Stretching tires on wider rims questions?

[blaze86vic]

Before my Celica I was always trying to get the widest tire I could on my wheels since I had to compensate for the huge mass of a full size four door Ford.

I'm looking at getting some 15X8, (because 14 X 8 are like the holy grail, we all want it but it just doesn't exist) wheels on my Celica now and I would need to run 205/50/R15 tires on them. I can't go any wider because then I can't get affordable tires in 45 profile. I see a lot of Toyota drivers get wheels wider than the specified range of a tire. The look I know is one draw, though I was never keen on the idea, it does look pretty sweet. Well, I'm slowly realizing why it's done, as this is the first car I've had where clearance with the fenders and body have been a concern.

Are there any negatives to running this kind of setup that I should be made aware of? The tire I've specified has a manufacturer specified rim width of 6" - 7.5", which is almost there so I'm not too worried, but better safe than sorry when your dealing with something you have no experience with.

Thanks a million for your input!

[oldcorollas]

6-7.5" means that ideal is more like 6.75".. so a rim 1.25" greater than recommended, and 0.5" greater than the max is not a good recipe...

if you have 14x7 or 15x7 rims, then you wouldn7t have such clearance issues and the tyre would fit even better

the reason it is done, is to have fooly sik dish.
if you have clearance problems because your rims are too wide... well... the obvious answer is that your rims are too wide
it also depends if you just want to drive slowly, or if you will drive the car normally. but the sizes you are suggesting may not be so much fo a problem...
will your insurance be voided in the US for having illegal wheel/tyre combinations?

[blaze86vic]

No, insurance wont care. It's not width that kills my clearances at all, it's height. I should have specified that earlier. I could run a 225/45 easily if I could find them in a street tire size.

[The Real Roadrunner]

205/50x 15 is a perfect fit on a 15x8 rim.

OC, i know your not into the fullysikhectikdori scene and dont really like anything that goes along with it but from driving streched vs bagged tires on a variety of cars i know which ones id pick for turnin and stability, and it certainly aint a bagged sidewall.

as a general rule i go with whatever the rim width is in inches then convert to mm and use that size tire (depending on brand and sidewall profile)

7" = 185 tire
8" = 205 tire
9" = 235 tire etc

i had 15x9s with 205/50x15 proxes 4s on the front of the rolla and the turn-in was incredible.

[oldcorollas]

no-one said bagged tyres were any good

14x8 rims yahoo search.. only 35 auctions turned up.
http://search1.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/...ale=0jp&acc=jp

hmm, proxes 4 http://www.toyo.com.au/PCRPDFs/Proxes%204.pdf
5.5-7.5.... i guess toyo got it wrong heh heh you think turnin would be worse with a properly sized tyre on the max approved rim width?
i guess it depends if you want them to work as manufacturer intended?
no doubt stretched rims can work.... at the chance of rolling off the rims, or decreasing effective contact patch, or increasing sidewall stiffness resulting in sidewall failure...

but a little bit is not too bad and if you can't afford the right rims or the right tyres.. what can you do... bodge it and cross fingers

edit: if you have tyres with floppy sidewalls anyway, then it is not so bad. but if you have stiff sidewall tyres, then it is more likely to have adverse effects

[The Real Roadrunner]

the only reason i didnt go wider with the tread width was due to having to go with a large sidewall if i used a 225/50. in having said that they didn't look overly stretched on the 9s.

most tire companies probly want you to have some bag in the sidewall due to the fact that they are less likely to come off the bead if under inflated etc.

i actually got the principal from when i raced karts, if the track was greasy or wet you run a narrow rear rim (but the same size tire) and it lets the tire move around abit b4 breaking free,
but in dry conditions you wanted the karts to be as "twitchy" as possible and using the wider rims will let the tires break free alot easier.

cheers
linden

[turbo4agte]

No, insurance wont care. It's not width that kills my clearances at all, it's height. I should have specified that earlier. I could run a 225/45 easily if I could find them in a street tire size.

Hahaha... sure thing buddy. The insurance company will rip you apart with that.

Smaller tires on wider wheels to get that "stretched" look might be cool, but it leaves the sidewall of the tire more open to puncture. And we all know once your sidewall goes out, your whole tire is likely going to blow out.

Baloon tires are a bit safer, but still would get you torn apart if your insurance does nay type of investigation.

But yeah 205 is perfect for 8 anyway.

[blaze86vic]

Thanks for the info fellas! Good to know, I'm not going for a stretched look, it's simply the widest tired I can run that isn't stupid tall. I'm trying to plan out my mods for the Celica, it takes me a lot of time. I have a rule with myself that I have to want something consistently for over 6 months before I'll buy it. Really cuts down on the regretful purchases.

Insurance would never even realize it, since it's not a crazy stretch it's not something that would be apparent at a glance. Not to mention it doesn't get driven on the street that much, and it's liability only. Full coverage on a 35 year old car would be stupid. They'd cover it for like $800 total. And I'm too young to get classic car insurance, as they want you to be at least 25.....and with a few less speeding tickets.

I'm not too worried about accidents anyways, I'm not gonna say I'm magic on wheels, but I do spend a lot of my time reading other drivers and it has prevented many accidents in my 250,000 miles of driving experience in only 6 years. An accident free record all in dense city population is fairly good in my book, but inevitably it will happen. Hopefully it's in the old Vic so I can just laugh about it later and buff the paint off god I love my tank!