My '83 Z originally came with Goodyear Eagle GT's, 215/65-15. If I go to 235/60-15's in an equivalent Goodyear tire, would the handling be worse with the fatter tires? I'm wondering if bigger tires would flex more when cornering.

Larry

 

it will give u better handling becuz you will have more tire contactin the road surface then you did withthe 215.

 

having new tires prolly will hurt your handling a bit.

new tires have lots of tread deapth and that tread likes to squirm which will allow it to slip a little more.

 

actually your handling will probably remain about the same. The only thing that would make a huge difference in handling is changing the rubber compound you are running on, or changing the height of your sidewall. Since you went from a 215/65 (~140 sidewall) to a 235/60 (141 sidewall) you probably won't notice any difference in handling. In traction you might see a little bit of a difference due to the increased surface area of the tire contacting the ground

 

I have 235/60-15's on the rear, it handles much better then it did before with the worn out snow tires i had back there, lol.

 

It's kinda complicated. A wider contact patch will tend to give you more traction, especially in a straight line and dry conditions. But if you put a wider tire on the same width rim then you might notice some more squirm while turning. Typically a wide rim with a narrower tire would give you the best 'feeling,' but not the most traction. It really depends on the sidewall construction and tread compound. Also a shorter side wall will also help.

 

How did u figure iout the sidewall heights like that?

 

215/60/15
means 215mm cross section
60 is how tall the tire is. it is based upon the percentage of cross section
so 60 means 60% of 215 which comes to 139.75

 

hmmmmmm ok i thought thats how it worked but i wasent ever really sure thanks alot

 

To get sidewall heights etc try:-
http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html