Wheel Size Question

[OLDSCHOOLFOOL]

Had the 275/45R16s mounted today on the16x7 Volvo rims without issue and they look pretty good. In and out at the tire shop 15 minutes flat. I'm working on a scheme whereby I can run them both on the TC and the Outback since they use very similar size tires & wheels albeit different bolt patterns. Waiting on the front tires and some custom made adapters from Australia. 

[OLDSCHOOLFOOL]

275/45R16 on the back and 225/55R16 on the front. There is nothing remotely practical about this setup, but these things ride like silk and stick to the road like glue. Heavy rain....maybe not so much. They look really good on the Outback too.

Edited May 14, 2018 by OLDSCHOOLFOOL

[mrtn]

I wish these were RWL sooooo baad.

[OLDSCHOOLFOOL]

18 minutes ago, mrtn said:

I wish these were RWL sooooo baad.

 

Indeed I do. So far I have only found two wide 16 inch tires (I don't really consider 245 or 255 wide) that I can get up under there without modification. I have the other one too waiting to go on but I have some work to get the front offset in a better place.

[Beta Don]

I'm sorry, but huge wide tires on the back of any FWD vehicle makes about as much sense to me as the HUGE wings you see bolted to the trunk on some of the little FWD Japanese imports  -  Do they really need all that extra traction out back??  Now, if you can just add a little 'fart can' muffler to your TC (and maybe a wing too?) you'll be all set  

 

I know, I know  -  You already admitted it makes no sense and that it's just 'your thing' but that doesn't stop me from shaking my head whenever I see such a vehicle pass me by on the road.  But, by all means, do your own thing even if it doesn't make a lick of sense (to me) . . . . it sure relieves the boredom and keeps the world interesting!!   . . . . . plus it's great for the economy  -  Look at all the tires and wheels you've bought over the past year or so to achieve this 'look'  

 

Don

[OLDSCHOOLFOOL]

1 hour ago, Beta Don said:

Now, if you can just add a little 'fart can' muffler to your TC (and maybe a wing too?) you'll be all set  

 

I was thinking more along the lines of a roof spoiler and leg pipes..........

And I shake my head every time I pass a vehicle with all rim diameter and no tire.....looking like a Conestoga wagon rolling down the road. But, to each his own.

[Mike Chell]

Or the vehicles with the wheels cambered out so far they're riding on one edge of the tread area.

 

Or glass tinted so dark I can't see the finger I KNOW they're flipping at me.  I know they are because they had to tailgate me for 30 seconds doing the speed limit (on the interstate), waiting for a gap in traffic ... you can tell they're just seething when they pass!!!

[OLDSCHOOLFOOL]

4 hours ago, Mike Chell said:

Or the vehicles with the wheels cambered out so far they're riding on one edge of the tread area.

 

I really don't get this one. To me it just looks like something is broken, I just can't figure out what the "goal" is. Is it to help with the "rolled fender" look? Maybe that's not the right term, I don't know. I have seen some really tight fits around the fenders and while its not my thing it has an interesting kind of effect. How some manage to even turn the front wheel without chewing up some fender has me puzzled.

But not the camber thing, that just looks broke. And you know its just got to run thru some tires REAL quick.

[Mike Chell]

My understanding is, the extreme camber helps with "Drifting", which is destructive to tires anyway.

[G B L]

If you watch a drifting video, tire destruction is not anywhere in the thought process.  The main parts are smoke and a good selfie video.

[OLDSCHOOLFOOL]

9 hours ago, G B L said:

If you watch a drifting video, tire destruction is not anywhere in the thought process.  The main parts are smoke and a good selfie video.

Actually, I can sort of relate to the smoke part. Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, used to date this chickie (young lady would be quite a stretch) and we would go to the drag races and her thing was watching the burnouts. Not the races. And Chevy II Novas in particular. When I say she had a thing with the burnouts, man I mean she had a THING! The real race was back to the apartment!  Thank God there is no video evidence.

[OLDSCHOOLFOOL]

Jaguars circa 2002, BTW Mrtn the rear tires are true 16" white letter. Not the front.

 

[Fifty150]

On 5/15/2018 at 4:28 AM, OLDSCHOOLFOOL said:

 

  Thank God there is no video evidence.

 

 

As I gaze in the rearview mirror of life, those types of memories grow smaller every day, and eventually disappear into the horizon of my Swiss-Cheese memory.  

 

Today, I wish I had some video evidence, to help relive what once was.  The stud horse is now headed to the glue factory.  Ron Jeremy is now selling garbage on late night television.  Stallone probably has one more Rocky movie in the chamber that he is trying to finance.

[Project bike truck]

On 5/2/2017 at 6:46 PM, Spooner said:

I recently put 18's on mine and really the ride is barely more rough than the 16's I took off.  I'll take some pics tomorrow so you can see the offset but I think they turned out awesome.

 

that van looks great! 

