Baer1172

i have a complete stock 96 z28 just purchased it and it has so much torque i cant get traction . i have Eagle GT 225 55 on back and its a joke so i need to get the widest tire on my 16 rim ? any suggestions ? and can i get a 10.5 rear rim on without changing anything major ?

87DJP2001

You don't need wider tires, only a lighter right foot to get traction.

96 Z 28

Nah not true at all..... The Eagle GTs are so bad I'm surprised they were allowed to call them tires....

Just review Tirerack Survey Results for the category of tire you prefer.

Personally if you only drive the car in the summer, I would shoot for a Max or Extreme performance summer Tire.

Also a note the stock tire on the Z28 is 245/50/16, so you can actually choose a slightly wider tire and stay within Factory Specs.

You can also go to a larger diameter rim and go slightly wider than 245. 17" Rims are Standard on SS Models with a 275/40/17 Size.

Injuneer

You've got the wrong size tires on the car. Stock, the Z28 either had 235/55-16 or 245/50-16 (Z-rated tire option) tires. The tire label on the door will tell you which it came with. The minor difference in diameter of the two tires will affect the speedometer slightly. There is no guarantee that a wider tire will produce more traction.... too many other factors involved. But directionally, at least get the size that the manufacturer put on the car.

Problem with the 16 x 8" wheels is that there are not a lot of options on "wider" tires. There's a 255/50-16 that is getting harder to find, and anything wider is not a high performance tire, and often has an aspect ratio that puts them way too large in diameter to fit correctly on a 4th Gen.

One option is drag radials, which are available from some manufacturers in 245/50-16 and others in 255/50-16. Problem with drag radials is shallow tread depth and soft tread compound, leading to very poor/possibly dangerous wet weather performance, and short tread life.

Many people opt to switch to a 17" wheel, which gives you additional choices like 275/40-17 and 315/35-17.

If you want to stay with the sotck 16 x 8 wheels, go to Tire Rack, enter the size (I'd recommend the 245/50-16) and you will get a list of tires they have available. If you hit the "Surveys" button for a particular tire, it will give you owner feedback data on things like dry traction. At the bottom, there is a link to compare the ower feedback on all the tires. Click on that, and find the tire that has the highest rating in the things you feel are important. Obviously, dry traction should be at the top of your list.

Tire Rack does not sell Nitto, so data may be harder to find. You also need to determine whether your are looking for something like a "high performance summer" tire, or an "all-season" tire.

T/A-Bob

If it were me, I'd consider only 2 options. Either stick with your 16x8's and get 245/50-16 tires - or- take the plunge and get 17" wheels... and you'll find MANY options for tire sizes with 17" wheels.

Personally I've had good luck with 245/50-16 Nitto drag radials as warm-weather drivers but I am very mindful of what's going on back there if the pavement gets wet or COLD (most people don't think of this). The handful of 255/50-16 drag radials out there have very limited life (like 1000 mi) and my impression is that they are much less street-friendly than the Nittos (which you can get 10K miles out of).

I don't believe (someone please correct me if I'm wrong) that there are any tires made for 16" wheels which are wider than the 255 section width but still have a diameter that fits good in the wheel well (my definition, less than 27" max).