Tire size on 16" stock wheels

Whats wrong with the original 205/55 & 225/50 ?

I suspect the vendor may have a recommendation too

Its also likely there are previous threads discussing this at length

 

I would recommend sticking to the stock tire size, especially for the front tires, otherwise you might rub. They get uncomfortably close at steering lock, add an unexpected bump to that and it might get ugly. I have 205/55 front and 225/50 rear on my aftermarket wheels. 245/45 would be close to the correct profile, but are going to be even harder than the 205 and 225 to find in 16", the only one I can find with a quick search is the Potenza RE-11s. Also, that size is meant for 9" wheels, and I'm not a fan of mismatching tire size, even if some people have never had any issues with the practice.

 

When I put 16" wheels on my '79, I went with the 205s and 225s. I could have gone with the 225s and 245s but I do not need the performance and I preferred to have a slightly easier to handle car (ok, probably not noticeable but that was the thought).

I was able to find the tires in either size. I have Dunlops and am happy with them.

 

I'd only go with the bigger sizes on a track car or one with much more than standard power.

You'd be better off spending the extra money to have the car aligned properly. That's likely to make a far bigger improvement to the handling than just sticking bigger boots on it.

Bigger boots also = more load/wear on all the ball joints, axles & bearings & the steering rack etc.

 

I went stock on my car.

 

I recently installed 225/55 in the front and 245/50 in the rear, they look and handle significantly better than the 14 inch XWXs that I had prior.
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I did the 205 & 225 on my GTB when I puchased the repo wheels. Since then I went with some 17 in Compomotives with 235 & 255s, I love the look from the rear so I'd say go with the larger sizes. This pic doesn't show how wide the rear tires really look but close.
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I have a 308gt4 with 16" rims, 7" front, 8" rear. I track the car from time to time. I fitted R-spec 225/50ZR16s all round, BUT they caught on the guards on the front. Also, the car was a bit prone to tram-lining with the 225s on the front. So I replaced the fronts with 205/55ZR16s. This solved both problems - the tyres don't catch the guards any more and the car steers better - more precise and no tram-lining.

So from my experience, in terms of drivability, go for the 205s front and 225s back. Any more and you are over-tyring the car and possibly getting into other problems.

On the other hand, many people love the look of big, fat tyres, so if it's looks you want and you don't care about the driveability and you are prepared to roll your guards or flare them, then good luck. To each his own!

Cheers,

Grahame

 

+1..........There's no need to mess with the tire size on the stock 16s. For what it's worth, my Pirelli Cinturato P7s are terrific.

 

these are my sizes for the 328 wheels

Front tires are P225 60R16
Rear tires are P245 50R16

 

If you really want the extra width, in order to maintain the same ride height / rolling radius and speedometer accuracy (within a percent or so), then the profiles you want are
225x50x16
245x45x16
As noted, there is some risk of rub in front, though neither of my '77s rubbed with 225x50. Depends on car tolerances and on the tires (actual tire width and cross-section profile of a given size tire can vary quite a bit from brand to brand).

 

That's what I use, and have for years. I do track the car and definitely noticed better handling with the upsized tires.
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