johnnyboy

iTrader: (3)

i'm going to need new tires in the near future but i don't want just 245/50/16's again i'd like to put 234-245/50/16's on the front and 255-275/50/16's on the back and they need to be street tires. what do you guys recommend?

doc

Assuming that you have 16x8.0 wheels, its best to install P245/50R16s on the front, and I recommend P255/50R16s on the rear. The car will have a bit of rake to it. Tires bigger than the P245/50R16 on the front tend to rub in many cases.

Now, if you want to buy new wheels, this opens up a ton of possibilities. I just moved my factory '99 Camaro SS wheels (17x9.5) to my '87 IROCZ. I mounted P275/40R17s all around. But you need adapters to do this.

johnnyboy

iTrader: (3)

i don't want really wide tires on the front, that's why i was thinking about 235's for the frontand i've been told that you can mount up to 275's on the stock 16x8's on the back without rubbing, but my question wasn't so much what size tires to get as it was what brand

doc

I prefer the BFGs as a good comprimise between cost, grip, and quality.
But, it all depends on how much you want to spend. Its my opinion that you cant every have too much brake or tires.

For the front, I am now running the BFG G-force KDW on both of my Camaros ('87 IROCZ and '99 SS). I have BFG KDs on the rear of the IROCZ and BFG Drag Radials on the SS. The idea is to get a goot wet/dry tire on the front for hydroplaning resistance and a great dry grip tire in the back.

BigBiscuit

I run 235/60/15 Cooper Cobras on my Z28 daily driver and I've been happy with them. more comfortable than the tires i had before. Less expensive than BFGs and generally regarded as "best bang for the buck" but they're not top of the line. they've got a nice warranty on them too...which i did have to use when one of my sidewalls had a defect in it. i took it back and they swapped in a new one no problem. I'd suggest them if you're on a budget, which most of us are. I drive on rough city roads around here and they are wearing well after about 15k miles or so. but if you want real high quality rubber designed for a purpose other than mundane daily driving, guys here could recommend some better brands I'm sure.

johnnyboy

iTrader: (3)

i was originally considering 235/60/15's on the front and 255/60/ 15's on the back but the 15 inch steel wheels seem so small compared to my 16 inch firebird wheels. do you have a pic of your car with those tires? if you do i'd like to see. right now i have the cooper zeon 2xs
245/50/16's all around but they wore really fast and rubbed in the front on turns (i think bad ball joints are to blame) i really want a tire wider than 255 on the back but i think that's what i'm gonna have to settle for with these rims. i might try a set of kumho ecsta's this time around. that's what was on the car when i bought it but they were bald then. the only problem with the performance tires is how fast they wear! and they're so damn expensive

BADMAN

iTrader: (13)

Goodyear F1 GS-D3. Just put them on my 85 Iroc. Much better than Gatorbacks. Less road noise and stick like glue.

johnnyboy

iTrader: (3)

what sizes did you get?

formula forever

i hear the goodyear F1 tires are alot of money how much you paid.

BMmonteSS

Just so you know you won't find ay 265 or 275 tires in a 16" size, they just aren't made. You don't want to run any wider than a 255 any way.

Widest tire is a 255/50/16, run this tire if you want a slightly taller tire and don't mind doing a little masaging of the plastic inner fender well to clear when turning. Other wise stick with 245's.

johnnyboy

iTrader: (3)

i don't know if you guys just aren't reading or what but i'm keeping 245's in the front or 235's and going with the wider tire in the back. i'm not going with the same size all around. and 255 isn't a taller tire it's wider the 50 is the sidewall size. if i go with a 15" wheel i'll go with a 60 series sidewall and if i go with a 16" wheel i'll use a 50 series widewall, either way they're the same height.

Dans87GTA

iTrader: (1)

johnny boy u dont know anything about tires because yes 50 is the series when the first number is the width but when the first number goes up so does the second number because it is the aspect ratio which means its a percentage of the width. so yes 255/50/16 is taller and wider than 245/50/16. and if you think im wrong go to any tire website like yokohama and take a look. Later Daniel

BMmonteSS

A 10mm difference in width is barely noticable and not worth loosing the ability to rotate the tires front to rear. Even though you have to remove them from the rims it really helps to swap the tires front to rear half way through their life. I don't like have a set of new tires with a set of half worn out ones. You'll always have one end of the car that wants to let loose this way.

johnnyboy

iTrader: (3)

with my experiences the high performance tires don't last long enough to rotate them, my fronts wore out just as fast as my rears did. i apologize for my ignorance on the tire size issue. but a 255 is not a whole lot taller than a 245

BMmonteSS

10mm = .397"

255/50/16 is 26.04" tall

245/50/16 is 25.65" tall

so about .4" taller for a 255 and .4" wider

Not much but it could be the difference between rubbing and not.

Formula's for above information

1" = 25.4mm

tire width * aspect ratio *2 +rim size = height

Dans87GTA

iTrader: (1)

ya they say that 245/50/16 is 25.7" and 255/50/16 is 26.1. atleast all the info i look up and 255 is the widest they make your 16" wheels unless you want to look god awful and put a dodge dakota tire which is 265/60/16 but dont expect it to drive at all the same. and only a couple of companies make 255 tires. later Daniel

BADMAN

iTrader: (13)

245/50- 16's Same size that was OEM. Got them for 143.00 each. I work for Goodyear + get a 20.00 per tire rebate. So 123.00 each.