Theoretical Tire Question

[DynoDon]

A friend of mine is considering building an early Fairlane mainly for Autocross (he's inspired by my little Falcon). He wants to keep the 60's vibe of an early Trans Am car so he doesn't want to run 17 or 18" wheels, but rather stay with 15's. He is wondering how much he is going to give up on the track running comparable width but higher aspect ratio tires compared to 18's. In other words how much will the sidewall flex really hurt him?
He's looked at the tires that i used to run on my Tiger back in the 70's, and it was a SCCSCC Championship car, but i explained that all the cars ran crappy tires back then (We had the wholly grail - Goodyear Blue Streaks)
So what do you experienced guys think?

[wmhjr]

If he can live with Hoosier A6's, then he'll probably have an advantage over the larger diameters. They don't have the sidewalls of a vintage tire, but they're great 15" racing tires for autocross.

[DynoDon]

If he can live with Hoosier A6's, then he'll probably have an advantage over the larger diameters. They don't have the sidewalls of a vintage tire, but they're great 15" racing tires for autocross.

He wants to be able to do Goodguys events as well as SCCA so those won't work for him - too sticky

Any other ideas?
Anyone? Bueller?

[Bryce]

what width?

235s on a 15 all day long. But any wider and you end up with a soft compound tire. R888 are a great DOT tire. But still too 'sticky' for a goodguys event. He could still run but would not be considered for competition.

[DynoDon]

what width?

235s on a 15 all day long. But any wider and you end up with a soft compound tire. R888 are a great DOT tire. But still too 'sticky' for a goodguys event. He could still run but would not be considered for competition.

He's hoping to stuff 245's up front and a 265 - 275 in the rear. Similar to what the Ring Brothers did on the Failane they built.

[Bryce]

I am running a 245 on the front of my falcon. but its a 16" rim.

The only small diameter 245 for a 15" is the hoosier R6.

[DynoDon]

Thanks for the replies. Looks like he'll have to step up to 16 or 17 to make it work, or run something crappy like Radial T/A's

[High Plains Mopars]

Read through this thread; https://www.pro-touring.com/forum/sh...ad.php?t=34692

[DynoDon]

Interesting read on that thread. Not sure it really answers the question about how much a guy would give up using some of these 15" versus lower profile, possibly stickier 16's or 17's or even 18's.
Thanks for the link

[wheelman]

If you want as much tire that will fit on a 8" rim, look at the Mickey Thompson Sportsman S/R in this size:
6654 26X12.00R15LT
It is an 'H'-rated tire, which will give you a stiffer sidewall and perhaps a little more grip than a standard tire. Match it up with a 10"-12" for the rear. I would not use the BFG Radial T/A for any autocrossing. I ran a set years ago and a friend took a picture of the car at the apex of a corner. When we developed the film, the shot caught the loaded tire almost peeled off of the rim. Definitely not something that you want to do. If you want to discuss any other options, send me a message.

Thanks,

Scott
WheelWorks, Inc.

[DynoDon]

Thanks for the reply's - looks like he has decided to go up to 17's instead of trying to keeo the vintage loook