I have an '84 Berlinetta
When i got it the guy had 14inch rims on the front and the back and i want to upgrade but i'm not totally sure what i'm doing with all the specs. First of all, these are the tires that i want and (i think?) will work:
http://tinyurl.com/mzknel2 (url was kinda long)

But i also found 16in ones:
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ar...4440/overview/

So my first question is will both of them fit front and back? And my second question is which size i should go with. Obviously its partially up to taste but I just have no idea what would be better in this case. Just give me info

Thanks!

 

Tire choices, both today and tomorrow, say forget anything less than 17" wheels. Any 17x8 with zero offset and a 5 on 4.75" lug pattern will fit, and there are plenty of choices that are affordable, so pick something you like the looks of. There are hundreds of threads here about how to fit more, but you can't get much better value than some 245/45R17s, and you can find decent Chinese performance all-season versions for $72 each, delivered. Or for winter maybe run 225/50R17s on those 8" wheels.

 

ANY increase in wheel size will reduce the comfort and increase the harshness of the ride quality.

ANY time you increase wheel/tires sizes be SURE to check / replace your front end wheels bearings ! The increased size will put additional stress on them and if they are old,............

Increasing the wheel from a 14 to a 15" (235/60/15) with give you THE BEST ride.

Upgrade to a 16" wheel (245/50/16) will make the car "drift" a bit more - following the contours of the road a bit more due to the increased size of the tire patch on the roadway.

"If you increase to 16" of larger wheels than be sure to also increase the size of your control arm BUMP STOPS ! )

Upgrading to a 17" wheel (275/40/17) will begin to pull the front end of the car around while driving on un-even roads. The car will tend to find/follow rain gulleys and pitches in the road so keep your hands on the wheel at all times !


Going to anything 18" & larger all around is for,..... not for me.

I've maxxed out and from time to time will install a set of Vette C5 wheels on my ThirdGen. ( 17" in front and 18"s in back. ) I would NEVER mount an 18" wheel in the front of these cars.


P.S. The BEST thing you can do for your Berlinetta is to install a Rear Sway Bar. You will NOT believe how much better the car handles with a rear sway bar on it ! The NEXT BEST thing you can do for it is to install some frame-rail braces !!! Bu and install some before your power steering box rips your driver frame rail apart !

 

It comes down to tire availability and also rubber on the road.


Tire availability:
Tire manufacturers have been quickly discontinuing tire sizes that are either slow sellers and/or are "oddball" sizes. Unfortunately that means the 3rd gen 245-50-16 size has been on the decline and at this point, only 2 summer pattern choices remain. In another year, that will be down to one choice.

Rubber on the road:
The most important item to keep your car connected to the road is your tires. Wider tires equal more contact patch, which allows a cat to handle, stop, and accelerate better. A 275-40-17 tire on all 4 corners of a 3rd gen gives you about 10% more tire patch than a 245-50-16 sized one while having the same tire diameter.

While ride is subjective, 15" wheels and tires are too soft for a pony car that has an ability to handle with the best of them - maybe on a fox mustang they can work, but a 16" was always a good tradeoff between ride and handling - plus GM used them from 1985 to 1992 on all high performance models of the Camaro/Firebird. As 16" is not a real option due to tire options, 17" is a place to start for performance.

 

The entire purpose of tires is traction. If you care about ride quality, get some high-end adjustable shocks.

 

Tires have EVERYTHING to do with ride quality. Not sure how anyone can think that a sidewall that's 3 1/2" high (17" tire) will provide the same ride quality as a tire with a sidewall that's 4 1/2" high (15" tire).

True story:

I had a guy stop by to check out a 91RS I was selling a couple years back. He test drove the car and said he wanted to buy it for his son. A few weeks passed and I didn't hear back from him. In that time I had changed a few things - one of them was to swap the 15" Z28 wheels for a set of 17" ZR1's. He came back about a week after that to buy the car and after taking it for a second test drive he told me that he would not buy the car as it was because the car was pulling him all over the road ( due to the larger tires in front. ) I re-installed the 15's,...... he drove it again, & bought the car.

Tires have EVERYTHING to do with ride quality.

 

So would you recommend 15s?

EDIT: Sorry! I didn't realize the post above was also from you, so that post pretty much tells me what I need. Thanks John! Always a huge help

 

I don't think that style of wheel hes looking at should be a 15in. 15in wheels are more for a old school muscle car look or a street / strip look and if your looking for a size tire that being fazed out its the 15in. I know. I have them.
I don't see any reason not to go 16in. I did a search in 245/50r16 and came up with this on my first try. = http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSe...50&diameter=16
What is wrong with these tires ?

