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| Big tires (Page 2/5) |
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williegoat
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JUL 28, 05:17 PM
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There is an archived thread with 22 pages of wheels and tire of all sizes and descriptions. It might help some more recent owners decide what fits and what looks good.
I will shamelessly link to my post in that thread: https://www.fiero.nl/forum/.../052912-13.html#p481
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"Ain't no rest for the whiskers."
34.45260465579319, -112.53790558034461
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FieroV6Dude
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JUL 28, 07:05 PM
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| quote | Originally posted by hunter29:
My thinking was to go to a 17 wheel no more than 20 # and a 45 tire 205 to 215 maybe 215 225 if necessary.
Thinking a lower profile tire for better handling and better tire selection. Is this worth while ? I see it a lot..
Edit, would like a summer tire, not a track tire and not a summer tire I have to bring inside when it gets cold, which I can't seem to find find in 15 inch..
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I have 17's with 215/45's in front and 225/45's in back. Bridgestone Potenza's. Been very happy with the handling and performance. And they look nice and fill up the wheel wells.
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hunter29
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JUL 28, 09:57 PM
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| quote | Originally posted by williegoat:
There is an archived thread with 22 pages of wheels and tire of all sizes and descriptions. It might help some more recent owners decide what fits and what looks good.
I will shamelessly link to my post in that thread: https://www.fiero.nl/forum/.../052912-13.html#p481
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Perfect thanks
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hunter29
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JUL 28, 10:00 PM
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| quote | Originally posted by FieroV6Dude:
I have 17's with 215/45's in front and 225/45's in back. Bridgestone Potenza's. Been very happy with the handling and performance. And they look nice and fill up the wheel wells.
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Is your car lowered ? So far most 17 inch tires I have looked at are a tad smaller diameter than what I have now..
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hunter29
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JUL 28, 10:04 PM
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Thanks for the input guys, but let me ask again in regards to wheel size.
Is 17 inch 45 tire going to offer better handling than 15 inch 60 ?
To me is seems a shorter side wall would.
That's my real concern, I don't have any interest in wider tires..
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FieroV6Dude
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JUL 29, 12:37 AM
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| quote | Originally posted by hunter29:
Is your car lowered ? So far most 17 inch tires I have looked at are a tad smaller diameter than what I have now.. |
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Yes, it was lowered 2" when I redid all the suspension with poly. As I get older, that may have not been the smartest decision. LOL
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cvxjet
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JUL 29, 12:19 PM
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Yes- Shorter side-walls can improve response and handling- a bit. But with the Fiero's older suspension, you will need to be on SMOOTH roads to get that benefit while NOT suffering the bad of poor ride, and tire-hop over bumps. Plus less accel and braking performance.
New cars have all-aluminum suspension arms, etc...and very advanced shock-absorbers.
I believe that the 16 x 7s with 205 and 225/55 offer the best compromise.
Crazy info; I think it was the 1990-91 Cutlass Calais 442 that they actually went down to 14-inch wheel/tire size on the HO version because in testing the car performed better! The lower performance Cutlass Calais models used 15 and 16 inch wheel/tire setups...
(Just to add; Back in the 80s I was into handling- not drag racing like most of my friends- had a Comet GT and set it up for corner carving....First wheels were 14 x 6.5 ETs, with 235 and 245/60 tires....a few years later I found some Appliance wire mesh wheels that were 14 x 8.....switched them in and the improvement in handling was amazing. Before, you could wiggle the wheel and feel the car squirm...after, with those wider wheels, the car would just TURN (Actually banged my buddy's head against the passenger-side window!)
So WIDER wheels that hold the tire tightly are actually just as important as shorter sidewalls- my 205 front tires are really tight on the 7-inch wide wheels.[This message has been edited by cvxjet (edited 07-29-2024).]
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hunter29
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JUL 29, 05:35 PM
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| quote | Originally posted by FieroV6Dude:
Yes, it was lowered 2" when I redid all the suspension with poly. As I get older, that may have not been the smartest decision. LOL |
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Lol , I know what you mean... thanks
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hunter29
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JUL 29, 05:46 PM
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| quote | Originally posted by cvxjet:
Yes- Shorter side-walls can improve response and handling- a bit. But with the Fiero's older suspension, you will need to be on SMOOTH roads to get that benefit while NOT suffering the bad of poor ride, and tire-hop over bumps. Plus less accel and braking performance.
New cars have all-aluminum suspension arms, etc...and very advanced shock-absorbers.
I believe that the 16 x 7s with 205 and 225/55 offer the best compromise.
Crazy info; I think it was the 1990-91 Cutlass Calais 442 that they actually went down to 14-inch wheel/tire size on the HO version because in testing the car performed better! The lower performance Cutlass Calais models used 15 and 16 inch wheel/tire setups...
(Just to add; Back in the 80s I was into handling- not drag racing like most of my friends- had a Comet GT and set it up for corner carving....First wheels were 14 x 6.5 ETs, with 235 and 245/60 tires....a few years later I found some Appliance wire mesh wheels that were 14 x 8.....switched them in and the improvement in handling was amazing. Before, you could wiggle the wheel and feel the car squirm...after, with those wider wheels, the car would just TURN (Actually banged my buddy's head against the passenger-side window!)
So WIDER wheels that hold the tire tightly are actually just as important as shorter sidewalls- my 205 front tires are really tight on the 7-inch wide wheels.
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Ok got you except for acceleration and breaking.
If weight was the same what would it matter?
Thanks for the input..
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williegoat
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JUL 29, 06:31 PM
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| quote | Originally posted by hunter29:
Ok got you except for acceleration and breaking.
If weight was the same what would it matter?
Thanks for the input.. |
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There are three major things that will have an effect on acceleration and breaking:
1) weight has already been discussed.
2) tire compound is obvious.
3) overall diameter: if you choose a combination with a diameter close to the original tires, there will be little noticeable change. So, if you go with a lower (numerically) aspect ratio, you will want a bigger wheel. Overall diameter much bigger or smaller will effect gearing or leverage.
If you look at my combination:
front: 17x7" with 225/45ZR17
rear: 18x8" with 245/40ZR18
The front and rear have nearly the same overall diameter.[This message has been edited by williegoat (edited 07-29-2024).]
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