Tire Question

[b3master]

Hi all, i was wondering about couple things:

would a narrower tire have LESS chance of hydroplaning rather than a wider due to fact of less surface area provides more pressure to ground? for example a 225/55R16 VS 245/50R16

second thing is it okay to have the 225/55R16 on the stock 16X8 rim or is that rim to wide?

[wolfdogs]

Hi all, i was wondering about couple things:

would a narrower tire have LESS chance of hydroplaning rather than a wider due to fact of less surface area provides more pressure to ground? for example a 225/55R16 VS 245/50R16

second thing is it okay to have the 225/55R16 on the stock 16X8 rim or is that rim to wide?

7"'s is the design rim width for that tire. the tire manuf.'s allow a tolerance for .5" up or down....after that , they do not "bless" the application. will it work? yes... it should be ok...

yes, a narrower tire has less chance of hydroplanning, given the weight placed on that tire is the same weight that was placed on the o.e. tire that had a wider tread surface.

if you are going to run that size instead of the oe. 245/60r16 then you will need to bump your pressure to 35 psi. to get the right flex and contact surface from the tire like the oe. tire..... that tire has less load carrying capacity.

[b3master]

thanx woflman , i have the '95 V6 i think it is arround 1400 kg am i right? well if so arent those 245/50r16 easily hydroplaned with that much width and that light weight car? n i did understand what u meant about the 225 tires r made for less load capacity but i think this car load is low enough isnt it?

one bad side is the car might look rediculous with the 225/55r16 but first it would hydroplane less n the tyres would cost less

[wolfdogs]

thanx woflman , i have the '95 V6 i think it is arround 1400 kg am i right? well if so arent those 245/50r16 easily hydroplaned with that much width and that light weight car? n i did understand what u meant about the 225 tires r made for less load capacity but i think this car load is low enough isnt it?

one bad side is the car might look rediculous with the 225/55r16 but first it would hydroplane less n the tyres would cost less

didnt realize you had the v6, the 245/60r16 was not the o.e. tire on that car. your curb weight should be listed in the owners mannual. what was the o.e. tire size on the car?

[Injuneer]

The 4th Gen V6's came with a 215/60-16 tire. Not sure what year car he has?????

It would seem to me that "width" simply makes moving the water out from under the contact patch a lot harder, since it has further to move. A well designed "wide" tire will have a tread pattern specifically intended to channel the water to the sides and out from under the contact patch. Most of the good tires are made in "left" and "right" (unidirectional) versions to maximize the benefits of the water removal channels.

I never had a hydroplaning problem with the 275/40-17 Goodyear GS-C's or with my current 275 BFG KDW's (front only). I am a little hesitant to drive it in heavy water with the BFG 315/35 Drag Radials, but thats a tire with a shallow tread designed for dry traction. Surprisingly, when caught in a heavy rain storm, I did not have any problems with them. But they were almost new and had all of the 6/32" tread depth that they come with new. But I "took it easy". I have had more problems with aquaplaning on my 2001 Silverado, with 255/70-16's..... they are Generals with tread that does nothing at all to remove the water from the contact patch.

Get a high quality tire with a good "water shedding" tread pattern, and you should not have a problem with tires a lot wider than 225. You will need a wheel width to match your final tire selection.

[Z Ya Later]

Not sure how much rain you see b3master, but I've got the BFG g-Force KDW tires all the way around in 245/50/16 and have never had the problem of hydroplaning. To be truthful, I don't really notice that much of a difference when it is raining vs. when its dry. It is easier to spin the rears, but that's just because the Z has a lot of torque lol. If you get a decent tire in the 245/50/16 size, you should be fine.

[b3master]

wolfman do u mean 245/50r16 or u do actualy mean 245/60r16?

this is the '95 V6 i got it used its been painted the tire stickers been gone so i dont know the oe sizes, the manual shows 245/50r16 or 235/55r16 but im guessing its same manuals for the Z, not much help there, n as for the 215/60r16 jeez those would look rediculous on the oe 16x8 rims too narrow n too high, am i right?

[Injuneer]

A 215/60-16 and a 235/55-16 have roughly the same outside diameter (26.16"). The 225/55-16 (25.74") and the 245/50-16 (25.65") would be a close match. If your car came with 215/60-15's and you don't want to affect the speedometer calibration, you would use a 235/55-16 or a 255/50-16. I'm pretty sure Ken meant 245/50-16 since that is the stock size on the V8 cars with the Z-rated tire option.

[markd79ta]

I never once had a problem with hydroplaning with the 245/50/16 stock Goodyear RS-As when I lived in the Pacific Northwest. My Corvette with 255/50/16 Goodyear GS-Cs broke traction pretty easily if I gave it to much throttle in the rain but never hydroplaned. If you are really worried about rain, go with a tire like the BFG KDWS. I drove my T/A on ice, snow, rain, and anything else in a pretty extreme high altitude climate with the 245/50/16 KDWSs. It is a pretty darn good tire for daily use in adverse climate conditions.

[wolfdogs]

wolfman do u mean 245/50r16 or u do actualy mean 245/60r16?

this is the '95 V6 i got it used its been painted the tire stickers been gone so i dont know the oe sizes, the manual shows 245/50r16 or 235/55r16 but im guessing its same manuals for the Z, not much help there, n as for the 215/60r16 jeez those would look rediculous on the oe 16x8 rims too narrow n too high, am i right?

if you have the v6, you got a smaller tire than the o.e. 245/50r16 which was o.e. on the ta and formula. you sure your rims are 8"?

the key to not hydroplaning is tread depth and tread pattern...and proper inflation pressure for that tire size on that car.... a good all season tire will not hydroplane in normal rain conditions at 65mph and below. heavy rain is differnt... you have to make adjustments.....