I heard that wide tires will fit on the stock 13" rims that came on most 1G RX-7's. I was wondering just how wide?

 

I had 205/60/13's on mine, and it was ok.

 

I would caution going "as wide as you can" idea if handling and response is your goal. The wider you go on a stock wheel, you will get more side flex in the tire making it less responsive in a quick jerk of the wheel. I know I compared it to a narrower 185 and it was not any better, it actually seemed more sloppy! Get wider and larger diameter wheels and tires that match them, remember the aspect ratio is small as you go with larger wheels so you keep the speedo acturate and doesn't raise your overall gearing.

 

what size rims would u recomend for a 85 gs? just so i have an idea of what to look for

 

215/50/13's will work on your rims, but you will comprimise precise handling, like "wacky rotary" said: "Wider is not always better"

 

215/50/13's can be squezed onto a stock rim but it will bow the tread out like it is overinflated, the recommended width rim for that size is a 7" wide rim.For a stock 5.5" rim the largest you should go with is 205 width any wider and you should get wider rims.

 

I agree with Wacky Rotary. wider is not always better,

The first question is which stock 13" rims? They were out in 5" steel and 5.5" alloy as an option.

Remember the stock tires were 165-78 and 185-70 for the above rims.

If you are only interested in looks go for the wider tire, to the ignorant the car will look fast.

I have been using the stock gsl-se tires of 205-60 on 14" wheels.
Recently the size was unobtainable in Yokohama 539s so I dropprd down to 195. To my surprise both handling and fuel consumption were marginally better! So I have decided to go with 195s as the better tire and they look great.

The critical dimension is the tread width , not all 195 and 205s are the same. In the Yokohama 539s the difference was less than the nominal 20mm, so it pays to check the tire specification you are interested in.

Also the cost difference is significantky higher than for the lower profile.

My advice is the 195-60 is the best 'wide' tire on a stock rim and still locks cool..

 

I personally autocross my 7 it is a base model w/gsl upgrades. I race on 205/60 r compound kuhmo victo-racers. They perform well although the key to getting max performance out of a tire is air pressure. I for example, run 45 psi in the front and 48 psi in the rear. This is for racing only but I am going to try 215/50's very soon and iI think they will perform better. The SCCA Spec RX-7 class also uses 215's and seem to do very well. I saw on tirerack.com they had sumitomo ultra high performance tires in 215's for the street.

 

I've tried 205/60 on stock waffles... the sidewalls were only a little squished out but to get decent tire wear I had to run very low pressure in the tires. But the low pressure meant that traction was also pretty low, and it was great fun to slide around corners and stuff I put stock-size 185/70 on ans was able to put pressure up a bit higher (went from 24ish/22ish to 44/35) and cornering grip went up immensely. Depending on your point of view, that's not necessarily a good thing

 

I am using 205's now on my stock 13's and I would say it is better than the 185's or 195's I had before. I wouldn't go much wider than 205 though..... I am going to need some new tires soon, almost worn these out!!
Rich