Hello. I plan on improving my suspension on my '87 Camaro SC, so that when I put a 350 in, the frame won't be fouled up due to the T-Tops. Anyhow, I plan on getting SFC, a panhard bar, and a STB, if not more. I was reading in the Tech articles the article "Chassis Reinforcement" by Paul Huryk, and he mentions how "Cars with a lot of suspension mods need 17" or larger wheels..."

My problem is, I want to get 16" tires, I think 17s wouldn't look as good with the look my car will have by the time I'm finished. Would going with 16"s be a mistake or will I be fine?

 

NOTE this is all my personal preferance.

i think in some ways 16" is almost better than 17" for normal street driving with a modified suspension and a super low profile tire can be somewhat unpredicable, having a little extra flex in the sidewall can make it react a little slower.

of course on paper 17s and a tight suspension will handle better, but if you can get a 16x9 wheel, so the contact patch of the wheel is basicly the same, the 16s will still make for a sweet handling car.

once again that is all personal preference, as is alot of suspension, some guys like an extremely firm suspensions, other like it a little softer, some like a slight understeer, other neutral, some a slight oversteer.

i know some are going to disagree, and that is fine, we all have opinions, and i am not going to say mine is right. in fact a good DISCUSION is always a good thing, and maybe if this doesn't turn into a thread about personal attacks this can be a good place to discuss things like this, and maybe we will all learn something new.

 

Yea, I would love to ad my preferences but, obviosuly since I'm the one posing the question, I have no clue what I would like. But, again, the main purpose of me doing these suspension upgrades is just so that I can swap in a 350 and not have my frame twisted.

The wheels I want to get are American Racing Torq-Thrust IIs, which don't come in 16"x9" dimensions, the largest depth I've seen is 8".

The reason I want to stick with 17" wheels is cause I don't think a F-bodies look good with 17" or larger wheels unless they have GFX. My car is a SC and it's gonna stay that way, ie, no GFX. I've seen some nice SCs with 16" wheels, and they look great.

Should I look around for a different wheel that's 16"x9"? I really like the look of the Torq-Thrust IIs though...

 

what do you plan to use your car for? drag racing? straight line street? canyon carving? auto-x?

 

Well, for the most part it's just gonna be a street car. I guess straight-line street then!

 

17" is the only way to go nowadays since the biggest 16" is a 255-50-16, only 1/2" wider than a 245-50-16. A 275-40-17 is 1 inch wider and the 285-40-17 is another .4" wider than that.

Yes it makes for other problems, but the advantages outweigh the negatives.

BTW, its only 1" less black and 1" more wheel - it ain't much.