245 or 255 rear tires?

[Josh]

I am looking to upsize my rear tires to give me a bit more diameter to keep the rpms on the highway down as well as gain a bit more traction with the engine swap.

I currently am running the stock width, 235, but i'm considering 245s or 255s. I am leaning towards 255s but am concerned they will look bad. Ive seen some cars with 265s and they look like balloons back there.
I have stock springs in the rear and lowered about 4cms in the front.

Opinions? Pictures or cars with this setup?

Thanks!

[LordFly]

When I got my car, it had 265's on it. DO NOT get 265's. They rub the lower shock mount during cornering. Sure, they look like they fit when it's sitting on the ground, but go around a few corners and suddenly there are grooves cut in the tires. 255's should be ok though. Wide tires look bad-ass in the back of a DeLorean. The 265's looked awesome, but they just don't fit. At least not without spacers.

[Henrik]

The number you are referencing is width, not diameter, so going to 265 is not going to affect the rpms.


I am looking to upsize my rear tires to give me a bit more diameter to keep the rpms on the highway down as well as gain a bit more traction with the engine swap.

I currently am running the stock width, 235, but i'm considering 245s or 255s. I am leaning towards 255s but am concerned they will look bad. Ive seen some cars with 265s and they look like balloons back there.
I have stock springs in the rear and lowered about 4cms in the front.

Opinions? Pictures or cars with this setup?

Thanks!

[DMCMW Dave]

The number you are referencing is width, not diameter, so going to 265 is not going to affect the rpms.

Yes it will, as the aspect ratio is 60. As the tire gets wider, it also gets larger in outside diameter (60% as much). So - a 265 tire is 10 mm wider than a 255 tire, an 6 mm larger in diameter.

Here's a handy article on tire dimensions:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=7&s_kwcid=AL!3756!3!57604961053!p!!g!!tire%20aspect% 20ratio&ef_id=U5N@LwAABLhwo7ex:20150113155841:s

[hmcelraft]

Here is a table I made to help me with the rear tires.

[Mark D]

I've got a few pictures saved with different tire sizes.

These are 255's, not sure of the aspect ratio which will determine the sidewall height. The two avialable sizes I found from BFG are 255/60 and 255/70 for 15" rims. They look pretty tall, but the car appears to be lowered, so that could be making them look larger than they are. I would think you'd want to stick with the 60 sidewall ratio

http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=32411&d=1421165657
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=32412&d=1421165665

Here are a few photos of 265's, also not sure on the sidewall height.
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=32415&d=1421165825
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=32416&d=1421165849

Here are some photos of the 245/60/15 Eagle GT's installed on the A-Car
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=32418&d=1421166297
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=32417&d=1421166297

[eagle-co94]

There must be variations from one car to another because these are 275's on 1729 and they DID NOT rub:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/eagle-co94/DeLorean/CIMG5736_zpsaf2bc899.jpg (http://s5.photobucket.com/user/eagle-co94/media/DeLorean/CIMG5736_zpsaf2bc899.jpg.html)
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/eagle-co94/DeLorean/CIMG5735_zps4330187e.jpg (http://s5.photobucket.com/user/eagle-co94/media/DeLorean/CIMG5735_zps4330187e.jpg.html)
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/eagle-co94/DeLorean/CIMG5734_zpsf16d3ffe.jpg (http://s5.photobucket.com/user/eagle-co94/media/DeLorean/CIMG5734_zpsf16d3ffe.jpg.html)
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/eagle-co94/DeLorean/CIMG5733_zpse368e103.jpg (http://s5.photobucket.com/user/eagle-co94/media/DeLorean/CIMG5733_zpse368e103.jpg.html)

[DMCMW Dave]

There must be variations from one car to another because these are 275's on 1729 and they DID NOT rub:


That car does not look like the rear was lowered, at least not as much as the front.

[eagle-co94]

The rear has stock springs and the fronts are Eibachs.

[David T]

The rear has stock springs and the fronts are Eibachs.

For the poster whose tires were rubbing maybe he was missing adapter plate 110154 shown in section 6-2-0. Lowing the car will affect things too so maybe that is also a cause.