Am I the only one who wants a 24" hi-po 15" tire?

ProDarwin wrote: As I said earlier, just suck it up and go shorter in the tire or taller in the wheel. 15" street tires are only going to come in a 23" diameter. Its been that way for quite a while and we just need to accept it.

I don't think you quite understand that that really isn't an option. I need a 26" diameter tire and a 17" wheel over a 10" brake disc not only looks stupid, but performs stupid. I have plenty of choices in this size for drag racing, and zero for corners or even really just "good street tire" (ie - not a 500+ tw "round" one).

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: I don't like 15s on NBs, and because i am who i am, 225 is not wide enough. Stock celica was 205/55-15. I had to do a lot of work to fit a 245/45-16... just in time for that size to pretty much go extinct. Same deal with MX6. Escort isn't so bad the more i think about it. The 225/45 RS3 is fine.

So you admit, you aren't boned. You're picky

With Miatas making great use of 225s on 9" wheels (Hollis is saying that ~8.5" would be perfect), do you think a 245 on a 9 will be any faster? Beyond that point the wheel becomes a limitation as well.

If you already fit 245/45-16, why not just run a 225? How wide are your wheels? A 225 would work great on a 8 or 8.5" wheel. This was a consideration for me on my Z32. Factory 8.5s with 225/50-16s.

Javelin wrote: I don't think you quite understand that that really isn't an option. I need a 26" diameter tire and a 17" wheel over a 10" brake disc not only looks stupid, but performs stupid. I have *plenty* of choices in this size for drag racing, and *zero* for corners or even really just "good street tire" (ie - not a 500+ tw "round" one).

I doubt it really performs stupid. How wide are you going? Drag racing is able to use all that sidewall to your advantage, cornering is no. Plenty of 26" tire on 17" wheel combos seem to work great for modern muscle.

z31maniac wrote:

ProDarwin wrote: I dont understand. There are about a gagillion Miatas running ST with gobs of 15" tire choices. Just put 15x8s or 15x9s on (TRM wheels require a different Banjo fitting, and IIRC 6ULs will fit the sport brakes) and some 205s or 225s. How are you boned?

As already mentioned, the 205/50 and 225/45 are 23" not 24"

And the Miata runs a 23" tire from the factory, so I don't see how this is an issue.

Because people were talking about cars that AREN'T Miatas in this thread as well.

I want wider than my 245, not narrower. 16" selection just blows, period. 225/50-16 is way too tall. The ideal size would be 245/40-16, but that doesn't exist. I run a 16x8 wheel, and would really like to go 16x9. I can move up to 17s, but don't want to. Unfortunately, moving up to 17s doesn't give me a whole lot of help. There's a 235/40-17 and a 245/35-17. Neither of which are an improvement enough to bother, and there's not many choices in either size anyways.

Celica is a 23.9" tire stock. My Miata is a 23.5" tire stock and the last thing i want to do is run a shorter tire to get the gearing even more stupid.

z31maniac wrote: Because people were talking about cars that AREN'T Miatas in this thread as well.

Well, you quoted a response directed at someone complaining about Miata sizes :)

ProDarwin wrote:

z31maniac wrote: Because people were talking about cars that AREN'T Miatas in this thread as well.

Well, you quoted a response directed at someone complaining about Miata sizes :)

I'm probably going to end up running 245/35-17s.

ProDarwin wrote: As I said earlier, just suck it up and go shorter in the tire or taller in the wheel. 15" street tires are only going to come in a 23" diameter.

It depends on what the car is being used for. A 23" tire doesn't play well with stock E30 gearing in STX. Going taller runs into clearance issues on even a moderately lowered car (limited fender tweaking allowed). Probably less of an issue on a track car or a primarily street car, but the purpose of my car is to rarely get out of 2nd gear...

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: 225/50-16 is way too tall. The ideal size would be 245/40-16, but that doesn't exist. I run a 16x8 wheel, and would really like to go 16x9. I can move up to 17s, but don't want to. Unfortunately, moving up to 17s doesn't give me a whole lot of help. There's a 235/40-17 and a 245/35-17. Neither of which are an improvement enough to bother, and there's not many choices in either size anyways. Celica is a 23.9" tire stock. My Miata is a 23.5" tire stock and the last thing i want to do is run a shorter tire to get the gearing even more stupid.

225/50 is <0.2" taller than the 245/45.

If it were my Celica, I'd be running 23" tires. I bet they are a lot easier to fit. I agree the 245/40-16 would be nice, but many 24" cars are 4x100 and 16x9s in that size won't happen. The 235/40 on a 17x9 wouldn't be terrible.

And your Miata is weird.

ProDarwin wrote:

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: 225/50-16 is way too tall. The ideal size would be 245/40-16, but that doesn't exist. I run a 16x8 wheel, and would really like to go 16x9. I can move up to 17s, but don't want to. Unfortunately, moving up to 17s doesn't give me a whole lot of help. There's a 235/40-17 and a 245/35-17. Neither of which are an improvement enough to bother, and there's not many choices in either size anyways. Celica is a 23.9" tire stock. My Miata is a 23.5" tire stock and the last thing i want to do is run a shorter tire to get the gearing even more stupid.