[Fifty150]

As Project Bike Truck has lowered every car he has ever owned, I've lowered and lifted little Hondas, Mustangs, Jeeps, pick up trucks, and even a Ford Explorer SUV (which normally stays stock for soccer moms).  OEM is the softest ride.  Any deviation from OEM suspension, tire size, wheel size, et cetera, and the ride will be stiffer.  I lowered my car, now I feel every little bump.  I lifted my truck, and now I feel every little bump.  The idea is to achieve some sort of performance gain, unless you are only doing it for visual effects.  You lower cars for better handling, and to be able to hug turns.  You raise Jeeps and trucks for ground clearance, and more wheel well space for larger tires and longer suspension travel.  But it all results in a rough ride.  All of that changes with age.  Just like politics.  When I was a kid, there wan't 1 Honda that I didn't lower (or put stickers on).  Now that I'm old, my back just can't handle the rough ride.  When I was a kid, damn cops were everywhere.  Now that I'm old, there's never a cop when I need one.    We should all do something fun, like horsepower stickers to our vans.

[Mike Chell]

Nope.  My vehicles are tools.  I don't name my tools, nor do I modify them in any way that's not functional.

Lowering, raising, "souping up" or painting.  Bumper stickers that "say something" are okay, but ones that advertise fro some company aren't.  I don't like paying a company to advertise for them. 

I like Bass Pro Shop, but I'll only put on a sticker of theirs, or wear clothes with their logo if they give it to me for free.  I won't buy those items.

[Fifty150]

2 hours ago, Mike Chell said:

 

 

 

I like Bass Pro Shop, but I'll only put on a sticker of theirs, or wear clothes with their logo if they give it to me for free.  I won't buy those items.

 

 

 

 

A neighbor of mine has a Cabelas sticker on his car.  I still wonder why.

 

Actually, in real life, I don't sticker anything.  I have a shoe box full of logo stickers that came with every "performance" part I've ever bought.  

 

I guess I just don't need to scream out to the world that I have a FlowMaster muffler, use Red Line oil, my engine is custom tuned by Troyer Performance, my brakes are Brembo, that there is a K&N intake, et cetera.  I would rather wear a plain white t-shirt, than a t-shirt with a logo.  I wish you could remove those loud, 10" blue ovals that are attached to the grill & tailgate.  Imagine if McDonalds had a huge sign that said, "proudly serving frozen meat from Australia".

[OLDSCHOOLFOOL]

I have immediately removed any sticker or logo from the dealer from any car or truck I have bought. License plate frame, anything. Annoys the piss out of me that they put them on there.

[Mike Chell]

I'm already in the process of making something to replace the ovals.   I am just trying to decide if I'll leave the T.C. name on there.  No offense meant, to you aficionados who love your vehicles and put free advertisements across the top of the windshield, etc.  It's just not my "thing".  I joined this site to show what I've done to mine, and to get ideas of things that might make it more useful.

 

Like OldSchool, dealer information is removed.  But, I'll wait until I've gotten my free first oil change and service, since they'll add another sticker, likely, at that time.  If I've removed previous stickers, they might put even more on there.

 

 

 

 

 

[mrtn]

16 hours ago, Fifty150 said:

A neighbor of mine has a Cabelas sticker on his car.  I still wonder why.

 

My colleague sold his 1990 Ford Sierra wagon to some theatre director back in 1996. Saw the car a few years ago, it still had our logos on it.

 

It was a great car. I think I should get one.

[Fifty150]

I like the Crown Victoria's that still have a taxi company color scheme, but no corporate logo.

[mrtn]

1 hour ago, mrtn said:

It was a great car. I think I should get one.

 

This will be haunting me until it's sold: https://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/details.html?id=244887582

 

[Fifty150]

I don't recall seeing the Ford Sierra in the US.  Apparently, there were station wagons and vans sold in Europe.  I did know a guy with an XR4TI.  I think his was the only one sold in the area.  Never saw another one on the street around here.  Most people thought it was a Ford Escort with a spoiler.  Back in those days, I was still driving Jeeps, and not in the luxury class Jeeps that they have today.  Back then, every Jeep I had was stripped down, plastic windows with zippers, and torn, leaky tops patched with duct tape.  That's where my budget was.  I drove cars where even the heaters didn't work.

 

 

[mrtn]

9 hours ago, Fifty150 said:

I don't recall seeing the Ford Sierra in the US.  Apparently, there were station wagons and vans sold in Europe.  I did know a guy with an XR4TI.

 

XR4Ti was a Ford Sierra sold under Merkur brand.

 

 

There were two models exported to US under the supposed luxury Merkur brand name: Scorpio and XR4Ti. I have also contemplated getting a Scorpio Ghia hatchback (the exact model that was rebadged). 2.9i engine with the A4LD transmission.

[PhotoAl]

WOW, hadn't seen one of those in a very long time!  I had an 84 model with the biplane rear wing and the telephone dial wheels.  The later ones just had the lower rear wing.  For it's day it was a very quick car.  I disconnected the boost control solenoid which made it even quicker.  Didn't have quite the acceleration of the Mustang GT but all it took to beat one was a slow launch or bauble by the GT - can't remember how I know that.  They didn't have an intercooler which was the biggest problem.  Oil from the turbo would would the mass air flow sensor.  Mine had that problem but I didn't know it till years after I sold it.  When I sold it my youngest son begged me to get it back.  Selling it was THE single dumbest car move I've made!  Bought a used Mercedes 190E from a friend and that turned out to be the WORST car I've ever owned.  Traded it on a '91 BMW 318iS which was the best car I've owned.  We had 4 kids so couldn't all go somewhere in my car, many times my wife volunteered to stay at home while the kids and I went to McDonalds.  

 

Thanks for bringing some good memories back.