Reverse tire stretch
 

I like the look of having more tire on a wheel then wheel should have. But the tire size codes Im not so sure about. I got a set of stock steelies that I am cleaning up to use, they have 185/60/14s on them. I think I sorta understand the size thingy. The 185 is the width, 60 is sidewall, and 14 is the wheel size. Is that right? So if I wanted to go wider I would up the 185?

yes the larger that first number is a wider tire. The second number is a ratio of the first to give you the height of the sidewall to the tire width. On 14s the widest street tire I have seen is 195/60/14, but I haven't looked in a while.

Im checking out tirerack right now, would 205 be stupid looking?

No, I think 205s have been done on stock 14s. Could be wrong though. It just turns your car into a rubber noodle. You can usually look up the specs for the tire width and it'll tell you a wheel width recommendation. Like 225 is 7-9". I guess if you want bulging sidewalls, go with .5-1" less than the recommended. I still had a decent side wall bulge on 225 with 7" wheels, so don't go too low. It definitely got rid of some responsiveness.

I have 195/60s and love the way they feel. 205's wouldn't be impossible, but it's not ideal. 185/60s are ideal. 195/60s gives the wider stance. Everything higher is just for looks.

I am running 205s on my 15x6 wheels. The steering feel is better, but the response is less crisp.

185/60/14 explained:

185 is the width of the tire.
60 is sidewall height in relation to tire width. It's in percent (60% = 111).
14 is the diameter.

You should probably go down a step on sidewalls as you are increasing the width.

as curly said, anything wide on a stock rim will look like a rubber ball.
Why not just throw stock size wheels on there (the cheapest you can find) and start saving for some decent rims? Then run something like 225 on a 7"

Anyone have a tirerack code?

Edit: Nevermind.

Any reason you're set on the steel wheels? They're pretty heavy for a 14x5.5 rim.

I'm running 195/60-14's on 14x5.5 Civic HX rims. I have nothing to compare them to though so my input is worthless. :)

"reverse stretch"? wtf kinda wording is that? :giggle:


I call it the "stuffed on" look lol. On my old race tires, I was running a 255-wide tire on a 7.5" wide rim. It looked fantastic.

It will make the care feel terrible...

I run 165's on my 10x5. Hoping to make the big jump to 185 on 12x5, but we will see. Don't want to get crazy or anything.

They were free and Im bored with my refinished daisies.

you can get nitto nt01's in a 205 55 14 more of a track tire than street though. here is a link to a good tire size calculator to use. try a bunch of sizes see what you might want to try. http://www.1010tires.com/tiresizecalculator.asp

Going with a wider tire than 185 on a stock wheel will greatly reduce responsiveness. I like curly's comment about rubber noodle, it's accurate. Even with a 6.5'' wheel and a 205, by going down to 195 I picked up a lot of response and snappiness from the steering, though I did lose a tiny bit of overall traction. At least now I can feel the limit and not have to deal with it letting go all at once.

For street use, 7'' wheels are all you need.

For what kind of street use?

I'm trying to decide if I should keep my 15x7's because I have no idea if I can find a tire for it that will decently handle 350-400whp.

You need stickier tires, not wider tires.

Yeah, no shit jackhole.

Lol, jk dude. I know, I am still on the hunt for a tire that I can use. Maybe some one with some experience will pop in here and spoon feed me the answer.

I <3 my kz-m's and I don't want to sell them because they are blowing limp dick at holding power.