Would my car's handling be messed up if I run 205/55/15 in the front and 205/60/15 in the rear? Is this recommended? The car is a 90 GTU with a strut tower brace, Eibach springs, and RB sway bars.

 

may I ask whats the point of doing so? I don't think I would stress myself by getting a staggered setup with the only difference being sidewall height...and by such a small margin. Get them all the same and you can still rotate and your life will be easier.

 

Well, I got a used set of 55 series tires with wheels but one of the tires is flat spotted and must be replaced. So instead of buying a pair of new tires now, I was thinking I could finish off the 60 series tires that were on my car. I'm just trying to get the most out of the tires I already have. When those wear out then I will get the same all around.

 

I know this sounds stupid but if u r on a budget:

measure the overall diameter and then run a little more air in the tire that is shorter and a little less in the one that is taller. like 5-10 punds diff between the two. That'll do for the street. but of course this is not optimal!!!!

BTW a staggered setup would be like 225/50/16 in the back and 205/55/16 in the front. Thats what I got.

 

The proper tire size is 205/60 15. It's not a good idea to mix tire diameters that are a 1" difference.

That idea doesn't just SOUND stupid....

 

What would the effect be of running tires that are 1" different in diameter (larger on the back)? Why do you say it is not a good idea?

 

Well, for one thing, running fronts that are 1" smaller than they are supposed to be is going to make for a very low front end. Secondly, having the rear of the car "jacked up" leads to unstable handling -- the rear will want to come around on you at high speed, especially in a slalom situation.

 

Yeah, I thought that the handling would be less than ideal, but I want to be sure that I'm not going to stress or break anything. How unstable do you think it would be? I would just be doing moderate street driving for a little while until I could afford to complete the set. I think I can avoid any high speed slaloms. I'll probably slap on the 60's and go for a spin just to see how bad it is.

 

for what it is worth the difference between 205/55 and a 205/60 is 10.25 milimeters not even a half of an inch. It won't make that much difference on the street. BUT it is still best for wear and performance to get all the same (overall diameter) tires.

late

 

From what it sounds like, you just wanna run these cuz you'd hate to see them go to waste. Run them. It's not like you're taking them to the track or anything. I don't think this will be bad for regular street driving. Make a nice smoky burnout with em for me while your at it.

 

WRONG. It's ~10 mm for EACH sidewall, for a total of 20 mm difference = little over 3/4".