Tire suggestions?

So I picked up these 16x8 IROC-Z wheels from Quasimofo and I am looking at 225/55-16 tires because that size should fit without rubbing on the Corvair.

I pulled up the size on Tire Rack and they have a great selection of tires in that size under $100 each, however I'm to the point where I don't know what to go with. I could probably get away with a Summer Performance tire, but I want it to be good in the rain.

There's BFGs, Pirellis, Dunlops, Hankooks, Kumhos, Continentals, etc, but I don't really know what's better than what or wears well. I have never really bought anything but All-Season tires.

What do you guys suggest?

Any summer that's not super aggressive should be good in the rain, so I wouldn't worry too much about that.

Sumitomo HTR Z III.

I put a set on the P71 and love them.

Edit. Never mind, they are 17 and 18 only.

I ran 205/55-16 fronts and 225/50-16 rears on 7" replica 'Vette rally wheels with 4" backspace on a car that was lowered about 2" and had no rubs anywhere.

BFG Comp Sport 2 is a great wet weather tire. They are also good enough in the dry to autocross, or do a track day on. I've been running them in 17" size on the E36 M3 and have been very happy with them. Probably the best wet weather tire I've ever had----- and it rains HARD down here in FL!

+1 on the SC2. I have them in 205/50R16 on my Volvo and I've been happy.

Another Floridian here. We definitely get some heavy rain in the summer.

I have a set of Continental Extreme Contact DWS 06. Really like them, excellent in the rain, and good performance tire.

For a street car, I really like the Continental DW & DWS. These are the best daily driver tires I've ever had. I think both are the last generation now as they were updated in the past year or so. Have the DWS version on SWMBO's 350z and the E36 and the DW version on the FR-S. We get Frog Stranglers or Gully Washers (depending on which part of the state you're in) quite frequently and these tires are awesome in the rain. Reviews on Tire Rack's website got me to buy the first set and I have been hooked.

If Yokohama S-Drive is available in that size, I can confirm that they are good in the rain. I have them in 205/55/15 on my SAAB c900

Continental is what I have used on various cars in the past and really liked them.

AngryCorvair wrote: I ran 205/55-16 fronts and 225/50-16 rears on 7" replica 'Vette rally wheels with 4" backspace on a car that was lowered about 2" and had no rubs anywhere.

Yeah I've been told now by the guys running these wheels that since the front and rear wheels have different offset, people run the rear wheels on the front and the front wheels on the rear, but to still use 205/50s in the front and 225/50s in the rear.

My only issue with 205s is that on an 8" rim, that the rim lip sticks out farther than the tire. I set these on the garage floor with the current 205s and the rim touches the floor, not the tire. The tread is as wide as the rim is.

You should definitely give the Continental Extremecontact DW a try... best wet tire I've been on and dry grip is great too. Has a nice grip level, and responds in a manner, at least on the FR-S, that is not nervous/sensitive like tires with stiffer sidewalls - you're riding on a wave of grip where you just turn in and go in a smooth quick manner. Extremely stable and confident feeling tire.

It's one of the lightest tires you can get and seems to wear OK. For a daily driver wet tire, the Max performance category is usually what hits the balance between best wet and dry performance along with better wear and cost than the Extreme category.

Looking forward to trying out the Extremecontact Sports next...

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: My only issue with 205s is that on an 8" rim, that the rim lip sticks out farther than the tire. I set these on the garage floor with the current 205s and the rim touches the floor, not the tire. The tread is as wide as the rim is.

That's OK, a minor stretch won't meaningfully increase the risk of a debead, and is actually good for effective sidewall stiffness.

Yeah but it also gives you -100% safety margin of bumping curbs when parking. Not a problem to some people, huge problem to others.

Do you need them to be cold-tolerant?

Federal 595 comes in a 215/55 but I'm not sure whether the compound is okay below 20 degrees. I usually find the Federals on Ebay and Amazon with free shipping.

I have had wonderful success with the "ultra high performance all season" category, but my life is spent more between double yellow lines than orange cones.

The Impala SS curently has Kumho Ecsta ASX, and I really love them. They stick a lot better than the seats can hold me in place. They do great in rain and will even handle light snow.

I did Pirelli P-Zeros on my Impala once because a friend had some for sale cheap. Fantastic in everything BUT rain. They even tolerated light snow pretty well. Since then they've added the "Nero" which people say is light years better, but I'm skeptical

Most anything Michelin will rock your socks. Pilot sport A/S will get your rain, and they're sticky enough to rock the cones. My E30 had Pilot Sport A/S (They were more performance a/s instead of UHP A/S) and they really worked well, but did complain a bit when I pushed them really hard.

The Firestone/Bridgestone offerings will be great in rain, but one tick lower on the sticky part in the cones, IMO. I had RE970PPs on the Impala before and they stuck like glue, but only lasted about 20k miles.

If you step up to summer rubber, I have used the Toyo Proxes T1R and absolutely loved them. They didn't last long, but good lord did they ever stick. Look closely at rain performance if you click on the "high performance summer" category. Many of them don't have much siping and will probably suck in the wet.

Love the Michelin Pilot A/S3's on my GTI much more than the OEM P Zero Nero's with respect to both driving feel as well as longevity to date (20k miles in), and much quieter to boot!