205-50-16 new tires

[Entropy]

you can get better handling when you switch to a smaller tire if you are already using a tire too wide for your wheel. I like how u say most performance cars run wider tires AND wheels... big point there. You won't see any race car running 275mm wide tires on a 6" wide wheel because it will handle like shit if u could even mount it on there.

find me a picture of a ******** race car that has tires bigger then its wheels and buldges out. You should also check out what the tire manufactuer recromends what size wheel you run a 225 50 16 on.

OK, since I'm in the helping out mood today, I'm going to follow your logic. I looked up the first three cars that came to mind and recorded their #'s

Car: Corvette Z06
Wheel: 18 X 10.5
Tire Width: 295 mm - 11.614 in
Tire is 10.6 % larger than wheel width

Car: Ferarri 550 Maranello
Wheel: 18 X 8.5
Tire Width: 255 mm - 10.039 in
Tire is 18.1 % larger than wheel width

Car: Jaguar XJR
Wheel: 19 X 8.5
Tire Width: 255 mm - 10.039 in
Tire is 18.1 % larger than wheel width

Taking the average of these 3 cars, a performance car tire should be in the neighborhood of 15.6 % larger than the wheel size.

Since the SHO has a 6 inch wheel, this corresponds to a 6.93 inch wide tire or 176.17 mm......

Ohh, dude....you should have gotten the 175 X 60 X 16 !!! Those 205's are way too wide for your car!

 

[38SHO]

im not saying a wider tire is bad..

im saying a wider tire on a skinny wheel is bad

when you make the wheel width appropriate to the tire width, you have a better handling car, a more agile responsive car lets say where your sidewalls do not flex during transitions..... this is not even considering the fact of contact patches... i am just talking about sidewalls which play a key part in handling.

what tire psi would you recromend that I use?

should I turn them back to 45psi? I am defintely not using 35psi.

And my tires seem to be touching the road evenly, I can tell what has been wearing on the sides and it is most certainly not just in the middle.

I am telling you this car sticks very good.... given the cars I can take in a corners I am in the high .8's to .9 in lateral grip... I would love to measure this one day. I think we can all agree a Taurus keeping in the corners with 240sx's, 300zx's, and 350z's isn't too shabby, no matter what their tire setup is. I just took out a z31 N/a on the outside of an onramp the other night... he was VERY suprised that a taurus just pulled away from him on a corner, our power to weight ratio seemed to be about the same from the launch on the straight-away prior to the onramp

 

[38SHO]

from hooser tire on their race tires, this is an excerpt about them talking on how to get the maximum grip on your tires:

"Wheel Widths
Wheel width dramatically affects wear and performance of the Hoosier P-Metric radial tires.

There is about a one inch window of optimum width. The trick is to figure out that window. A good rule of thumb to use for determining proper width is to use the tread width of the tire. Measure the tread width. Plus or minus 1/2 inch from the tread dimension will indicate the proper rim sizing. It is possible to use narrower wheels, but at a sacrifice to shoulder wear and cornering power.

"Measured" rim vs. "Recommended" rim
In our printed product catalog and on our website tire specifications you will see two columns of information regarding rim dimensions. In most cases, the "measured rim" and the "recommended rim" will be the same. However in the case of DOT tires, the information may appear contradictory.

The reason for the differences lies in the Department of Transportation requirements for publishing tire dimensions on any tire that carries a DOT certification. Each tire size has a specific rim that must be used when taking measurements for tire comparison. This is intended to allow consumers a consistent way to compare tire sizes between brands.

With respect to the Hoosier P-Metric line, the recommended rim size will typically be wider than the DOT standardized wheel.

The fact that a tire will "fit" on a rim is not an indication that it will work effectively in that condition. Radial tires are extremely sensitive to wheel widths. The performance characteristics of the tire can change significantly within the recommended range of application. Mounting a tire on a rim that is outside of the recommendation is not a good idea."


------------

"Front Wheel Drive
Vehicles configured with FWD are probably the most difficult application for a tire setup. The combination of steering, braking and accelerating on the front tires, combined with higher corner weights for the front positions produce a harsh environment for the tire. These vehicles will typically have a strut type of suspension which limits camber gain. All these factors result in conditions which require the tire do more work than a simple chart for pressures can accommodate.

In severe cases front tire pressures for FWD vehicles can run in the 48-52 psi (hot). In cases where the tire size is limited to a relatively small tire, the required pressure can run even higher. The front to rear pressure differential on FWD cars can have extreme ranges of inflation, depending on the driver preference, suspension tuning, and track configuration."

 

[Porkchop]

ok once again your comparing apples and oranges ..

Hoosiers v. street tires...

I'm very tempted to trim this thread and or lock it because it's obvious to me and everyone here that we are dumb when it comes to these cars and we don't know anything about them or how to make them better.

Believe what you will mr. 38, but when someone who is twice your age and RACES his SHO on a track tells you that your thinking is flawed, I suggest that you take his comments into concideration.

WIDER TIRE ON A SKINNY RIM!? Dude, cmon - your going to an underrated tire, with horrible handling and a SMALLER contact patch .... HOW IS THIS BETTER HANDLING...

 

[Porkchop]

Actually you know what.... I am locking this thread because we are all ******* in the wind.