I recently purchased a 1985 GT with 49k. The seller advised me that the man he obtained the car from had replaced the springs and wheels with those from an 88. The ride was extremely hard and punishing on road defects (like the car was going to fall apart) so I immediately reinstalled the OEM springs and included new shocks and struts and the car now rides comfortably over bumps. The wheels are the black honeycomb and I know from having an 88 Formula that these are the same wheels that I had on that car. The tires are Yokohama and the previous owner had installed the same size all around, 205/60/15.

Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't the 88 black honeycomb wheels come in staggered sizes with the front being slightly narrower than the rear? If that is the case, how can I tell (without removing the tires and measuring each rim separately) if this guy put the same size rims all around or if the rims are in fact staggered. The ultimate reason for all this discussion is that the tires need replacing and I am not sure what size to put in the front and rear. I am not sure what size wheels and tires came with the car when new and whether or not they were staggered or not. Regardless of that, I am stuck with the rims I have but am not sure about the tire sizes. I think the car came with 14" wheels and these black honeycomb are 15".

Any advice will be appreciated.

Yep. The '88 GT & Formula 15" lace wheels were staggered in size and used different sized tires.....205/60 up front & 215/60 in the rear. The front wheels are 6" wide and the rears 7" wide......the rears will have a 1" lip while the fronts have a flush lip. You can tell the difference between them immediately.....it's possible the previous owner used 4 rear '88 wheels (or 4 fronts ones for that matter). Easiest way is to look for that 1" deep lip.

Thanks for the response. All four wheels have the 1" recess on the aluminum lip so I guess they are all from the rear of an 88. That being the case, should I install 215/60/15 all around? By the way, the steering wheel is very difficult to turn unless moving above 10 mph. Could this be from having the wheels in the front an extra 1" wide?

[This message has been edited by QCMANAGER (edited 06-18-2015).]

'86-'87 GTs used 15x7 wheels on all 4 corners, so I doubt that is causing any steering issues. The '86-'87s also used 205/60 up front & 215/60 in the rear, so you can stick with stock sizes or use 205/60's all around or 215/60's all around or even 225/60's all around (or whatever combination you want). Of course, the wider the front tires the more effort it takes to turn.

Your alignment may be off or your balljoints need some grease.....not sure. Fieros aren't known for their slow speed turning prowess though, so it just might be normal.

Thanks again. I think it is more likely that these wheels are from and 86 or 87 since they would have been the same all around.

Do you see any issues with putting 205/60/15 front and 225/60/15 rear?

quote Originally posted by QCMANAGER: The seller advised me that the man he obtained the car from had replaced the springs and wheels with those from an 88.

The rear springs from an '88 won't fit the previous years, so who knows what other baloney this fella was telling you (besides the wheels being from an '88).

quote Originally posted by QCMANAGER: Do you see any issues with putting 205/60/15 front and 225/60/15 rear?

No, although it eliminates any chance of rotating the tires from front to back, etc.

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 06-19-2015).]

quote Originally posted by QCMANAGER: Thanks again. I think it is more likely that these wheels are from and 86 or 87 since they would have been the same all around. Do you see any issues with putting 205/60/15 front and 225/60/15 rear?

I beleive my 86 with Ferrari kit had 225/70/16s all around. Theyre a bit taller than 60s and not as wide, but mine were on 8" wide rims.

225/60/15 on rear with the 205/60/15 fronts will be fine.