 

I think that you could benefit from learning the difference between the wheel, rim and tire size. The diameter of the wheel (combination of rim and tire) should stay the same (which was actually not the case with the second car I purchased). As you move up in rim size the height of the sidewall will decrease. A shorter sidewall will transmit more road forces to the passengers, however with the right tire, it will flex less giving you more lateral control and response. This is the first compromise that you should decide for yourself depending on how you drive and the comfort level you desire.

However, even if you run a combination of rim and tire that results in the same diameter, when going after-market, you also have to consider things like backspacing and offset so the wheel doesn't contact the body or linkages etc. In fact, some stock F-body rims are different from front to back depending on the model. Stock rims range from 14”-16” and vary in weight. (BTW, lighter rims & tires will benefit how a car handles but is not often mentioned.)

Tire performance will vary between characteristics such as how long they last vs. stickiness to the road, and also between dry and wet driving conditions. You will benefit from learning about the different characteristics so you can make up your own mind depending on the preferences you have. People here will tell you different things because they have different preferences.

The reason for mentioning these things is to help you decide what you really want. Do you want ride quality or better handling? Or do looks matter the most?
If you want to improve performance while not breaking the bank, then you might want to consider a well thought out combination of springs, shocks, sway bars and wheels that compliment each other. Every one of the previously mentioned items excluding the shocks came stock on higher performance Camaro/Firebirds and can be purchased second hand at a nominal cost if you look for them. That and the triangle brackets, wonder bar, and SFC's will really wake it up.

Tires seem to vary from year to year but common choices include: BFGoodrich g-Force, Firestone Firehawk Wide Oval, Michelin Pilot Sport and Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3. You should be able to find a set of matching sway bars from an IROC or WS6 for between $50-$100 including brackets (this would be the 34mm hollow front sway bar). (Make sure to get the rear brackets that attach to the frame, Berlinettas don't have them. I prefer a matching set so the car will be balanced in corners in the same way the factory sent them out.) Add the wonder bar for say $40, springs $50-$100, and 16” aluminum rims for $200-$400/set. This should give you a good proven stock combination if you're looking to improve performance. Also, don't forget to replace the old bushing with new. Monroe Sensa-Tracs, Koni, or Bilsteins are my choices for shocks.

Here is a link that may help you decide on a tire, it has results from surveys from consumers, and includes wet weather performance, ride comfort, would buy again, dry traction, stability and on and on...
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/index.jsp
Just click on something like extreme performance summer on down depending on what you can afford vs. the performance level you're looking for. If you end up with 16” rims I believe the size for them is 245/50/16. paul_huryk made some good points about the limited availability so and after-market 17" may be a good alternative. I believe the difference of availability was 9 to 35 choices. I don't mean to single him out as there is a lot of good info here.

On a side note, I have noticed a heavy feel on my 1986 Berlinetta with the 16” rims and Firestone Wide Ovals, but the same size wheels do not affect my 1985 Sport Coupe in the same way. I still have to figure out why that is the case. The Berlinetta I have is a V6 so I'm assuming that a higher spring rate and shocks may be needed to hold the wheels to the road better. It's a lot more fun to drive though, more control and I feel it is safer as well.

 

tpastorok,

So what are your plans for the car .Daly driver, road track, 1/4 mile or a combination of some?
The reason I ask is because if you go 15in. wheels your tire selections are extremely limited in brand and tire "width".
Let’s say you have 8in wide, 15in diameter wheels in the rear and you want to run a respectable 255/60r15s on that wheel. Here’s basically your choice

Firestone Fire hawk Indy 500 (a high performance "summer" tire)

BFGoodrich Radial T/As ( all season)

Cooper Cobra G/Ts (all season)

That's all I could find in that size or any size close to it. And the 255/60r15 is IMO the perfect rear tire on that wheel for a DD/Street/Strip car. Cosmetically the Firestone is the only one that will look OK on that wheel and even then I would put the white letters on the inside .
Or as I have already pointed out the 16in wheel has this selection just at tire rack.. = http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSe...50&diameter=16
Once you decide what you want to do with the car than it should be a pretty easy choice.

 

Well my plans for the car are for it to be a daily driver, but i also want pretty good performance, and of course to look good. So I want it to ride pretty nice but also handle pretty well. And like I said before, I don't know very much about wheel/tire selection so I think because I'm just learning this stuff it helps to have a bit more direct instruction rather than a lot of info at once. If that means I need to give more about what I want then please feel free to ask more questions.

 

This will give you some idea as to what I believe looks good on 15in. wheels.
This is 255/60r15s on 8in.wheels in the rear with the fronts in 235/60r15s on 7in. wheels.
The rears are a 27" diameter while the fronts are 1" smaller giving it a nice slight rake.
The Cooper Cobra tire has mixed reviews here on this site but I’ve had great luck with them. They are one of the few brand tires that are available for 15in. wheels in a decent width. This is why I say 15in. wheels make a nice street/strip look for a car.

 

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