Tire Width Guide
 

Well it looks like the fun i was having with my iroc has caught up to me and i need to replace the tires before summer lol! i have the stock 16 inch two lined iroc rims and was wondering what is the widest mm tire i can fit on the rim. i dont know if rubbing would play a factor in it to or just how wide of a tire i can go before it doesnt fit the rim....Any info on what you guys have fitted or if there is some kind of chart floating around the net that tells what size tires would fit on different width rims. I tried searching but couldnt think of exactly what to put as my keywords so ii kept getting topics i didnt want.... thanks in advance, albert III

Well, it's an 8" rim, so 255 is prolly the max width that you could get on there, 265 is prolly pushing it too much. Stock size is 245/50/16, so even a 265 would be less than 1" additional rubber on the ground.

I would stick with the stock tire size and just spend the money on a better tire...

- Justin

Get a set of stock sized Nitto's, they should be plenty for your car. Increasing tire width can be more trouble then it is worth, especially with as little clearance as there is on our cars.

I'd go with the 255, that's what I put on the rear of my old 68 Camaro that had 16x8 wheels. It will have minimal effect on the speedo but still gives you more tire contact with the road to help handling. The 265 might be too much for the 8" wheel.

255/50/16 (or larger) will probably rub too much in the front of a 3rd gen (assuming stock rims, I suppose), but you might be able to pull it off. They should fit in the rear with no issues. But they will fit in the rear. I’d probably agree with Justin and just get good 245/50s. Plus a larger front tires just adds to ‘tracking’ on grooved roads.

i believe that the irocs i got on the back of mine are 255/50r-16's and i will be running that size in the m/t et streets.

The problem with wide 16" tires is finding them. In a "high performance" or "drag radial" you won't find anything wider than a 255. If you go to something like a BFG Radial T/A, which is a medium performance tire, they make a 265/50-16 (acceptable for wheels 7.5-9.5" wide). But that's a 26.5" diameter tire, compared to your 25.7" stocker (if you had a 245/50-16). They also make a 295/50-16, which BFG says will fit on a wheel from 8.0" to 10.0" wide. But that's a 27.6" diameter tire. It would slow you down like swapping in lower numerical rear axle gears.

Whether any of those would fit on a 3rd Gen is unknown to me. I think stiocking with a high performance tire similar to what came stock on your car is the answer.

That is being very kind. Probably any v or z (hell even h) would out handle any old-school hoop like that (T/A, QT Qualifier, etc., any RWL tire). They are all ancient technology.

sticking with stock
 

ok looks like i will stick with the stock size 245/50/16.. are they any i should be looking at in particular or not. the car is a dd but i do like to get on it. i am not good with what tires to choose i.e hard or soft so if you can help me out it would be great. thanks albert III

Go to Tire Rack.

http://www.tirerack.com/

Click on "tires by size" (lower left corner)

Enter 245/50-16

You will get a list of 36 different tires that Tire Rack carries in that size. Tire ack does not have Nitto, which is a popular brand. The prices range from $68 (Sumitomo) to $211 (Goodyear). They range from "all season" to "ultra high performance summer".

For a tire that interests you, click on "survey results". That will give you a numerical rating, based on user feedback, for things like dry traction, wet traction, treadwear, noise, comfort, etc. While you are in this screen, you can click on "Compare this tire to other......" and you will get a list of all the tires in that category, rated from top to bottom overall.

Not an "absolute" evaluation of the tires, but they also include test results and reviews for many tires.