15s?

[band1t]

I was just wondering
do you all think 15s are dead and gone
cause I cant see GM, Ford or Mopar putting 15s on the camaro, Mustang or challenger
they would look funny

[Gitter Dun]

Depends on what your going for but they are definitely phased out around here. I have considered throwing 15's back on due to tire and wheel weight and not to mention cost but that would mean changing my brakes out also.

Personally I like the idea but you need to do what works for you.

[nullshine]

15" wheels were pretty much dead and gone in the early '90s if not before then. I only say that because you're mentioning new cars.

They were being phased out on new cars in the mid '80s even.
A lot of IROC Camaros and T/As had 16" wheels at that point in time. Corvettes were changing to 16" and (omg) 17"!
Some of base model F bodies were running smaller stuff I think, but that's no surprise.

Probably the longest hangers-on in the GM stable were the G bodies... 14" for the base/luxury models and 15" for the performance ones. Although I think the GNX had 16"? Maybe. Not sure on wheel choice for the B bodies, but I'm sure it was at least 15".

And yes, 15" wheels on a new Camaro would look funny, about as funny as 20" wheels on a Chevette. The proportions of the vehicle don't really allow the wheels to look right.

Here's a synopsis of 'vette wheels at that point in time.
http://www.joby.se/corvette/div/corvette_wheels/

I'm sure some vehicles run 15", but I doubt it's anything mid-size and performance oriented.

What people will put on their used/vintage/race/etc vehicles is a whole other story.
Don't the 4th Gen F body guys shave the fins on their calipers down to run 15" wheels for the drag strip?

[rustomatic]

15s are the new 13s.

[campindog]

15s are ded. I still have them on my car, but I'm shopping. I still like the looks, but no one makes decent rubber for them. Somewhere there is a set of 18s with my name on em

[twosaturns]

15's are still hot on compacts in autocross, think civics and miatas.

[High Plains Mopars]

15's are still hot on compacts in autocross, think civics and miatas.

Yup, some cars are a tad bit small to get 19-20" wheels under. The benefit of these small cars using 15"s is that the tires will remain in production. Down side is that they will tend to be too narrow for use on a muscle car. But, if your serious about grip and running on a track, a 255x15 slick will stick a muscle car to the track like glue.

Cooper is probably the most dominate manufacterer of 15" rubber these days. With stakes in brands such as Cooper, Mickey Thompson, Mastercraft, Avon, **** Cepek, Dean, and others, they do continue to not only make 15" rubber, but occasionaly introduce new designs as well.

BFG is rumored to be evaluting new designs to their TA line, but unless they do a major overhaul and up the speed rating on the 15" line, they still won't be anything more than cruiser tires. At least Cooper has some H rated tires in Mickey Thompson designs and some Z rated tires in Avon designs.

[twosaturns]

I remember when it was a big deal to put gatorbacks on my Nova back in the day; 225/60 VR15's were like $150 each...

[DriverzInc]

15, and even more so 16s are dead and gone. Think of it this way, how many cars are coming out these days with stock 15's or 16's? Right, not a lot. Then what would motivate tire manfuacturers to continue making a wide variety of 15s or 16s? Exactly. No demand, means no supply, means your stuck with Coker adn Mickey Thompson, and a hand full of BFG's which are slowly but very surely becoming extinct as well. I use to say 17's are the new 15... but here we are in 2011, and they are already getting harder to get, and are being discontinued by some. 18's are pretty much the new standard, in a world where new cars are all being manufactured with 18's, 19's, 20's and 22's right from the factory, tire manufacturers are driven to make tires to fit those vehicles.

We constantly get calls asking us to tell Nitto or Falken to start making certain size tires... sorry guys, but we're a very small piece of the pie when it comes to the larger picture.

[Todd]

Here's mine with 15x8 and 15x9

[High Plains Mopars]

We constantly get calls asking us to tell Nitto or Falken to start making certain size tires... sorry guys, but we're a very small piece of the pie when it comes to the larger picture.

Which is why you need to research what sizes were commonly available on production cars in the diameter you want to use, then chose those sizes. While selection may shrink, choices will exist longer for those specific factory offered sizes because of the sheer volume they will demand over any other oddball stuff any of us may prefer for our cars. So 235/60, 255/60 in 15" and 275/40 and 335/35 in 17 will be around for some time to come because these were offerd from the factories.

[andrewb70]

Here's mine with 15x8 and 15x9

You might really want to consider getting new tires. From the looks of it you are running BF Goodrich HR TAs. Those tires haven't been made for about 15 years, maybe longer. Tires do have an expiration date and old rubber gets dry rotted and starts to crack. It really becomes a safety issue.

I built my GTO in 2002 and had Nitto 555s on it. In 2008 I replaced them with Falken RT615s not because the tread was worn on the Nittos but because they were dry, cracked, and hard as a rock!

Andrew

[MyFriendScott]

My bigwheel had a 15" on front, that's how outdated 15's are.
The 4 15x7's with 225/60/15 tires have no place anymore on my Camaro. People just walked right by the car when it looked like this:


After updating the wheels and tires, it regularly draws a crowd.