I just picked up a 2001 Pontiac Sunfire. It has 16" wheels with 225-55-16 tires mounted. It does fine going strait but it rubs over any bump. Would rolling the fenders help with this problem? I just spent all my money on the car so i can't downsize to 50-series rubber. Also the tires stick out past the fenders about a 1/4 inch and i was wondering where i can get some fender flares? Its going to be turned into a drag car with Whitfield Racing doing the suspension but not for a few months. Thanks for any help.
odd it shouldn't be rubbing.... I'm running that exact tire dimensions and I have no rubbing problems... my car is a 01 sunfire gt with stock 16" the tires fit perfectly fine ... sounds like something is messed up with your front end
Fixed the problem, bad struts. Since our tire diameter is 25.7" in diameter, do you think it's possible to squeeze the 255-50-16 under the strut without rubbing? I've seen them on a CRX and they look sick, and i would only use them on the track for strait line performance. I don't care if they stick out, Its going to be a drag car.
i don't think you can run a 255 tire on a stock j-body 16, the rim isn't wide enough. if you can tho it would be about an extra 15cm on both sides of the tire compared to the 225's you have now. So jack the car up and measure.
However, 255-50-16 is to tall i do believe, 225-50-16 would be the best size. Check here for correct tire sizing
http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html .
If you want better traction off the line get some drag radials or a set of cheater slicks.
I just looked into it, the stock tire diameter for the 16" rim should be 24.9", thus 225-50-16 IS the correct size, not 225-55-16.
Yeah i thought that the 225-55-16 tires were too big, thats why i asked. Its going to be turned into a full drag car, so Im trying to get whitfield racing to do the suspension in a couple months. Jason's cobalt has 26" slicks, and thats what we are aiming to get under the car after we build the ecotec.
I was gonna buy a 225 for stock Z rims but when i put the old ones on the car they stuck outside the fender a lil....so i just stuck with the 205.
