[Manifest]

Ok, have some pics of the new tires... not sure if I like them yet or not. They hang over about as much as my comp t/a's did and I didn't like that. The grip is outstanding. Here are some pics.

http://manifest.nopoc.com/Pictures/00 88 MX6 GT Project/Tires/

Let me know what you think... 215/45R15 might of been good, but it was not allowed on a 6 inch rim, only a 7. Also it would of put my speedo off about 5%.

 

[antiSUV]

Damn those are meaty looking man. I think it looks cool, plus it will help protect the rim in case you scrape a curb (not that you'd ever do that .)

 

[Manifest]

Curb scrape should not be a problem. I do like that they fit.

 

[antiSUV]

I like the fact that you are sticking with the stock wheel size. With those big chunky tires the 15 inchers look good and as you've said before, there's very little or no performance deficit as opposed to a 17". The big wheels trend can only be carried so far. I think it has reached it's peak at the moment, and by this time next year I expect to see less 17"s/18"s/19"s on small cars at shows and in the magazines. You never see those big wheels on the drag/autoX cars...when I see acura integras on Speedvision racing against the BMWs and Proteges, they always have 16" Volks.
Yes, the downfall of big wheels has begun...look at all the huge chromies on Ebay!

 

[Manifest]

It's not really the size (diameter) of the wheel but the width. This is still a 50 series tires and has quite a small sidewall; putting it on a 6" rim causes it to bulge out a bit. This will not hut my drag times in any way, it doesn't hurt cornering as long as you set up properly. Was it does hurt is transient response; quick side to side movements, as in going through a solemn. This can be helped with tire pressure, so we will see what happens when I run some autoX on them. I will most likely have the front tire pressure set to max at 44 psi and the rears at 40. If the rim was 6.5 or 7" wide this would not even be an issue. I have no plans on running 16-19 inch rims; those things are just wasted metal. They need to be just big enough to fit over the calipers and thats it.

Now for the dragstrip, these should be awesome… timeslips will tell.

 

[jimxsix]

those tyres look great! before i got 17's, my preferred choice were 205/55 15's

just wondering, how close do those tyres come to hitting/rubbing the strut??? i thought the max size where 215's on our cars?

but it looks really tough though, and going down to 50's means the car is a little lower too!!

 

[Striker]

I got my new rubber also. Sized 215/50/15. Was thinkin about getting the 225 but wasn't sure how bad it was gonna bulge out.

 

[Manifest]

Got any pics of the 215/50R15's? The reason I didn't do the 215's is because it puts the speedo about 3-5% too fast depending on what you had on your car. If your original tire was the 205's then it is 5% too vast. Going 100mph will show you at 105, and so on. It will also put more miles on the car than what you are actually doing. Over time this could really add up. On the other hand, if you oversize the tire (like I did on my truck). Then you can be 5% too slow and put less miles on your car... @- @-

 

[Manifest]

jimxsix,

The max tire for a 16 rim is 215, not a 15 inch (from what people say). I don't think many people have ever tried this combination before. It just goes to show that you need to read things carefully around these places.

As for strut clearance. There is a problem with some of the 88-89 cars. They have an older design with the strut perches that even cause a 205/60R15 to rub sometimes. If you have a newer 90+ car or have replaced the struts with newer ones or aftermarket then you can fit the larger tire sizes in the rear. There are no clearance issues in the front.

 

[MazdaMX6Pwr.com]

Hi all, I'm looking at getting a setup of Koing Monsoon Rims. I wanted to get 17" rims but feel that they are too big and will have a negative impact on the car. Will 16x6.5,7 or 8 Rims have any noticable negative impact on performance vereus the stock 15x6? I'm going to get Dunlop SP Sport 8000 tires to put on them. Hitting a curb is not a problem with me. Also I'm not a big drag fan though do inteand to go to the track every now and then. But, AutoX is where I want to be. Comments and suggestions.

 

[Manifest]

Get 15 or 16's that are wide - like 7 inch minimum. Make sure they are light as possible.

 

[antiSUV]

Here's a good-looking possiblity I've found:
Go here http://www.machiii.net/
Enter the site and click on the rims they show at the top under "monthly specials". It's the Stern Aguzze-S07 wheel. They only have white and silver left but they are 15x7 with a 43mm offset (ours is 42), and weigh only 13.5lbs each (4.5 less than our stockers.) Best of all they are $400 for a set of 4. Seems like it might be a good deal.

 

[MazdaMX6Pwr.com]

Could I get wheels with a larger offset so I could run 225 on them? The company selling them said the 215 doesn't have many choices for 215/50. I guess I could just get 215/45's but I don't like haveing speedo off.

 

[Manifest]

I was in the same boat. You don't need more of an offset, you need a wider rim with the same offset. I took the car out today and really am starting to love these new tires.

Unless you were talking about clearance since you have an 88 or 9 with original struts?

 

[MazdaMX6Pwr.com]

You think I could put 225/50 on 16x7 rims under my car with the new AAS struts and Eibach Spring I have? I bought the same set of struts you did form fordpartsnetwork. Do you think I will have problems in AUTOX with rubbing?

 

[Manifest]

I don't think 225 with 16's will work.

 

[Striker]

Actually the original tire size was 195/60/15. It bulges out abit so its not too bad i suppose. How much off is my speedo off by

 

[Manifest]

I based the 225/50R15 size off the 195/60R15 that was the original tire size on the 88-89's. In 90 there was the option of a 205-60R15 tire. This was an options because in the 90+'s they re-designed the AAS struts to allow more clearance. The 225's that I have fit because I have these new re-designed struts. I have yet to try them on the 88-89 struts but will once I put them on the 92 that I have.