89-93 SuperCoupe wheel and tire question.

C

Cody Alan B5

Guest
Hey guys, well as you know I am new to this forum and I have a question, here goes.

Recently I purchased a set of 89-93 supercoupe factory alloys for my 94 Thunderbird V8 LX. This stock equipment (tire) rating for the alloys is 225/60/16.

Would it be possible for me to install 235/60/16 tires? Could I even get away with 245/60/16 tires? The reason I chose to upgrade to SC wheels is because I wanted to retain the originality of my Thunderbird, and also because I didn't want to add too much additional unsprung mass, or worse an incorrect offset. I figured I would be best for me to stick with the SuperCoupe alloys, I hope that i'm right.

And also, will my car receive any noticable benifit, other than cornering response and turn-in, by equipping wider tires. ( I know that alignments can effect these factors as well.)

We have a 93 Mazda Miata, a very well engineered car from the ground
up... ( Much like the Thunderbird, the Miata has an incredible suspension system to work with, it has double wishbone front and rear. ) We once installed 195/60/14 Falken Azeniz Tires on the original 185/60/14 rims and didn't have any complications. ( steering response and turn-in traction was substantially increased.. )
 
235/60/16 will fit nice and fill out the wheel well very nicely. However, 245/60/16 I think will be too tall. I've got the 235/60's on my '92 (check out my member page), but would not go to 245/60's as they will have interference issues with the upper control arm. Also if you plan on lowering the car at all, the 235/60's will be as tall as you want to go.

Don't limit yourself to 60 tires though. Lower profile tires can go wider than the taller ones. With a 1/4" spacer, you can go 255's all the way around, 245's without. Pre '93 you could go wider up front, but the different front spindle won't allow it on the newer MN12's. You can fit pretty wide tires out back with no issues at all. The front suspension is the tightest as far as tire clearances.
 
Don't limit yourself to 60 tires though. Lower profile tires can go wider than the taller ones. With a 1/4" spacer, you can go 255's all the way around, 245's without. Pre '93 you could go wider up front, but the different front spindle won't allow it on the newer MN12's. You can fit pretty wide tires out back with no issues at all. The front suspension is the tightest as far as tire clearances.

I've had 255-50-16's all the way around on my 95 SC for about five years and have never had any problems with rubbing or anything and it's lowered with H&R springs. Also no wheel spacers.
 
007_SuperCoupe said:
235/60/16 will fit nice and fill out the wheel well very nicely. However, 245/60/16 I think will be too tall. I've got the 235/60's on my '92 (check out my member page), but would not go to 245/60's as they will have interference issues with the upper control arm. Also if you plan on lowering the car at all, the 235/60's will be as tall as you want to go.


What brand of tire do you have on your '92 ? They look GREAT!
Also, WHO makes a 245/60/16 ?????

:confused:
 
ThunderTurkey said:
What brand of tire do you have on your '92 ? They look GREAT!
Also, WHO makes a 245/60/16 ?????

:confused:

They are Kumho ECSTA KH11 tires. I got them at tirerack.com...they are "W" rated and are relatively cheap. That's why I got them. I've had no issues at all with wear. I've got well over 10k miles on them and they are still showing over 70% (estimated) wear. And that's after a few burnouts and driving pretty aggressive.


And yeah, that size did seem a bit odd, but I'm sure there's some company out there that makes them...Probably more for trucks than anything else...
 
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