Best wheel/tire size for future tire availability?

[sboy79]

I know wheel fit and size has been beaten to death and I have spent WAY too many hours on this and other forums reading old posts but I do have a timely questions regarding both.

I'm ready to buy new wheels and think I have a good feel for wheel fit (leaning towards 15x8 zero offset) as I want to keep the stock suspension for now and also keep the fenders intact.

The problem I think I'm running into here is that the availability of street tires in these relatively small tire sizes has really decreased in the last 3-5 years. Just clicking around on Tire Rack, there's a good selection of track tires in the small sizes but hardly any good high performance summer or all seasons. I've had two Miatas and an e30 in the last twenty years so was well aware of tire availability in these sizes during that time and it feels like it's fallen off a cliff in the last few years (track tires excluded)

So here's my question, given tire availability and how it's trending, what's the best wheel/tire size combo that will keep me in a sweet spot for tires into the future? I realize things will continue to change but I'm hoping a good decision here will buy me a little more time in the future.  I also realize 16" wheels put me squarely back into a good selection of modern tires but it seems like the ability to use 16" wheels really varies from car to car if you don't want to roll the fenders (which I don't).

[Patcon]

I went with 16's for just this reason. I actually prefer the look of the 15s. I am going to start with a 215/55 I think and see if that'll clear. I would like to get into a 225/50 R16 because there were a lot of vintage high performance cars that ran that size. So lots of tire options. I will do what I have to to get the clearance when it comes time