tire size

what is the best tire size, for a wide body car with 914 7inch wide wheels. have customer that needs new skins but dont what to put on. to big or to tall. bill

If keeping the speedo accurate is a concern then the tire dia will be a factor.

Even on cars with good factory ride, going to lower profile (under 50) tires will get the owners complaining about "bounciness"(is that even a real word??).

914's (4 cylinder) didn't come with 7" wide rims. Most were 5.5" (although non-appearance group ones were only 4.5). Are they widened 914 steel rims with the std 914 back spacing? Or are you measuring outside of rim to rim vice inside? Things like: wheel offset, how front was lowered (dropped spindles increase width near 1"), how much rear was lowered, profile of tires (70, 60, 50) all affect what can be used.

The realy important thing yet to ask (assuming that these rims were on the car before:

What is the rim diameter??????????????

15" or 16"????

Either way, on a Wide-bodied Speedster the only thing to look out for is the tire hitting the top of the rear inner fenderwall (the underside of the body). Not as critical with a VS (more clearance) as with a CMC, but THAT's where you're gonna hit, if at all. That may also depend on that you're running for wheel spacers to get them out away from the hub.

Of course, the front wheels will rub against the inner body line when turned fully to the lock, but that can be adjusted at the steering box stops.

Now, to answer your question: I have a wide-bodied CMC with 1989 Porsche 911 Fuchs 5-spoke rims; 7 inch wide, stock dish and offset, 130mm 5-bolt pattern (important info, because 914's were all 4-lug wheels except for the 914-6). My car is lowered, but not the lowest I've seen, and I'm running 1-1/4" thick spacers between the hub and the rim.

I had a 1969 VW donor car with 16" wheels. With a stock VW tire on there (a 165-65X16 I think) the tire diameter is about 24", so THAT is what you want for a tire diameter on your new front tires to keep the speedo accurate.

On the front, I'm running 205-55 R16 Continentals - 24" diameter

On the rear I'm running 225-55 R16 Continentals - 25" diameter. That's a lot of tire for a Speedster, but it fits the rim with just a little sidewall "pooch".

I've seen a bunch of wide-bodied Speedsters running 205's all around. They fit very well, have no clearance problems, look great and may be rotated anywhere (rotation purists be damned!)

I think that a 225-55X16 is about as big as you'll want to run on a widebody without worrying about rubbing somewhere.

If you want to run bigger diameter rims, then I can't help you. I've seen one car with 18" rims and they stuffed something under there but I think they were -40 rubber bands or something.

Hope this helps.....gn

Son-of-a-gun....My 1969 manual tells me the tire size is supposed to be a 15"

Thanks, Wolfgang!

Damn Senior moments. |>(

Anyway, the dimensions I gave should be pretty accurate, since I used the wheel off my Donor to get the overall tire diameter to make the speedo come out right with the new wheels.

The smaller rim will allow a slightly bigger (taller) tire to fit, but the width of the tire on the rim might be pretty close with a 50 or 55 width tire. I have less than 3/4" between the tire lip and the lip of the wheel well with mine.

Time to get out the tape measure.

Gordon - You said 16" on a '69? - assume typo. VW dropped 16" wheels on the T1 back in 1952. Rims since then were 4/4.5/5.5" x 15." Tires were 5.60"x15" (bias) or 155mm/80x15" (radial) with the 165/80 (or 75) x 15 commonally used on the 4.5-5.5 wide wheels (but this would not fit as a spare on most T1s). This does result in a 25" diameter wheel too according to the Miata wheel size calculator.

I find it fascinating that everybody gives up regarding fitting wide tyres to thier cars. I wanted wide tyres on my standard bodied car. I wanted them so bad that I thought I would put flares on if I had to to achieve my goals. Yes I spent a lot of time measuring and re-measuring before making my custom front hubs / disk brake hats. I have fitted 225/40-18 tyres on 7.5" rims. On the rear wheels I have a gap of about 4mm between the tyre and the fender on one side and about 8mm on the other. The rear wheels do not rub at all under any circumstances. The front has the same size tyre and at full lock the tyre can just touch the fender on the outside when the road is uneven. I am sure by shaving 5mm of the hubs I will be able to eliminate this problem. As it only happens at full lock I probably will never get around to doing it though.

The rear disk brake hubs are from a disk brake conversion available over the counter in South Africa were drilled for a 5 x 100 bolt pattern and the fronts where custom manufactured. It did take a long time to find the correct offset with a wheel that looked nice. If I remember correctly the chosen wheels have a 35mm negative offset. (More of the wheel to the inside)

I can't imagine that the body from Kit care Centre in South africa could be so different to the ones in the States etc. I could be wrong though!