Cass944

the phone dial rims are 215/60 - 15

so are the cokie cutters that also?
all my cookie cutters are she same size. i think the phone dials are also. did they even make them in more than one size.

Mark Parker

That was the size tire that came on early cars. Cookies are 15x7 all around. But I've squeezed some 225/50 15 VictoRacers on a set, and I doubt I could get any wider tire on those rims. I know Fuchs had a 7" front and 8" rear, I beleive that was an option. I also think PDs were 7' all around, but may be corrected shortly.

Chris_924s

Correct Mark. My PD's are 15x7" all around.. seems standard for early offset.

icarian505

ok guys, please....help me out, I need a real answer I can bet on. I have an 86 944 NA w/ phone dials and want new tires. I want to go wider then the stock size for those rims, IF I CAN, AND IF ITS WISE TO DO.

215/60 X 15.....stock size...can you use 225/50-15? if not, how big can you honestly go without causing harm to the car in any way?

Thanks Guys.

Erik

Skip

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">Originally posted by icarian505:
<strong>225/50-15? if not, how big can you honestly go without causing harm to the car in any way?
</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">You can use the 225/50, many of us do, but it does change the tire height slightly (smaller) - this will throw off the speedo and gearing slightly - no harm done.

225 width tires are best suited for a 7.5-8" wheel, but 7" works well also.

Good Luck!

Skip

Pilot Dave

Quick question: Your topic heading reads "cookie cutter tire size" but you are asking about phone dials. Which ones do you have? As far as I know the cookie cutters only came in 7x15 rims and the phone dials came in different sixes. Although, with the 215/60/15 stock size tire, you probably had the 7x15 rims.

As far as tire size goes, I've seen 215/60/15 on cookie cutters. They fit on the rim and just barely fit in the wheel well. That's the widest I'd go for the front tire. They looked, for lack of a better term, balooney. They bulged out a bit and looked weird. The 215/50 profile might fit better.

Wider, lower profile tires will give you a little better performance on dry pavement; crisper steering depending on the quality of tire and stiffness of the sidewall. The 225/50/15 will be a smaller diameter tire than OEM and will effectively give you a little bit more torque.

Problems with that size is that they will decrease your grip in the rain/snow and the engine will run at a little higher rpm on the highway, thus use more gas and throw off your speedo/odometer calibration. Not by much though; something less than 5%.

225/50 will always be more expensive than the same tire in 215/60. My opinion: I'd rather spend more money on a better tire in 215/60 than a cheaper tire in 225/50.

M758

Us 944-spec racers use 225/50 R15 on 15x7 cookie cutters or phone dials.

For autocross and track duty they work great.

I can't comment on how well they work for general street use.

osu944

i've got 225/50/15's and love em. car needs to be lowered in order to look good, but i care more about performance rather than looks. at highwy speeds the rpm's are up and gas consumption is up but i really don't care much about that. in the rain i feel the 225/50's perform better because they're a performance tire. not many performance tire's in the 215/60/15 size. i say go for the wider tire with a stiffer sidewall, makes the car feel a lot crisper.

Cass944

how about 225/60. i dont know what the numbers even mean so im not sure if that would fit or not? on the cookie cutters or the phone dials. im thinking i can switch my tires off my PD onto the cutters for summer use then keep some snow tires on the PD for winter use since i wont want to use my nice new painted rims in the salt and snow.

nixwiz

I have 215/60-15 tires on my cookie cutters:

<img src="http://members.***.net/nixwiz/images/cookie_cutters.jpg" alt=" - " />

Cass944

ok i jsut went and looked at the tires that are on my car right now, theyre 205/60 15. this is so confusing. i just want some freakin wheels for cheap to put on my wheels im probly never gonna use.

Mark Parker

You can easily go 215/60. 225/60 will look big, and are @12mm taller overall than 215. 225/50 will make you look like you're ready to go offroading unless you've been lowered. I've got 215/60 front and 225/60 rear on my street wheels, but they're 7" and 8" Fuchs. Clear as mud?

Cass944

ok so 215/60 would be the least off road looking. i want as small as i can go.

Skip

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">Originally posted by Cass944:
<strong>i dont know what the numbers even mean so im not sure if that would fit or not?</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">Aha! Check out these links to learn it for yourself:

<a href="http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/tiretech.htm" target="_blank">Tire Rack - Tire Tech</a>

<a href="http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html" target="_blank">Tire Size Calculator and Comparison</a>

225/50 is smaller in diameter than any of the others mentioned here (205/60 and 215/60 and 225/60)

Skip

pete944

Go with 225/50, I did and I'm very happy with them. 225/60's will look like truck tires on a 944. Your speedo will read a little high but they're not very accurate anyway. There are probably 2 million posts in the archives on this and the consensus is...225/50/15. I'm not sure if the new Yoko AVS ES100 comes in that size but that is a real good tire for not a lot of money. Check TireRack for what's available.
I bought Falken Ziex 512's in 225/50VR15 size for around $65.00 each incl. mounting & balancing from a local ricer shop. They're really good in the rain, they stick well but don't have a real long tread life.
Good Luck