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Re: 16 Inch Wheels on a Street TR6

To: John Herrera <jrherrera90@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: 16 Inch Wheels on a Street TR6
From: "Robert M. Lang" <lang@isis.mit.edu>
Date: Fri, 1 Nov 2002 11:45:31 -0500 (EST)
On Thu, 31 Oct 2002, John Herrera wrote:

> Amici:
> 
> A friend is interested in installing 16 inch Panasports and low-profile 
> tires on a TR6. The car is lowered 1 inch all around and the suspension is 
> firmer than stock but I don't know by how much. The car is used on the 
> street for very limited mileage.
> 
> Has anyone tried this swap? He is in a quandry about what size tires would 
> fit without rubbing. He is thinking around 215-50. Also what brand and 
> compound tires would be sticky; tread life is not a concern as the car is 
> used so infrequently the tires would probably dry rot before wearing out.

I can say that 225/60-16 tires are the same diameter as the stock tires
were. I can also say that 225 tires will fit with minimal rubbing at full
lock - but that they will rub unless you relax the fender lips a bit. I
can also say that there is a small likely hood of interference with the
front sway bar ar full steering lock (depending on which front sway bar
that you use - for example the Addco bar will likely create some
interference).

225/60-16 is a fairly popular size, so you should have lots of choices.

As for sticky street tires, it's pretty hard to beat some of the tires
like the Falken Avenis, not to mention that they are fairly cheap. I do
not know, however if the Falken is available in the 225/60-16 size. Other
tires that might be suitable "sticky' and streetable are Yokohama A032's,
Toyo Proxes RA-1, BFG Comp T/A KD's... there's lots of choices from wild
to mild. If prices is a mjor factor, the Falkens are pretty hard to beat.

The problem with the more competition oriented tires is that a "60"
profile tire is considered fairly tall, so you'll have to compromise with
a 50 series tire - you will have speedo calibration problems as the 50's
are a lot shorter than the 60's, e.g. a 225/50-16 is almost 1.5 inches
shorter diameter than the 225/60-16, this is significant and will lower
the car an additional 3/4 inch... good for racing, bad for pothole scarred
backroads. I think the speedo error is in the 5% range for the
225/50-16's.
 
> Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I hope this helped.

BTW, it's probably not a bad idea to call Tire Rack - they are a pretty
good source of info, and if you tell 'em what you want to do with the car,
they can point you in the right direction.
 
> J.R. Herrera

regards,
rml
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