What size tires for my ponies?

[clinttaft]

I have an 89 SSP LX. The ponies are 16's and the 89 does not have the folded fenders like the 90 and up. Any ideas on what size 16 tire I can use. I'd like some meaty looking tires. Any input is greatly appreciated.

 

[4eyed5.0]

I have an 86 lx, i used to have ponies with 255 50 16 tires and they were really mean looking. The front tires rubbed whenever the steering wheel was turned all the way in either direction though.

 

[Greenracing]

225 front, 255 back.

 

[92BlackGT]

my bro had 255's all around on his '89 gt vert with no problems

 

[maverick0716]

I think that fat of a tire on the front would just look stupid. Go with a 225/50/16 or a 225/55/16 on the front.

 

[NeQX]

ok, pony rims is what I got and I got a good setup...

BFG 255/50/16's on back

Dunlop SP5000's 225/50/16 on front

basically 255 is biggest you can get on back, might get a lil quad shock rubbing but remove those POS quads! and 225 on front is nice, I usually run 40psi up front, 35 in back on street. Hope this helps!

 

[Michael Yount]

If the look is all you're after, then put on the size you want - watch out for tires coming in contact with the metal bits. However, if you're actually looking for performance increase, you may come up with a different answer. A certain width wheel is needed to take advantage of wider tires. It's necessary to spread the tire and keep all the tread flat on the road surface. Mounting a 255 tire on a 7" or 7.5" wheel is possible - but it's doubtful that you're getting signficantly better performance because the wheel is too narrow to properly support that tire. A good rule of thumb is to keep the section width of the tire (the 225 or 255 number) no more than 2" wider than the wheel width. The section number is in millimeters, so divide it by 25.4 to convert to inches. You can see that a 255 tire's section width is a little over 10" -- subtract 2" - you need at least an 8" wide wheel to support that tire; 8.5" or 9" would be better. Additionally, the 255 tire is heavier than the 225; it takes more power to rotate a heavier wheel/tire. Once traction has been achieved - the car will accelerate and stop slightly less effectively with the heavier wheel/tire package.

If performance is what you're after - focus on getting a really sticky 225 tire for your stock rims. The racers out there can tell you what works. If you want to use the bigger tire, get a wider wheel to go with it, and keep the package as light as you can for best performance. If the look of a bigger tire on your stock rim is what you're after - slap the 255's on there. Just know that they may actually hurt the car's overall performance.

 

[houstonstangguy]

look around and see what you like before you make the mistake of buying and then deciding you dont like.

i have 245/50/16 yokohomas all around, and an extra set of 245/50/16 nitto 555r's for the back.

I tried the 225 in the front and 245 in the back and i didnt like it at all, plus if you stagger sizes dont forget you wont be able to rotate, nor want to.

IMO if you dont have skinnies in the front then you should do the same size all around. just my opinion though.