Tire Size
 

My 88' GTU is in need of some new tires. So I was thinking of going from my stock tire size (205/60/15) to a larger size. Mainly just in the rear. I'll keep the 205s in the front for now. I was wondering if anyone knew how wide i could actually go without messing with the wheel welds, and have good clearance between the tire and the shocks, etc.
I wanted to go 275/60/15 but I'm new to this so I wanted to listen to what you guys have to say. Am I way off? Or That's a reasonable size? I have put in mind that the speedometer will be off aswell.

Thanks

yes you are WAY off. that tire would NEVER fit. and not only would the speedo be off, your car will be DRASTICALLY slower. by a lot.

a 225/55-15 or 225/50-15 would be ideal, as you'd keep close to stock size, as well as gain about an inch of contact patch.

you beeest bet would be to upgrade the wheels themselves, to either a 15x8 with 245/50R15 (which is less than .5% size difference

oooooor (WAY BETTER) a 16x8 with a 245/45R16 which i would definitely recommend as is it is a 100% perfect match to your tire size. literally it is a 0% difference and gives you 1.5" more contact patch on the tire

ahh thanks alot man, as you can tell im very new to all this. Just trying to learn my way through things you know haha. Much appreciated though.

Maybe if he got coilovers and didn't care if the tires chewed up his front fenders.

Stock GXL wheels are 6.5" wide which is what is limiting you. 225/55's will physically fit, but they will look bubbly and there are like 2 street tires in that size. 245's maybe, but it's well into "bad idea" territory. 275's just aren't going to happen.

If it were me, a nice sticky 205 is plenty of tire for a non-turbo fc and are much more common. Switching to 205/50's actually improves acceleration, but it'll throw off the speedo.

Or as beachFC suggested, you need new wheels.

a 16x8 + 245/45-16 would fit PERFECTLY fine without any problems. I've seen 17x9 + 275/40-17 fit perdectly fine, with no rubs, on stock suspension.

i did 205/50/15's on my last GXL and its the best thing i did to the car, it really woke the thing up. on an NA a short/small diameter is key.

NA FC stock gearing is stupid wide. Dropping down to a 205/55/15 or 205/50/15 as suggested above will improve accelleration and lower the tire sidewall giving better cornering feel. An NA FC doesn't need more than a 205 contact patch unless really modded out. You are just creating more rolling resistance if anything by going wider.

thank you guys lol, glad to see i stopped in my tracks because i was going the completely opposite way.

Honestly all i really wanted for now is that "meaty" look with the tires. None of that completely slammed stance though lol. I like that meaty look with the fat tires in the rear and the tires sitting flush with the wheel welds.

Well that just isn't going to look good with anything you do with the stock 15 inch GTU wheels. You can pick up a set of vert 15" BBS wheels for about $150 now a days. They look good with a little meat in the back. stepping up to 225's in the back on vert wheels should give you what you are looking for for not much cash. They also look great with a 1-1.5" drop.

I'd try to keep the tire sizing square for handling balance and the ability to rotate tires.
It's just that there aren't many choices in the 225/55/15 or 225/50/15 size. Those being the ones that would keep your speedo close to correct. Looks like you're pretty well set on your options.

While vert wheels are lighter and better looking, they are the same size as the gtu wheels.

Pics of 275's on a 17x9 on a stock front end please.