What tires are you supposed to be using with all these new retro wheels?

I know we've had the "no tires in small sizes" discussion several times already.

I understand why there are few tires in small sizes.

But nowadays, there are a lot of "old school" wheels being reproduced (that is awesome, I applaud it), and I don't understand what the wheel manufacturers expect their customers to do. Enkei just re-released their "92" mesh wheel...You can get it in 15x7. Can I purchase a tire for this wheel that is not a stretched fitment? 225/50 would be good on my application, but there is only one street-tire option in this size at TireRack, and it's not that great. What tires are people putting on these wheels?

It seems that the tire manufacturers haven't caught up to the retro wheel reproducers.

225/45r15 rs-3 for ~$100/ea is one option. Some would say those are pinched on a 7.0. I might too if i'd ever tried it.

205/50 is fine on a 15x7, there were lots of those last i checked.

15x7? That's the right size for older Civics and Miatas. Or BMW 2002s. Or most of the cars that you're going to put those retro wheels on.

Tire size? Easy. 195/50-15 or 205/50-15. That's just the right width for one of these. Put those on an 8" wheel, that's going to be more stretched.

You can put a 224/45-15 on a 15x7, but it's less than ideal.

Keith wrote: Easy. 195/50-15 or 205/50-15.

That's what I was gonna say. There is also 205/55-15 as an option.

It's a lot cheaper to develop a wheel, than it is to develop a tire.

In reply to mw:

Tire companies have already developed scads of 15 inch tires. That was a pretty big tire back in the mid 80s, and a 14 would have been the standard.

What sucks is tires in compact-friendly sizes are common, just not here.

Hell, there's a Pantera in the latest Hot Rod that uses something like 285/35-15 in the front and 345/35-15 (Countach-size) in the back. Because he's in Europe.

I miss being able to find sizes like 235/50-13 in street compound tires. Sadly that day went by before I even had a license.

You can get a 345/35-15 from Tire Rack. I'm not sure I'd recommend putting them on a 15x7 According to EVO magazine, it's really hard to find Countach rear tires.

TR has 21 options in a 205/50-15, mostly at the fun end of the spectrum. They don't sell Toyo and Nitto tires, so there are at least five more good options (R888, RA1, R1R, T1R, NT-01). There are a half dozen each of 195/50-15 and 205/55-15 plus Nitto/Toyo.

I have 225s on an 8 inch wide wheel and the wheel looks a little too wide. I think 225 looks good on a 7.5 or even a 7 inch wide wheel. They are pinched on a 6 inch wide wheel, but can be used. 195s and 205s are much better on 6 inch wide wheels.

I also would like a set of 245/50-14s for the Mazda and 265/50-15s for the VW. Can't get 'em anymore and can't get 'em anymore

The answer is simply to shop places other than TR. BTW, I've run 235/60s on 15x7s without issue... in fact, it looked awesome and was perfect for my Mustang, and other older muscle cars. TR's recommended tire sizes for wheel widths are a bit conservative IMHO.

I think 225/50 on a 7" is perfect. I too used 235/60/15 on a Third gen Firebird and was happy with the results. 205 fits better on a 6".

Overall though, I agree with the problem of a small and getting smaller selection. Not everyone wants 18" wheels with rubberbands for tires....

I've been looking for a 245/50/15, no luck....

I think Avon tyres have wide 60/50 series 15s but theyre expensive maybe BFG, Cooper and lesser generic brands still have them but theyre not really performance oriented.

It is ironic, but I believe almost all of the performance sized 15" tires are more expensive than the 17 & 18" versions. Makes very little sense to me that should be true.

darkbuddha wrote: The answer is simply to shop places other than TR. BTW, I've run 235/60s on 15x7s without issue... in fact, it looked awesome and was perfect for my Mustang, and other older muscle cars. TR's recommended tire sizes for wheel widths are a bit conservative IMHO.

They're probably from the manufacturer. You can get the manufacturer numbers off their websites.

Coker has a lot of sizes that are otherwise out of production.

Keith wrote: You can get a 345/35-15 from Tire Rack. I'm not sure I'd recommend putting them on a 15x7 According to EVO magazine, it's really hard to find Countach rear tires.

Yeah, when I was frequenting the Countach threads over on the ferrarichat Lambo forum, I learned that Pirelli makes them up every once in awhile and the Countach guys have to jump on them in order to get a set.

I'm surprised Coker tire doesn't do a repro of them. They must be too busy with redline 'murrcan tires.

T.J. wrote:

Keith wrote: Easy. 195/50-15 or 205/50-15.

That's what I was gonna say. There is also 205/55-15 as an option.

and my Integra came with 195-55-15

Moparman wrote: I have 225s on an 8 inch wide wheel and the wheel looks a little too wide. I think 225 looks good on a 7.5 or even a 7 inch wide wheel. They are pinched on a 6 inch wide wheel, but can be used. 195s and 205s are much better on 6 inch wide wheels.

I TT on 225-45-13's on 8" rims and they look fine

The only hope that we have is that the influx of small cars will bring back performance tires in the sub-24" OD range.