195-70-14 on 14x7?

[SteveInOakland]

After dragging feet for, well, years -- I'm fixing to get some tires onto my car. (Has had 185-65-14 since I bought.)

I think I want to go with the 70 profile for the period feel, the feel of the 240 I had in the 1970s.

My car is a '73, btw.

Looks like the 195-70-14 is kosher on 14x7 -- I've got a terrific set of Western turbine-style mags in that size. Anybody think it's a bad idea? Anybody think I need 205 or more for the x7 width???

I also have nice hubcaps and steelies, and I haven't ruled that out (for the 195-70) ; and sell the Westerns. There's even a set of turbines in 14x5.5 available near here....

Thanks to all.

Steve.

[beandip]

I have turbines as well on my '73 . I don't know who made them but mine are not 7'' , 6'' I think. Much depends on the off set of the wheels. I went with 205/70s and they hit the lower fender extension. So I have 205/70s in the rear and 195/70X14 up front and nothing rubs. Even with vary hard cornering. One thing , my Z has been lowered a couple of inches. I am running Toyo's. She handles good , but I think the Sumitomo's that I was looking at would be a better choice. Softer rubber compound. Gary

[Arne]

In theory, most tire manufacturers recommend 6.5" as the maximum width for a 195/70-14.

And as beandip notes, the wider offset wheels with a tall tire can cause rubbing.

[WingZr0]

Have you look into 215/60/14 size?

My old GoodYear WingFoot was that size and I now have

Performance GT Gran Prix dicussed in this thread hear 215/60/14

A friend of mine has period vintage 215/70/14 GoodYear WingFoot's on his

'78 which happens to be my Ruby's exact twin, same color and everything.

Fastest speed rating I could find for me though was 118mph :disappoin

~Z~

[estrada42]

Why not 235/60R14? That's what I run on my 280zx, and I have no problems. Might be different on a 240z though.

I do know when I went from 205/70 to 235/60 to the car really woke up. It really holds it's ground a lot better with a wider tire.

[Arne]

A tire that large on a 240Z is simply asking for rubbing. Totally different situation.

[jeffs73z]

When I picked up my 73 ten years ago, it came with the original size and dry rotted 175/HR-14. I replaced the tires and wheels with some used ones off of a wrecked 82 280zx. They were the std. 14x 6 wheels with the std. 225/60HR-14. I replaced those tires 3 years ago with Sumitomo 225/60HR-14 and they fit perfectly and ride and handle very nice. I would recommend that size or 215/60-14 and you'll be fine. Anything else is not as tall as the original size. I did a lot of research to determine this. The 60 series width looks great.

[Zealous]

I have western 14 x 7 on my 240z and I run Yokohama AVS ES100 205/60R14 and they are not even close to rubbing. Got them from http://www.tirerack.com/ quite cheap around $90 each. Grips is quite good and wear is appropriate to the grip and way I drive

[SteveInOakland]

Appreciate the help from everybody. Very enlightening. Since I had already ordered a set of 195-70-14 (BF Goodrich on a great new special at Tirerack, dunno if still there) -- I decided to get rid of my 14x7 wheels. In fact they are on eBay right now.

Best to all,

Steve

[beandip]

One of the reasons I went with the 205/70X14 on the rear was for the gearing and RPM . I was running a 3.70 diff and the 205s and put the Z on a dyno and realized from that , my torque curve dictated that I was running at a too low a ratio. I have since changed to a set of 3.54s and the car is all I could want for all around performance. Plenty of low end and more than I need at the top end. I am running a 82xz engine with slight head work and a cam that comes on at 2500 to 5500 with SUs.