What is the largest (widest) tire I can put on my rims. I have 16x6.5 Hydra wheels. Right now the tire size is 205-55-16. I'm wondering if I can go to 215 or maybe 225.

Thanks,

Matt

Will 215/50/16 tires rub when the wheels are turned full lock? I'm considering the Kumho ECSTA 712's for my wagon. I asked at my dealership today and one of the tech's seemed to think that these would rub in the wheel well... I'm planning on doing some SoloII events, and if the wider tires would make the possibility of the tires 'dismounting' themselves from the rims greater, then I guess I would stick to the 205's. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Does anyone out there have 215's on the 16" Hydra wheels?

Whenever it comes to questions about tires and their sizes I do one of the following, or both sometimes (be sure to have all the specs on your wheels):

1. Call a local tire dealership and chat with them about what kind of wheel you have and what tires will fit without any problems.

2. Call The Tire Rack (www.tirerack.com). Those guys appear to have their crap together; and why not, tires and wheels are their gig.

If all else fails, see about getting ahold of the manufacturer of your wheels. No doubt they'll have some mounting suggestions.

Matt - If you have antilock brakes, make sure you check the wiring inside the front wheel wells. The standard size tires on my 1990 turbo sedan were rubbing on the wiring in the right front wheel well when turned left to full lock.

Wide tires work best with wide rims. Your rims are pretty narrow. I would not go past a 215/50/16. 215/50/16 is really the ideal size for maximum performance on a 7.5 inch wide rim. I use them on my 16 x 7.5 aftermarket rims. I have also used 225/50/16s, which work fine, but are not spread as wide as they should be for maximum performance. They really need an 8 inch wide rim. Obviously, if performance is sacrificed, you can go wider. And if the alternative is too little grip, you have to go wider. The ideal sizing is tread width of plus or minus 1/2 inch of rim width. Remember that tread width is not 100% of rated section width except on the most radical performance tires when fitted to the widest possible wheel for that width tire. Figure on 90% for high performance 3 season tires. Going to a higher performance tire or making other suspension changes will be helpful. A cheap high performance tire that gets good reviews in the Tire Rack's high performance tire survey is the Kumho Ectsa 712 Supra, and you can get it in a 215/50/16. Or a 205/50/16. Or a 205/55/16. I would stick with one of those three sizes for your wheels.

You can fit big tires if you really want to. Ford used to put 225/60/16s on 16 x 6 Thunderbird wheels, as I recall. Bear in mind that the 60 series sidewall absorbs more and would be less likely to roll off the rim when pressed to the limit on a turn than a wide 50 series when fitted to a narrow wheel.

Philip Bradley

215's are possible if the suspension is 100%

225's are iffy. it will depend on the specific tire. Not all 215's are the EXACT same size.