Okay I have a 94 Firebird Formula, I recemtly purchased a set of 4 17x9.5 American Racing Torq-Thrust II rims.The guy at the shop picked out my tires for me. I then told him I wanted a beefier tire on the back wheels. I wanted it to have a somewhat drag car stance. You know big beefy radials in the back and tires with a smalled sidewall in the front. the wheels he gave me were 245/45Z/17R front and 275/40Z/17R rear. If one stands back and looks close the front looks bigger than than back. I plan on going back and asking him if I can get a bigger tiire for the rear, since I just purchased this package not more than 3 days ago. What size tires can I fit on these rims, that will give me a big beefy drag look?

What your seeing is the diameter difference the 245/45's will be taller then the 275/40's
but only by a couple hundred thousanths of an inch.
Personally I would of gone with 275/40's in the front and 285's in the rear considering the rims are the same size.

so how would I achieve this look. I don't want the back rims to be barely bigger than front. I want a noticeable drag car look, but it must remain street legal, so no radials. I just need to get the right rear wheel tire size. maybe this user could tell me what his tire sizes are. but i really don't wanna do a whole lot of suspension mods, so if i have to let me know before recommending a tire size

well, in that picture theres skinnys in the front and probably 10.5 or 11 inch wide rims on the back...

so i can't achieve the look with a 17x9.5 rim i should have gone with a wider rear rim??

Well frm what I can tell those are drag radials. I think I see the ripples in the tires. If you want that look then what you need is smaller rims in the back with a higher profile with low pro in the front. But thats just my opinion. I could be wrong. Guys?

The pic posted has 315's on there. I believe that is an 11" tire. The fronts are 7.5" wide. I have 275/45/17 on my front and 285/40/17 rear. At a slight angle it is noticeable, but it is an even stance and handles really well. More than a 285 and you will need to do some modifications to fit. (i.e. roll the fender lip, adjust the offset of the rim, and beat the tubs a little to massage the big meats in)

Matt

obviously high pro in the back and low pro in the front will give you more of the stane your looking for...and u can always do 16s in the front, 17s on the back...(or 18s and 17s, whichever)


and there are plenty of street legal and comfortable drag radials out there...it kind of sounded like you wanted to rule those out? ( maybe I misunderstood?)

To really pull of the big and little look you need sifferent size rims front and back
I have 18x8.5 fronts and 18x9.5 rears. Tires are 245/40/18 and 275/35/18's
fronts are .100" taller then the rears but it isn't noticeable.

Old Pics






New Pics after Suspension






The slicks and skinnies look is cool but not practical.
You have to remember that most of your braking power is on the front wheels and tiny tires won't help you stop.

+1 What Craig said, and if I may add to that skinney's on the front are made for straight line runs only,e.i. drag racing. They arn't wide enough to offer much needed support for turning and manuevering especily at high sreed. They will throw your whole front end geometry off, and will wear big time on your front end parts. Dave.

Quick question, will that Ram Hood, Bumper, etc. fit my 96 V6 Firebird?