I took my car to the street races for the first time and I got smoked by a stang with a mildly modded 302 with NOS. He had drag suspension and drag radials. I had 225 used street tires and KYB shocks and struts Needless to say off the line he got about 8 car lengths. (my car went sideways and I had to let off the gas) by the finish line I was about 2 car lengths behind him. I know I have the power to kick his *** but no traction. I want new rims too. Here are my questions:

15" Rim what is the widest tire I can get on it without modifying the wheel well or goign with custom backspaceing (what rim width would I need).

16" same question

17" same question?

What size rim would give me the best traction? Would it be the 15" since it has a bigger sidewall?

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Karsten
86 IROC-ZZ4... too much to list.

 

The 15 inch will be the best for the strip. The bigger wheels will improve cornering.


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350 with stealth intake, holley carb, 470 lift cam. 700r4 with .5 boost valve, vette servo, tci lock-up kit, B&M megashifter. Richmond 3.73 gears, powertrax locker, timkim bearings, synthetic lube. Custom 3 inch single into 2 2.5 pipes. 1 1/2 drop springs, 1 5/16 solid front sway bar, 1 inch rear bar, custom subframe connectors, custom LCA relocation brackets. Kobel ground FX, current red metallic paint. Lots of other stuff...
82camaro

 

Here are max sizes allowable with no mods required, according to the March 2000 issue of Car Craft Mag. They did an article called "Biggest Meats for Your Muscle."

15" - 15X8 w/ 4.5" Backspace(BS) front and rear. use with aspect ratio(AR) of 55 or less and section width(SW) of 255.

16" - 16X8 w/ 4.5" BS front. 5-1/8" BS rear. use with AR of 55 or less and SW of 255 front and rear.

17" - 17X9 w/ 5.5" BS front and rear. use w/ AR of 40 or less w/ SW of 255 front, 275 rear.

18" - 18X9.5 w/ 5.5" BS front, 18X10 w/ 6" BS rear. use w/ AR of 35 or less w/ SW of 275 front, 275-295 rear.

Here's an example of the biggest you can fit on the rear, if you're not familiar with tire sizes:
18X10 inch wheel w/ 6" BS
295X35R18
295 = Section Width
35 = Aspect Ratio
R = Radial tire
18 = Wheel size(diameter)


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92 RS 25 ann. ed. bone stock.
5.0/TBI/T-5
T-TOPS
Many mods to come.

 

There's also an article in the Jan 2001 issue of Chevy Hi-Perf called "Third Time's the Charm", it has several sub-articles of parts made for third-gens. One imparticular about wheel sizes, that only talks about the biggest, claims the following wheel/tire size to be the biggest allowable without mods.

17X9.5 w/ 5.5"BS and 275/40R17 tire, front and rear.

My advice would be to pick a size and "try it on for size." If you go somewhere to buy wheels/tires and they won't take the time for you, they prob aren't worth buying from in the first place.

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92 RS 25 ann. ed. bone stock.
5.0/TBI/T-5
T-TOPS
Many mods to come.

 

well you can also lower your tire PSI and pick up some mad traction...

 

on the stock 15 inch wheels I've had 265/50/15 without any clearance problems just run em at 24 psi on the track mine hooked good enough to break the diff 3 times in a month got tired of that real fast well some of that could have been the way it was being driven but it was fun!