Optimal wheel and tire sizes

[Blairhj]

[B][FONT=century gothic][COLOR=red]I've a 2000 GTS and want to know the widest and most popular wheel vs. tire size for performance handling. We do plan on lowering the car.

[NoCones]

There's really no point in going beyond a 7" or 7.5" wheel and a 225 tire.

As for diameter, it depends how much appearance matters. The bigger wheels look nice (to a point), but they add weight and rotational intertia...

[Blairhj]

When you say "bigger wheel" , are you speaking 15 inch, 16 inch, and 17 inch? The 2000 Celica, as you well know comes w/ the 16 inch. Should we keep the 16 inch wheel while lowering the car or drop to a 15 inch wheel?

[NoCones]

yes, by "bigger" I meant in diameter...15, 16, 17, etc...

If handling is really the goal, you should probably have a 15x7 or 15x7.5 wheel with either a 225/50R15, 225/45R15 or 205/50R15 tire. The advantages gained by going from 16" to 15" are likely not noticeable on the street on a street tire though. But if you're going to autocross or time trial on competition rubber, then it's probably worth it.

For the street, I'd say a high-performance (provided you can sacrifice wet/snow traction) 205/50R16 tire on the OEM rim is fine.

Kinda depends what you're really after and what you're willing to sacrifice...

[Blairhj]

When lowering the car, will the stock 16's be to high ? Would a 16' low profile fit better? Or, a 15' with more side wall height? Hope this is the last time I need to bother you with this!

[NoCones]

The OEM wheel with the OEM tire should fit fine lowered. Wheel size doesn't matter much as long as you change the tire size appropriately. Just because the wheel is bigger, doesn't mean the wheel/tire combo is bigger. A 225/50R15 is bigger (in overall height and rolling circuference) than a 205/45R16.

Play with tire sizes here:
http://www.secret-secret.com/turbo/DIY/tirecalc/turbotire.html

Bryan