First RWD car, couple of Q's

[DarkShade9]

1. I know the tires set for front and rear are different, but, without rolling fenders or any other sizable modification, how large can the rear tires be while maintaining 16"? I don't want to get any larger size tire as I find most applications of larger than stock tires to look ridiculous (look at a CRX on 17's)

2. The fronts being 16" x 6.5" and rears at 7.5" stock, what is the PCD? 5-100?

3. Track launching. 4k and clutch flutter the best course of action?

Thanks.

[spa01s2k]

1. I'm not sure the of the biggest tire on the stock rim. You MIGHT be able to get a 255 on there. Something along the lines of 255/45 (If you can even find that). As far as aftermarket rims, a lot of people like 18's. I've seen 265 on the rear with no rubbing problems.

2. I have no idea........

3. Some people prefer the high-rev-clutch-drop, and some like slipping the clutch. Both have the potential to damage parts. Just whatever you do don't allow the drive lines to bog, that causes the most damage. In other words allow your rear tires to spin.

[gomarlins3]

I have run 265's on a stock rear wheel for race tires.

I don't know what a "PCD" is, sorry.

I don't do clutch drops.

[DarkShade9]

Okay, thanks for the info.

As for question #2, I took the term PCD from the 5Zigen website on the rim section. The 5 part is the number of lugs in the wheel, the 100 I believe has something to do with how widely spaced the lugs are? For instance, there is this table for a specific rim:

SPORTS ENGINE LF5000

16x6.5 
+38 +48 4-100 
+48 5-100 
+38 +48 +53 5-114.3

I know it's a 5 lug but is it the 100 or the 114.3? Perhaps tirerack.com has some info?

[Java Junky]

5-114 is, I believe, the bolt pattern for Stewie.
Be well.
Java

[bobby2002S2K]

Yeap for sure 5x114.3 of the bolt pattern for sure just looked it up.

[spa01s2k]

Originally Posted by gomarlins3

I have run 265's on a stock rear wheel for race tires.

What was the aspect ratio you used with the 265?

[gomarlins3]

Originally Posted by spa01s2k

What was the aspect ratio you used with the 265?

Tire size: 265-45-16

[carguy123]

Also, don't go by rated size, go by the real size.

The rated sizes are more of a suggestion or the size of the core, not the width of the tire.

I have seen upwards of a 3" difference in actual widths when I was shopping for my 18".

I bought the BFG KDs for my stock rims and found that the 255 KDs were about a half an inch narrower than the stock tires which made for terminal oversteer.

The stock tires are some of those that are underrated in the size dept. They are wider than the rated width would indicate.

[spa01s2k]

^^ carguy makes a good point. You can go to tirerack a compare the width of tires. They show the difference between tread width and section width. All tires are measured by their section width, but the tread widths can be way different.

[DarkShade9]

Alright, throwing this out: I'm seeing a lot of really nice rims that only go for 17" and above. Is there a large performance downer for heavier tires, and will 17"s go on nicely on front and rear?

[spa01s2k]

Originally Posted by DarkShade9

Alright, throwing this out: I'm seeing a lot of really nice rims that only go for 17" and above. Is there a large performance downer for heavier tires, and will 17"s go on nicely on front and rear?

17's will fit just fine. The AP2's (2004-current) S2k's come factory with 17's. There shouldn't be a large perfomance difference as long as you don't go with extremely heavy wheels. Just make sure you get the correct offset.