Will 16 tires make a difference over 15 inch tires

Will 16inch tires make a noticable improvement in handling over my stock 15 inch wheels on my '88GT?

It will give it a firmer feel in a curve. Also tire selection will make a big difference.

If you get the right size it will reduce sidewall flex and tire roll

Probably not as much as the cost is worth in rims and tires. If roll control is the main issue just go to 17" and Z rated tires. Personally, get bigger sway bars, better shocks and change the front springs to progressive ones. Cheaper and looks more stock. Besides one of the side effects that biggerrims have that they don't tell you about is they crack easier the smaller dia rims. Bigger rims main reason is for the huge disc brakes they're using now.

Well, I just want them mainly for looks. I was just wondering if I was going to get better handling also. I'm going to get good rubber for them but only in a 55 or 50 series.

I went from the stock 15" 10-hole rim to the 16" Pony rim that you were talking about in another post. Looks a lot better! (Even thought the 10-hole is the proper police wheel.) But for handling... I really didn't notice a difference.




<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: 89Trooper on 1/20/06 1:07am ]</font>

The width of the wheel will make a difference for handling also.

10 holes were only 15x7" wide and the pony wheel is 16x7" if I remember correctly.

Adding a 16x8" wheel with a nice 245/45/16 size ZR rated tire will help the car handle like it's on rails. Adding suspension pieces will make it even better.

On my old 89 LX 5.0 I had a set of Simmons 16x9" custom offset 3 piece wheels. With my suspension improvements that I did back in those times the car was like a slot car, marvelous handling.

Tony
[addsig]

Not sure how it would work on a 88 but the 1993 Cobra had 245/45/17" on 7.5" rims. With that size there would be no need for speedometer correction since they are the same diameter as 225/60/15" and 225/55/16". Some of the 94 and 95 GTs had 17" rims with 245/45/17" I am not sure if they were 4 or 5 lug. The 1999-2000 GT 5 star and 2001-2004 mustang bullet rims are 17" x 8" with 245/45/17" but they may rub a little in the front. Another problem with them is they are 5 lug which would require a conversion to 5 lug.

I thought about going to a 45 series tire but wasn't sure if they would look right on 16 inch rims. (too much fenderwell space).

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On 2006-01-19 21:44, 82GT wrote:
I thought about going to a 45 series tire but wasn't sure if they would look right on 16 inch rims. (too much fenderwell space).
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Yeah you do have a point there, on a stk suspension fox there will be major WW space. I never had that problem since my car was lowered.

Even when they came stk with pony rims back in 91 or so (I think) they still looked like they had more WW space than when they had the 15" 10 holes.

Tony