225/50 is <0.2" taller than the 245/45. If it were my Celica, I'd be running 23" tires. I bet they are a lot easier to fit. I agree the 245/40-16 would be nice, but many 24" cars are 4x100 and 16x9s in that size won't happen. The 235/40 on a 17x9 wouldn't be terrible. And your Miata is weird.

The 245/45-16 was already pushing it in terms of height, which is my issue, and again... i want wider.

23" tires are certainly easy to fit on the Celica... and also not available in wide enough anything that i care to bother with.

Really with that car... i have space for 265s with the right offset wheel. I'd like to make use of that.

My Miata is weird, so touche. Stupid 205/40-17s...

But will a 265 make you any faster? Can you run 10" wheels? How much does the car weigh? 255 is the most many STX cars bother with, because going to a 265 doesn't give much benefit on a 9" wheel. On some cars even the 255 is slower than a 245 on a 9" wheel (see GRM test).

RE: Miata. It may be weird, but what's weirder is your refusal to run 15s like all of the other Miata drivers out there. I'm sure if 245/35-17s were faster, there would be people running them on NBs in STR.

ProDarwin wrote: But will a 265 make you any faster? Can you run 10" wheels? How much does the car weigh? 255 is the most many STX cars bother with, because going to a 265 doesn't give much benefit on a 9" wheel. On some cars even the 255 is slower than a 245 on a 9" wheel (see GRM test). RE: Miata. It may be weird, but what's weirder is your refusal to run 15s like all of the other Miata drivers out there. I'm sure if 245/35-17s were faster, there would be people running them on NBs in STR.

Celica isn't an autocross car. Currently building a 2.2 stroker 3sgte that should be capable of withstanding 1000hp. I'm looking for ~400. I'm building it to be fast, and damn anything that gets in my way.

The Miata is a street car, and a street car only. I don't really care what's faster from an autocross perspective. I don't like 15s on an NB, and that's enough to rule that out right from the start, and i want wider than 225, so that's the second strike.

Even if i was ok with 15s and 225 width tires, there's.... two choices.

I wonder if there's a possibility that one of the "muscle car tire" companies like Corker might have a larger selection of 15-inch tires?

And look at the bright side, at least you're not looking for 13-inch performance tires. When I ran 13s there were 195/50, 205/50, 215/50 and 235/50 tires to choose from.

Now there's one size; 215/50x13. If you're looking for 14-inch tires there are some 60-series tires and that's it.

I think it's all a plot by an evil cabal of wheel and tire companies to force everyone in the world to buy ever larger wheel/tire combinations on a regular basis.

Javelin wrote: I don't think you quite understand that that really isn't an option. I need a 26" diameter tire and a 17" wheel over a 10" brake disc not only looks stupid, but performs stupid. I have *plenty* of choices in this size for drag racing, and *zero* for corners or even really just "good street tire" (ie - not a 500+ tw "round" one).

I've heard some of the drag radials perform decently in corners, too.

In reply to vern2point3:

I suppose this is a good time to expand on the Coker idea. How much are we willing to pay for good, grippy street tires in an uncommon size?

MadScientistMatt wrote:

Javelin wrote: I don't think you quite understand that that really isn't an option. I need a 26" diameter tire and a 17" wheel over a 10" brake disc not only looks stupid, but performs stupid. I have *plenty* of choices in this size for drag racing, and *zero* for corners or even really just "good street tire" (ie - not a 500+ tw "round" one).

I've heard some of the drag radials perform decently in corners, too.

I've heard of folks using the drag radial for auto X. However, that was for the ridiculously tiny auto X course nonsense used at the Goodguys,"pro touring" events. I'd be curious to see how they work work on a proper track or an auto X course bigger than a basketball court.

vern2point3 wrote: I wonder if there's a possibility that one of the "muscle car tire" companies like Corker might have a larger selection of 15-inch tires? And look at the bright side, at least you're not looking for 13-inch performance tires. When I ran 13s there were 195/50, 205/50, 215/50 and 235/50 tires to choose from. Now there's one size; 215/50x13. If you're looking for 14-inch tires there are some 60-series tires and that's it. I think it's all a plot by an evil cabal of wheel and tire companies to force everyone in the world to buy ever larger wheel/tire combinations on a regular basis.

they have a decent selection, but no real performance tires in those sizes. Michelins for Ferraris at 600. a pop(ask me how I know :( ) and Vredsteins. The Pirelli CN36 has just been re introduced and although its a nice performing tire for vintage rides, I'd hardly call it a contemporary tire.

ProDarwin wrote: And super light 15" wheels are becoming cheap as hell.

these are what I'd like to find

wbjones wrote: these are what I'd like to find

Edit. Post screwed up.

What size? TRM has dirt cheap 13lb 7" and 7.5" and 8" wheels (although weird offset on the 8). Their 9 isn't super light, but pretty decent for $104.

I just went through the entire tire selection Coker site. Lots of 60-series tires but very few 50s.

They do have some interesting looking tires, but only in rather monsterous sizes like 18wide x 31tall x15. Nice for a Pro Street car or a T-bucket rod, but not a corner-turning machine.

One thing I can't find though, is whether their tires are NOS or reproductions from China. Might become an issue on a vehicle driven hard where a cruiser would never stress them.

In reply to vern2point3:

All Coker tires are brand new. They manufacture them in original molds sometimes, but they are all new.