Hey Guys I am hoping someone can post some pics of really wide tires (no slicks) on 16x8 IROC wheel. I would like to see some pics from the Rear and Rear/Quarter. Someone who has really pushed the envelope with 295's on the rear. Maybe 275's (if they makem) or 255's lets see what you got, I would like to see the difference. I just bought the Gold IROCS for my z28 and once I get the machined areas all polished up I need to wrap them in some really really wide tires. Not for drag racing or autocross, just crusing but I still dont want them to rub. And I dont want to modify the fener or anything else. just mountem up and call it WIDE!! I am looking for that wide mean look on the rear. Post up some pics lets see what you got.

For a street legal tire, there is nothing between a 255 & the BFG 295/50.

I loved the 295s on my old 92 RS.

This is the ONLY pic I have of them.....

When you had the 295/50 on the rear what did you run on the front to keep it level.

I had the 255s on the front, but the stock springs were cut 1/2 coil front, 3/4 coil rear, so it wasn't perfectly level to begin with.

I've always wanted my cars 1"-2"" lower in the front anyways, so the resulting rake was perfect for me.

cooper makes a 295/50 tire as well.
but yeah, thats the only other size that will fit our cars.
there are truck tires that are 70 series, but obviously thats not going to work

Kumho Ecsta XS 265/45r16. $170 each and they are not treadwear friendly, rated at 180. But it handles great. I'm looking at them or the BF Goodrich Gforce Sports 255/50r16, which aren't treadwear friendly either, but are almost $60 cheaper, but aren't as wide. The 265/45 is the exact same diameter as 245/50.

I have the 255/50r16 BF Goodrich GForce Sports on the rear and I like em alot. Wouldnt go wider unless I had a wider wheel.

The 8" wide factory wheel is a bit narrow for a 245-50-16 as it is (really needs an 8.5" wheel), so going to a 255 or 265 width is not an optimal move. A 9" wide wheel would be about right for a 265-45-16 tire - of course no one makes that size...

So you saying......The factory was wrong in giving everyone a 245 on 8" wheel?

.5" isn't going to make a SQUATS bit of difference.

And actually.....There ARE some 265/45R16s made now.

Here's the 265's I've been looking at, the kumho Ecsta XS: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Compar...=1&RunFlat=All

And, I don't know about you guys, but my Falken Ziex 245's are like 215s.

it all depends on the tire and the wheel and the tire pressure and ect ect ect...
there are nearly limitless combinations.
would the tire be better suited on a 9" wheel?
of course
does that mean that its WRONG to put it on an 8" wheel?
of course not.
295 will be best on a 11" wheel
but it will do just fine on a 8" wheel as many of us have proved.
does it have its full treadwidth on a 8" wheel?
probably not.
does it have more width than a 245 tire?
of course.

it all depends on how you look at it and what you want out of the tire.
if you are autocrossing, then the 295 tire would be one of the worst tires you could run.
for just cruising around (hate to break it to ya guys, but thats what most of us actually do on a daily basis...) its fine, and not just that, its better than stock.

GM is notorious for cutting back on everything when making cars. Wheels, brakes, rearends, and the suspension pieces on the thirdgens are prime examples.

Let me put it this way - BMW puts 225 tires on 8" wheels. GM put 245 tires on the same width wheels to save $5 a set or whatever. Not like 0.5" of wheel makes that big of a difference, but do 15 or 20 things like that and you get a car that performs at 90%, not 100%.

I was referring to the 9" wheel, not the 265 tire, btw...

lol, my tires have a treadwear rating of 30. V710.
I don't know about the street tires, but the V710's are hard to mount onto an 8" rim and bulge out a lot.

Then wouldn't GM have just made a 8" wheel, to save money? Wouldn't a 7" be cheaper too build, since it was less material? How does a wider tire on a wider wheel save $? Both cost more than a 225 or a narrower wheel to make.

And I'm still wondering about the tire manufacturers recommended size vs what the car maker puts it. I'd think the tire manufacturer would know better, what their own product works best on.

WESWISEHART-

Do you have a pic of the 255 BFGs from the rear or Rear quarter.

tks

A 245 tire on a 7" wheel would not be considered safe - something that GM would have liability for in terms of accidents. The 8" is at the lower end of the safe range.

An 8" wheel when made in quantity is probably $2 or $3 more due to the extra aluminum and possibly higher die costs, that's all it is. I'm sure that a 225 tire is only a few $ cheaper than a 245 one - don't forget that GM had that size made especially for the IROC/WS6 cars - the Vette used a 255 tire.

Again I go back to the BMW example - the ideal wheel width in a high performance application is 0.5" to 1.0" narrower than the tire's sectional width. So that 245 tire being 9.6" across needs a wheel 8.5" to 9.0" to work to it's full potential.

How about this - "regular" pre 1989 Vettes ran a 255-50-16 tire on a 8.5" wide wheel. But certain trim levels (including Z51 and convertibles) got a 9.5" wheel; 0.5: more narrow than the tire...

Besides, tire manufacturers are in bed with the big automakers - not a surprise that there is a width "range", right?

You misunderstood my "7 inch" referral....

7" wheel= cheaper + 225 tire= cheaper * 500,000 (way underestimated, but the # serves its purpose) F-bodies 82-92 = EASILY well over a million dollars profit/lack of expense for GM.

I run 255/50/16's on the rear (BFG G-force) and Nitto 245/50/16's on the front. We are only talking about a difference of 10mm in width here. Honestly you can barely see the difference. (Rear is just a tiny bit taller and wider, but again, you can barely tell.)

To get the thirdgens to handle up a notch from the Z28 (on 215 or 225 rubber), they had to step up to a 245 width.

Don't forget that the package wasn't $50 and it was mostly cosmetic, except for the wheels and a few tweaks on the chassis...

Here is what my Ride looks like with 245/50 tires on 16"x8" Iroc wheels.
I'm not sure what your looking for.

fionnla that is the stock size...he wants bigger....

the original post says hes NOT looking for a 'preformance' package. just somehting to cruise on and look good. my rear tires (they were free, which is why they are big. new tires are expensive at the moment) are 235/70's. yes they are truck tires. but it actually fills up the rear fender nicely. 235's are smaller, but theyre on a 7" rim so they have a lot of buldge.