the BF Goodrich TA. I don't like the TA because of the low speed rating so I'm looking for something better. Thanks.

CliffBeer said:

Ron, what make/mfg are your tires? I like the dimensions you have indicated but have only been able to find those (relatively easily) in the BF Goodrich TA. I don't like the TA because of the low speed rating so I'm looking for something better. Thanks.

Click to expand...

My tires are BFGoodrich. I will probably change to the Hoosiers like Ran's Lola after the car is finished.

CliffBeer said:

Ron, what make/mfg are your tires? I like the dimensions you have indicated but have only been able to find those (relatively easily) in the BF Goodrich TA. I don't like the TA because of the low speed rating so I'm looking for something better. Thanks.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure which Ron you mean. I suspect you mean Ron M. with the pretty blue car, but I'll throw some info in the ring on tires anyhow.

Right now the Lola is shod with Hoosier R6s, a DOT road race tire. It has little to do with DOT other than the stamp and it is what we road race with on our IT cars. Great stickyness, good life. They are easy to flat spot though because they don't feedback quite like a Toyo though, but they stick a bit better. They WILL NOT work in the rain. They have rain grooves, but that is to get a DOT number. They have a lot more in common with Hoosier slicks than a road tire. I should have put 215s/205s on the front, the 255s are too large and will deaden the steering feel too much I think.

Hoosier Tire

A series is for cone crushers since they are softer and ready to go with little heat. Don't use those, they won't last long on the street.

For dual purpose road/track use I'd put Toyo RA1s on, either full tread or shaved. I should have put these on the Lola, but didn't. These are insanely sticky and have a good lifetime, as well as will work fine in the wet. Jeff has them on is Esprit and Exige, they are great on track and street. Good feedback from these tires. These are the spec tire for SCCA spec Miata and is a really good race tire.

Toyo Proxes RA-1 Tires - Tire Size & Price Details - 1010tires.com

In either case there is no similarilties between these two tires and your BF Goodrich tires, other than the fact they are all round. You'll love them and your confidence level in the car will increase. With both tires your car will need to be properly setup to use them, they will expose improper setup fairly easily.

Ron