The right tires (muscle cars)

[WECOVER]

Seems to me that when you increase the wheel size some thing is lost in the traditional type style/stance , especially on a 60's muscle car . Is there a larger tire ( 17 or 18 ) out there with a boxier sidewall?

[Nicks67GTO]

Seems to me that when you increase the wheel size some thing is lost in the traditional type style/stance , especially on a 60's muscle car . Is there a larger tire ( 17 or 18 ) out there with a boxier sidewall?

Right now I'm running 245/45/18 tires in front and 265/50/18s in the back. Both are bulky and both are traditional Nitto555s. I'll be going to a shorter 200tw this year for performance reasons but I really like how the car rides and if youre not going to race this is a good option. There are plenty of pics in my build thread. There's links in my signature.

[badazz81z28]

Seems to me that when you increase the wheel size some thing is lost in the traditional type style/stance , especially on a 60's muscle car . Is there a larger tire ( 17 or 18 ) out there with a boxier sidewall?


Thats what happens when you move up in rim diameter. The sidewall gets shorter or else the tire would be too tall and large. If you want to keep the 60s look, keep 15" rims.

[HandOverFist]

Thats what happens when you move up in rim diameter. The sidewall gets shorter or else the tire would be too tall and large. If you want to keep the 60s look, keep 15" rims.

The problem with 15" wheels is a lack of performance tire availability...this is the reason I am going to 17" on the El Camino. Better tire selection, but not so large that the sidewall disappears.

[badazz81z28]

The problem with 15" wheels is a lack of performance tire availability...this is the reason I am going to 17" on the El Camino. Better tire selection, but not so large that the sidewall disappears.


You can get some sidewall on a 16-17 wheel, unfortunately it comes down to demand and people are fewer and fewer buying performance 15" wheels. Just not smart business to make them

[Interceptor5588]

A few companies make 285/40R17's. Along with 275-40's or 255-45's on the front, this will be your tallest sidewall per greatest width. This is my next combo for the GTO; the current 245/45 front - 275/40 rear looks a little short. I have a pair of 285 Firestones that look much more "square" than the current 275 Falken Azenis, but I don't think they are available new anymore.

[67rally]

You can get Nitto's with some decent sidewalls.

555's:
235/50ZR18
245/45R18
255/45ZR18
265/50ZR18
275/40ZR18
285/40ZR18
295/45ZR18

555 G2's:
235/50ZR18
245/45ZR18
255/45ZR18
275/40ZR18
285/40ZR18

[cpd004]

This was a concern of mine as well. While I believe the older sidewall heights make a car look dated, I didn't want to go with something too short either. With Dale's help from Schwartz, we came up with this:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/02/47D345B03C4942069B78F1140F7FC90A-1.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/unitsn4/media/47D345B0-3C49-4206-9B78-F1140F7FC90A.jpg.html)

Kind of hard to tell, but they are a taller, more squared Michelin Pilot tire that isn't as rounded looking as a BF Goodrich (for example).

[Nine Ball]

How the tire sidewall appears is also greatly affected by the width of wheel in relationship to the width of tire. If you visit the tire manufacturer websites, you can see their specs on each tire size. They typically provide a 1" range of acceptable wheel widths for each size of tire, an example 275 wide fits 9-10" wide wheels. Usually the middle of that range results in a smooth sidewall that is flatter in appearance. The lower value adds more sidewall bulge, the higher value makes them appear slightly stretched.

275 on 9.0 = slight bulge
275 on 9.5 = smooth square sidewall
275 on 10.0 = stretched sidewall

Tony