Hi there, I'm gonna be buying some Firestone Firehawk Indy 500's for my 'bird pretty soon, but I don't know what to do for size. I pretty much just want a size that will fill out the wheel well on my car because right now I have 215/65/15 (I think) and it just looks way to small. The Wheels I've got is the 15 inch mesh style. I think the size is 15"/7". I'm thinking a size like 235/60/15 would be good, but idk, I'm a rookie when it comes to tire shopping, so if anyone has any suggestions, it would be greatly appreciated, Thanks!

 

235/60/15 would probably be good for the front. You cant go too oversize because it will rub up there.

For the back, you could run a 235/65/15 or maybe even a 245/65/15. Not too sure how a 245 would bead up on a narrow rim though.

Personally, if I was you, I would keep the 215/65/15 up front, and do a 235/65/15 in the rear.

 

The P235/60R15 Firehawk Indy is 1/10" taller and about 3/4" wider than the OEM tires, no speedo change. The next size up (still a Firestone) is a P255/60R15, the specs allow it to use a 7" rim it would be 1 1/2" wider and 1 1/10" taller (needs a different speedo gear).

BFG makes a P245/60R15 Radial
T/A, it is recomeded for the 7" rim has a 9 8/10" width and is 6/10" taller than stock (needs speedo gear). I think you could run the T/A's on all four corners and still be able to do a traditional tire rotation.

 

Well I kinda wanna stick to the same size all around for tire rotations. does anyone have any pictures of 15's with something like a 235/65/15 or something like that? I just want to make sure that that I buy a size that will fill in the wheel well, 'cause right now I have a huge gap and it looks really bad and I don't really feel like lowering the car.

If anyone has any pictures, that would be great!

 

If you get a tire that is way too big, just to "fill the wheel well" its gonna end up looking like a monstor truck.

 

not to mention that too much of an increase in outside tire radius will need a speedo gear swap or you'll be reading slow

 

My Monte SS runs the same sizes tires (215/65R15) and rims (15x7) as the 15" f-body rims. I run 255/60R15s on the rear of my SS and 235/60R15s in front (screw tire rotations), and I didn't change my speedo gears. Yeah the speedo is a little off, but it is not that bad. It's off by 2.5 mph at 65mph...big deal. That is a really small problem that is overhyped.

I'm going to test fit the 255s from my SS onto my Firebird (maybe this week before I go to the track), and see how they fit. I also found that Cooper makes a Cobra GT in 265/50/15. That's actually shorter than stock and is very likely pushing it as far as how wide you can go on a 15x7 rim, but mated with some 215/60R15 Cooper Cobras for the front it would make a good combo I think. Espesically if the car was lowered a little bit.

When I bought my Firebird it already had 235/60R15s on it all the way around, the rears were fine but the fronts scrubbed hard on a sharp turn. So when it needed tires I went back to the stock 215/65R15 all the way around. And put the 2 good 235s on my SS. I regret that because now I have started drag racing and those 215s SUCK for traction at the dragstrip. Hence why I want to test fit my 255s.

 

Honestly it depends on how far you are off whether its a big deal or not. If you are running different tires and different rear gears or changed one of them a lot say like 2:73 to a 4:10 your speedo will be further and further off by a percentage. Get far enough off and its hello officer.

You may not need to do a swap but you definately need to be aware of how far your speedo is off.

LOL the speedo in my truck doesnt even work most of the time. But I just compute it by what gear I'm in at what RPM, because I went to the trouble of figuring the approx ratio, so I am usually within 5mph of where I should be.

 

Yes, but I am referring to going from 215s to 255s. Your speedo will be off by 2.5 mph at 65mph...that's not likely gonna get you too many tickets. When I put in my 3.42s in place of my 2.73s I changed my speedo gear (which is REALLY easy on a VSS car) because that is a drastic change. I'll have to do it again if and when I change to 3.73s.

My point was I wouldn't let speedometer inaccuracy stop me from changing tires sizes. It's not that big of a deal.

 

what is standard tires on a 91 firebird 215/78/15 ? because my speedo is way off ,had trany gear checked it right .they toled me that it could be the dash? are they for real do they make different dashes for sticks an atuos?

 

215/65R15 is stock. There is no such tire as 215/78R15.

 

If you don't like the gap you need to lower the car. If you get taller tires to fill the gap, it will look worse and then you'll have to change the speedo driven gear and possibly the drive gear too. Having the speedo off is a big deal because it messes with the odometer too. For 15" wheels, 235/60/15 is a good size.

 

I disagree. I put 255/60R15s on my 'bird last night to go to the track. it looked sweet. That is definitely the size I'm going to (for the rear) next time I get tires. IMO the cars are low enough already.

 

Well I bought my Tires. I bought 4 tires, all of them 235/60/R15. I double checked my original tire size and it was actually 205/65/R15. I figure the 235's will look a whole lot better then the 205's, which is what I was looking for.

Thanks for the help guys! It's a good thing I asked you guys first, otherwise I probably would've bought some huge freakin' tires that would've made it look like a "monster truck" lol

 

Do you guys think I could fit a set of 275/60/15s BFG Radial T/A on the rear of my Camaro??

I saw a set of those on a Monte SS And they looked BAD AZZ!!

The Monte was also not tubbed or anything.

 

You can make them fit, but it all depends what rims you got.Stock/aftermarket, backspacing,stuff like that.

 

I wouldn't use those on a stock size (15x7) rim. That would be smaller than the manufacturer would recommend. But yes they can fit in the car, tubs shouldn't be necessary. Especially on an SS.

 

Ok does can some one recommend some tires for me I like wide tires so I'm thinking maybe 275/50/15 can some one point me in the right direction

 

On a stock rim, no those would not be recommended. Most companies would recommend a minimum rim width of 7.5" for that size tire, some even recommend 8". So if you have a rim that size and with the proper backspacing then give it a shot. I think the widest that is recommended on the stock 15x7" rim are the 255 tires. Keep in mind you can do and try whatever you like, I'm just giving you guidelines. If you run a tire/rim combo that is not recommended and have a tire failure you will likely not be able to use a tire warranty and no one will accept any liability for damages or injuries.