Hello,
My 205/70/14 tires on the OEM rims on my 1983 280ZX are just about used up... I want to get wider tires & want to know what is the widest I can put on those rims... Would 225/60/14 be fine?
Thanks,
SurgeNJ

 

before i got my rims i was running 225/60/14s on my car... i didnt have any problems with themm

my car before my rims.....

 

I ran 235/60/14's with no problems.

 

I would recomend no more than 225 width on a 6" width rim. 225 is over 7" wide of tread.

I also had a ZX with 225/60-14 and the wheels were 14x6. the tire looked very fat on those narrow wheels.

 

I run 235/70 R14 on the rear of my 78 with no problems. My brother runs 235/60 R14 on the rear and 195/70 R14 on the front of his. On my first Z 82, I ran 245/50 R14 BFG Radials on the rear.You are talking about a fat black mark, Tread was 10.25" Wide!!

 

That had to look beautiful. I loved the bulge on my 235's

 

Thanks for your input!! Will go tire shopping soon...

 

I am on the thin line between looking really cool and overall performance. I was wondering if the handling of say a 225 section width tire on a six inch wide rim would make the car feel very squishy in turns due to the large amount of contact patch not supported by the wheel?? IMHO I feel that a 205 might handle just as well or better on such a small rim. But please correct me if I am wrong, because wide tires look bitchin

 

As far as performance goes, I think the 225 60 won't be too squishy. The side walls themselves are slightly shorter than 195-70-14. The added grip should be a bigger benefit than the "unsuported" width of tread.
As for acceleration, cyntrifical weight plays a very large role. Wider tires are actually heavier and slow you down. A small tire like 185-70/14 would be great for high speed driving and quarter mile runs. But for handling the wider contact patch would do better.

 

Ok thanks so now I can have the best of both worlds. Im glad to hear that because the only thing stopping my from doing it was what i was worried about.