Wheels/Tires, what's better, 15s or higher?

[elanmars]

I've seen other threads where people that have 17s and 18s say the car handles much better. But does it make it a more comfy or rougher ride due to the smaller tires? Is one better than the other??

I'm just trying to see what's best. If I get 15s, I'll end up getting vectors (some way, some how). If I go bigger, then I'll probably get one of the coy wheels.

[dpixel]

I'm no expert, but the smaller the side wall, the bumpier the ride but better at cornering.  I would look for a balance.  As far as looks...well I'm old school, so I would go with the 15's.   

[Foreman72]

i'd get 15's...cragar ss all the way...ask someone to photoshop them on (or do it yourself  if you can) to gat an idea of how they'll look

[elanmars]

I had 15's in my 73 and I liked that look, was curious about any differences or if it was better, etc.

right now my 69 has super wimpy 14's and gonna tackle that after I get the car back from being painted.

[kcederwall08]

The ride will be significantly more bumpy with a larger wheel and a lower profile tire. However they are commonly used for more high performance applications because there is much less sidewall flex in the tire, and it makes handling much better and more predictable. But the ride quality isn't too bad, its something that you get used too.

[Mike DC]

             

The super-low profile tires are a trend out of the SoCal scene.  

It works fine in a place like SoCal, with super-flat pavement and no weather to constantly generate new potholes every week.  But you don't have as much success driving 19" wheels and 35-series tires in most places east of the Mississippi. 

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Remember the "Fast & Furious 2" chase scene at the beginning of the movie, with the Toyota Supra and the Nissan Skyline? 

I heard that the stunt crew had filled up an entire dumpster full of bent & cracked rims within a matter of days.  And that was in Miami, which is not a place with particularly bad pavement.



       

[troy.70R/T]

15's,15's,15's  But I am also old school. I just totally hat the big rim low profile look on old cars.    I could possiably live with some 16 inch rims if I had too. 

[Rolling_Thunder]

It works fine in a place like SoCal, with super-flat pavement and no weather to constantly generate new potholes every week.  But you don't have as much success driving 19" wheels and 35-series tires in most places east of the Mississippi. 
     

Oh bullshit!   True we have steady weather out here but we have plenty of potholes...      granted we dont get a new one every week...    Our state is too broke to fix the ones that are 6-7 years old   

[elanmars]

I don't mind say slightly bigger but more than 18 is just TOO much in my opinion. I'm not going to be getting anything flashy, blingy, etc. In my '73 I had 15' keystones and was happy with them, even if two of them were a bit rusty! adds character, right? haha.

Thankfully I think most guys here that have gone for bigger rims have done it tastefully, can't say the same for ones I've seen on chevys-and that's not a slam against chevys, just that I've only seen cheesy big rims on modern Mopars but not quite on old school rides (I'm sure they're out there) but have seen them on quite a few old school chevys.

Seeing 22-24s on a GTO and Chevelle, that was just...rape. So wrong.

and I live in Louisiana, potholes and crappy roads a speciality...haha there's no such thing as flat pavement here.

Thanks guys.

[Mike DC]

Oh bullshit!   True we have steady weather out here but we have plenty of potholes...      granted we dont get a new one every week...    Our state is too broke to fix the ones that are 6-7 years old

Heh, heh, I hear you about about the 6-7yo thing.  I've spent some time in SoCal too, and some of that pavement looked ancient. 


But trust me - the fact that your state could even be identified with a tiny sidewall tread is already proof that the pavement conditions are better than average.  In some of the rural appalachian & rustbelt areas that setup is so unsuited to the conditions that it seems like a joke to even try it. 

[devilgear]

73's look good with bigger rims too because of the space in the wheel wells. I put 20's from my 06 Charger on my 73 once.I loved the look in the back, but the front was waaay too much for 20's, I like the staggerd look anyway.I'm going with 18's up front and 19's in the rear, but I need to lower the car as well to get the stance I want.

[Foreman72]

73's look good with bigger rims too because of the space in the wheel wells. I put 20's from my 06 Charger on my 73 once.I loved the look in the back, but the front was waaay too much for 20's, I like the staggerd look anyway.I'm going with 18's up front and 19's in the rear, but I need to lower the car as well to get the stance I want.

that'll look sinister huh

[mikesbbody]

Elanmars, if your going for 15's stick with 60's for the sidewall but some here run 50's on the back (with 295's) if your going for 17-18's make sure you have some sidewall height. If it were me, I have 50's with the 17-18's so I dont have that "all rim, no tire" look  some guy's here run 17's on the front, and 18's on the back and when it's done right it can look good  done wrong and...
Personally I wouldnt go bigger than 17-18's I'm a 15's guy myself.

[Nacho-RT74]

My opinion is biggest of all and keeping a nice look on our cars is 17"... more is a train on a road... get the rails and ride it there

[Musicman]

You ever see a drag car or a road racer running 32" rims and rubber band tires... there's a reason
There is a sidewall ratio that should be met depending on the intended application... just don't ask me what it is at the moment because I'd have to go look it up.

My opinion... 15" looks best overall, but I have seen rims in both smaller and larger sizes that looked better because of a particular design. The color of the car often has a lot to do with it as well... for example, Silver can often get away with larger rim designs and still look good. Then of course there is the actual intended design for the wheel well itself... most of our cars were designed with 14" & 15" rims in mind, unlike most of today's vehicles which have been purposely designed to accommodate a much larger rim and disc brake configuration. 

[devilgear]

Drag cars don't run 20's but have you seen a lamborghini or a Ferrari latley the did not? Or a GT car run Laguna that did not latley either? There is a reason for that as well. Never run a car with 25-35 sidewall. I'm going with 40-45. Right now my SRT8 rims that are 20's have 40 sidewall and I have had them for 2 years here in Minnesota with NO problem at all.

[oldschool]

15's,15's,15's  But I am also old school. I just totally hat the big rim low profile look on old cars.    I could possiably live with some 16 inch rims if I had too. 

i'm old school also. i dont like dubs on cars......

[HPP]

What kind of driving to you plan to do and what kind of brakes are you using?

If your just cruising and using stock brakes or making an occasional trek down the strip, 15s will look the best and most at home. If you plan on driving it hard on the street, doing open course driving, need larger brakes, or want better rubber, than 17s are the best choice.

Anything beyond 17 and you begin adding additional rotational mass that will begin to impact the handling on our cars. While a 20" rim with a 20 series sidewall is more responsive to side loads than a 15" rim with 60 series sidewalls, the additional inertia of the large combo will actually make your car feel more like a pooch that it really is.

Also worth nothing is that while overall diameter on larger rim combos doesn't change much compared to older set ups, they will both be around 26-28 incehs tall, the difference in rim radius can make your car look like it is lifted. It is a weird animolly to it all that can make a decent car look bad with the wrong combo.

[G-man]

A larger side wall will have more flex in the rubber. This means handles worse BUT better for straight line acceleration. They bite better. They also look muscle rather than stuffed. 15's or buy a supra