Wider tires = BAD ??

[whtefbrd96]

Ok my car is supose to have 215-60-16. I want 255-50-16. Can you give me any possible con to haveing these size tires versus the stock ones besides
1 speedo will be off a litle do to smaller sidewall ( thats ok w/ me)
2 car will wonder more (thats ok w/ me )
3 will sling more junk onto the side of my car( i wash it religously thats no problem)

i cant think of anymore reasons why not to get the wider tires my dad said that they would rub when i turned and that the wider tire will put more strain on the wheel bearings???? is this true to any extent. I have a 96 bird w/ 16x8 inch alloys.

[AZ3.8Camaro]

The sidewall height of your 215/60 is 129
The sidewall height of your 255/50 is 127.5
They are actually lower profile.

[AZ3.8Camaro]

Also you can put pretty wide tires on (see sig.) They don't rub at all. 275/40 17 is the biggest that fist on the front. I have no problems at all. No veering off or anything.

[MustangEater8251]

more frictoin agianst the road when you are dirivng at the dragstrip.

[Original 4th Gen V6]

Yes...what MustangEater said is correct. Depending on how much power you have, wider tires could be hurting or helping you. You want to get the best launch with the smallest tire. Its a compromise but I dont have any info on which is best...I have 225's and they are fine with me.

[black98V6]

yeah you will have a bit of a trade off with the wider tire being more unsprung weight, there will be a little difference in turning radius as wider tires can hurt your low speed turning radius (ie parking lots and such) but you should get a little better grip for high speed cornering to make up.. other than that you should have no problem.. besides there is nothing like having a big fat set of tires under our cars.. really makes them look better!

[marco]

too wide isnt always good. it depends on how much power your running. Im getting some 245/50's to replace my 235's. I was going to get some 255's but decided the 245's should be sufficient. [img]graemlins/burnout.gif[/img]

[ March 18, 2002: Message edited by: marco ]</p>

[Guardsman]

I have BFG 255/50s, they work great. I went to them from 235s, it's noticeably more difficult to turn the wheel when you're not moving, but they don't rub, they do follow cracks in the road and such a bit more, but they also stick to the road a hell of a lot better. The speedo is off by just a tad, but not much, at 80mph with the 235s, it was running just under 2500, with the 255s, right at 2500.

[WickEdSix9838]

I have 245/50 Bridgestone Pontenza RE-730's, i had the 215's stock, and those tires looked terrible, the 245 looks a lot better but i think a 255 would be over-kill, i would think the sidewalls would hang out too far, just my opinion but not positive

[C.Palmer]

I have 245/45/17's in the front and 275/40/17's in the rear. They're strapped to 17x9.5" TT II's so with a wider rim, there is no over-hanging of the sidewall. Not even my 275's hang over. If anything, I don't think I'd get any over hang until a 305 came into play but I can tell you one thing...... with my 3.4, I noticed a performance difference instantly. It will hook up in a corner like a dream, however, you have to compensate with a bit more gas to keep your speed up or your speedo will DROP! On my stock salad shooters, I have 245/50 Falkens and I've got a little more pull and top end with those. The 3.4 will never be fast enough to my liking, so I'll just look good going slow until I get a new ride :D