Tires

[salomon68]

I'm about to get new tires for my 87 Supra. I was considering putting some lower profile tires on the front to give the car a better stance by taking the front end down a little. Has anyone done this? Is it worth it?

In the near future I will be getting new shocks and springs. Was hoping to grab some Eibachs to lower the car about an 1.5 inches.

edit: they're the original sawblade 16" wheels. I can't afford new wheels right now. Just trying to get my baby on the road.

 

[hvyman]

I would just get the same size all around that way you can rotate. A smaller front tire is only going to drop it so much and make it look funny.

 

[salomon68]

Yeah, I realized later after I posted that there would be issues with tire rotation. What about lowering the front a little more than the back with springs?

Also, I've been shopping for tires and most of the time they list 225/50R16's for my car (some as a 50 series option), but some places also list 205/55R16's (Pep Boys put a "VR" instead of "R" for some reason). Are there any benefits to one or the other?

Thanks

 

[gottadiesel]

Hvyman has a good point if you are keeping your wheels, I fought with that in my own mind when I put wheels and tires on last week (it would be nice to be able to rotate)... I ended up doing 18x8 in front and 18x9.5 in rear, but the total height of front and Rear tires are the same... My last wheels I bought used and they were 18x8 in rear and 17x7.5 in front and I thought they looked awful! So bottom line I agree, I would not put a small wheel or tire on the front versus the rear, stance needs to be done via suspension. I would like to drop my front about 1" and leave rear the same personally... I still want to be able to go over speed bumps lol

 

[salomon68]

Yeah, I'm just gonna wait to by some lowering springs.

Any tire suggestions to get me by for cheap on stock sawblades?

 

[aye mate]

If you plan on lowering your car I would get tires at the same time as the shocks and springs. You can install the suspension but make sure that you have the tires mounted and balanced by a reputable shop. Once everything is installed have a 4 wheel alignment done. I have Eibachs and Bilsteins and the shop I went to was able to align all 4 wheels to within spec.

 

[hvyman]

I have eibachs and height adj bilstiens. Much rather h&rs tho. My car is pretty low and still able to get in spec.

Just get some cheap tires if you plan on getting wheels and new tires again soon, that way you dont drop a ton of money on some tires that your barely going to use. You could also find a tire shop that sells used tires. And just get the stock size 225/50/16. The vr vs. r is the speed rating. Tirerack.com has a lot of info regarding tires.

 

[salomon68]

I'm just gonna grab some used tires for now to see how the car drives then later do everything right with Tokico Illuminas, lowering springs, new wheels etc (my car has TEMS). The car hasn't been driven in 7 years cause I've been redoing pretty much everything on it. All that's left is tires. I can't wait to drive it (I still have never driven it).

 

[te72]

Trust me, if you have the Eibach springs on it, you're gonna like the stance, they look damn good. Unfortunate side effect however, you're not gonna want to ever go over another speedbump, and you'll have to learn WHERE you can and cannot drive. That said, they are really good springs as far as stance goes. As for the tires, what are you using your car for? I have a set of summer and a set of winter tires, due to my love of turns and my necessity of driving in snow and ice... I've had a pretty good variety of tires over the last 5 years or so, but like hvyman suggested, tirerack.com is a GREAT resource for tire info. Check discounttiredirect.com for the best prices you're likely to find though.