F451

Hey guys,

I need some advice on tire size recommendations for my 18" Turbo Twist replicas. The wheel sizes are:

Ft: 18 x 8.5
Rr: 18 x 10

I have Pirelli's on their now, and they seem too narrow for the wheels. The tires do not extend out past the wheels at all (or very little). I'm used to radials extending out past the wheels and looking sort of "fat" for a lack of a better term.

When I hit Tirerack.com, they recommend the same size tire that I have on there now:

Ft: 225/40 ZR18
RR: 265/35 ZR18

Can anyone tell me if I can go wider, and if so, what size? And also if there will be any handling problems. Right now the car feels good with the Pirelli's (well it did until one of the Pirelli's gave up the ghost - hence the tire sizing question while I do my tire shopping).

Here's some pics of the wheels on my '85:





Thanks guys,

Ed

morganabowen

What you really need to do is check the ET / OFFSET. I have a set of 18" BBS wheels that are the same size as yours. The front offset is 50mm and the rear offset is 65mm. I have 225x40x18 in the front and 285x30x18 in the rear. I did not require any modifications to the fenders or wheel wells. BTW...nice looking car.

F451

Good point. I was just thinking that there is not much clearence right now with my current wheel/tire combination. I may not have enough room for a wider front tire with the offsets of these wheels.

My wheels are close to yours:
Ft: 18 x 8.5" ET: 52
RR: 18 x 10" ET: 65

A buddy has 245's up front on 8" wheels and 285's on 10" wheels on the rear on his '83 track car. Not sure of the offsets, or whether he has rolled his fenders. I will check with him.

In any case, it sounds like I can get the 285's on no problem since you're running them.

Thanks for the info.

And for the kudo's on the '85. I've since sold it as it was an automatic, and bought an '88 S4 5 sp. Its not in anywhere near as nice a shape as the '85 was, but I'm slowly bringing it up to par.

Ed

Slantnose!

Yeah, I wouldn't go any wider up front with the way your wheels look already.
I am able to run 295x30's on the rear of mine fine.

F451

My buddy with the 245's up front on the 8" wheels suggested I go over to his place to test fit his setup on my front. We should be able to see how it fits, and then factor in the difference in our wheel sizes (width), and offsets, and get a pretty good idea if I can squeeze the 245's up there.

Right now its not looking good, but I'll see.

Thanks for the input guys. -Ed