14" wheels...too small for performance?

i've got the stock 14" ralleys on my car right now...i'd like some larger tires to fill up the well, but should i worry about performance? i'd need some awful tall sidewalls to get a nice look, and that would, from what i know, sacrafice traction and handling.

if i decide to go for new ones, the cheap option would be to find a set of the larger ralleys to fix up, or i could just buy some new 16" wheels (dished cragars...yum)

opinions?

 

I say go to 15" rims with 275/60-15's in back and a 225/60-15's in front. The rears are about 2" bigger in diameter than stock and the fronts are about the same. This fills your wheel wells and give a slight rake towards the front. For rear rims standard 15" x 7' will work or you could go to a 15 x 8 in back with a 4.5" backspace and stay 15" x 7" in front with the stock 43/8" backspace. Note that tires are a very individual issue so some people may not like what I like. That doesn't make them bad just wrong :laugh: I can send you some pictures of my car although the front are 14" x 6 with 205/70-14's on them but they are about the same diameter as my combo above. The larger back wheels will also let you hook better .................Ward

 

stupid question, will uneven tires hurt your handling?

and how hard do you think it'd be to find some of the 15's? i'd assume all junkyard cars would already be relieved of them.

 

I doubt that uneven tire diameter will hurt the handling. The fact that you don't have the biggest fron tire size that will fit in front might hurt a bit. I think 245/60-15's are the biggest "no-rub" size for the fronts. Put the 1.25" sway bar in fron tand the 1" in back and you won't believe the difference. You may be able to find those rims in a junk yard but after 30 years they may not be in the best shape. Check out this paste from an earlier message on this type topic :grin:

I just ordered a pair of 15X7 and a pair of 15X8 Wheel Vintiques through Summit. The 15X7's were $129 each (p/n WVI-57-573404) and the 15X8's were $138 each (p/n WVI-57-5834042). I've received the 15X7's. They look good. Different from the originals like others have said. The 15X8's are backordered until end of Feb, so we'll see on those.

Ron

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Ron Mellum
GSCA #2095

1972 GS455 Convertible
1986 GN