i recently bought some stockies of a member and the tires are bald, i was wondering what the best all around tire setup is? how wide can i go on the stock 16x8's. i need more rear traction and cornering traction also. thanks....

 

The OEM 16" rims never came in 8" widths. They were 6.5" in front and 7.5" in rear. On the 7.5" rear, you can go as wide as 245 numerical size. In fact, if you go non-OEM tires, this is what is recommended anyway.
When you say "best all round", what do you mean? What kind of driving conditions do you encounter? In the dry? In the wet? A better question will generate a better answer.

 

i live in wa, so wet performance would be nice. also, this is kind of an under the hood topic i guess.....if i run drag radials and launch at the strip at a high rpm, will i leave me diff at the starting line?

ok so 245's out back and what up front, also should i just stick with the stock sidewall height? thanks viper...

 

Fronts can be same size as OEM - 205/55/16. Rears (if you go non-OEM) should be 245/45/16. If you run OEM SO2s (your best dry grip), keep with OEM sizing of 225/50/16. If you want wet traction and performance, many people have had great experiences with SO3s.

Whether or not you leave your diff parts (or any other parts) at the starting line when using drag radials will depend upon how well you've seen to maintenance and fluid changes and how you drive your car, not to mention the size, type and pressures you use for those tires based on the track conditions and weather.

 

why do you run small size sidewall on the rears. right now my car has oem sizes, something like 55 in frnt and 50 out back. thanks for the advice....

 

This thread will reveal all:
https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=48572

 

hey thanks. i just have one last question....wont running 45 series affect ride hieght/look. or i am just missing the point and the 245/45 will "look" the same a the oem 225/50. sorry, i am a little slow......

 

To condense what that whole thread was all about:
The OEM SO2s are 225's BUT they have the footprint (or contact patch) of a 245 tire because the tread surface doesn't "curl" around to the sidewall like most tires do. It's a more "blocky" design. In order to get the same footprint (and similar handling) in a non-OEM tire, you have to go to a 245 size but in order to keep about the same over tire diameter (ride height as you call it), you must lower the aspect ratio from 50 to 45.

 

thanks, me understand now!!!

 

I read the thread that you linked to this thread xviper. And it made sense to me at first. However, I did some investigating with various tire manufacturers and looked at multiple tread widths. I'm not having a hard time believeing this claim that a 245 has the same contact as a S0-2. Ok, so we've established that the SO-2 has a 8.5" contact point. Well the Yoko es100's I just bought for my rear have an 8.3" contact point. Similar es100's in the same 245/45/16 has a 9.4" tread width. That is almost an inch wider than the stock S0-2's. I have also checked with other tire manufacturers and have found similar instances.

This is not meant to say you are wrong, however am I missing something with everyone's arguement that we should have 245/45/16's on our rear tires? I would appreciate your input, because if I'm convinced I will take my tires back. Not to mention that wider tires lowers fuel economy.

Thanks.