Tire width preference??

[18slcmirage]

Should the tire width be flush or wider to/than the wheel??

[Mark]

Should the tire width be flush or wider to/than the wheel??

https://www.tyresizecalculator.com/c...rim-size-chart

[Fummins]

Neither. Attachment 19637

[18slcmirage]

https://www.tyresizecalculator.com/c...rim-size-chart

thanks,
i saw the website but not this part...

[Top_Fuel]

It's usually a good idea to have some tire sidewall extending beyond the edge of the wheel.

Look at it this way... If your wheels get close to a curb, it's always better to hear the tire sidewall scrubbing than the edge of your expensive wheels grinding away on the concrete. (See Fummin's photo above)

[18slcmirage]

It's usually a good idea to have some tire sidewall extending beyond the edge of the wheel.

Look at it this way... If your wheels get close to a curb, it's always better to hear the tire sidewall scrubbing than the edge of your expensive wheels grinding away on the concrete. (See Fummin's photo above)

Thanks, it cleared my thought with this.
I knida did doubt about a narrower tire...

[18slcmirage]

Neither. Attachment 19637

yeah these looked kinda interesting on the roads...so thanks...

[Mark]

Thanks, it cleared my thought with this.
I knida did doubt about a narrower tire...

I sort of feel a 5" wide rim, which is designed for 155-185 wide tires, would be a good size for a Mirage. Extra rim width just equals extra weight.

Sadly, 14" x 5" or 15 x 5" aftermarket rims are very hard to come by. Most aftermarket rims start with widths of 6" or 6.5".

[Loren]

Tire manufacturers will have a chart that you can usually find on their website that will show what THEY think an appropriate wheel width range is for a particular tire size of a particular tire model. Every tire is a little different. That's your best bet, though you can deviate from it a little bit if you think you know what you're doing, or like to live on the edge.

Aside from that, lots of things to consider.

As mentioned above, you might run a fatter tire, or one that's designed with more "bulge" to protect your rims from curb rash. If you're a really good driver and never hit curbs, then you don't need to worry about that so much. On my DE car, I went wider than the factory size specifically for that reason! Now, when a student scrubs a curb, it's usually a sidewall scuff and doesn't even scrape the hubcap. (compare to our other DE car which has factory sized tires... and mangled hubcaps)

From a performance perspective, a lot of people will recommend a "slight stretch" to make the sidewalls more responsive. You don't want to go beyond the tire maker's recommendations usually. But, if they spec a range of 6-7.5" wheel width for the tire size that you want to run... you'll get better steering response for choosing something like a 7 or 7.5" wheel vs a 6" wheel. And that's completely backwards from the "protect the rims" notion above!

If you're going for "style", well... which crowd do you fall into? "Stretched" tires are all the rage these days. (the picture Fummins posted) I think they look stupid, and they're more likely to pop the bead off of the rim if you corner too hard. (but, going by the "wider wheel within reason" notion above, you DO end up with a bit of a stretch... just don't go too far with it) If you're older and grew up seeing cars from the 70's and 80's or earlier with fat tires, then you find "sidewall bulge" appealing, and might go in that direction. A lot of people end up here if they're looking to run a wider tire on a narrower factory wheel. Again, try to stay within or VERY close to the tire maker's specs. If they give you a range of 6-7.5" for a tire size... you could go with 6" and have a nice fat bulge. But, if you go with 5.5", you're likely to compromise the shape of the tire, causing the center of the tread to bulge out and wear in the center... or you might try to run too low of tire pressure to compensate for that.

It gets complicated.

[18slcmirage]

....
...
It gets complicated.

Thank you.