Can I go to smaller wheels and higher-profile tires?

[joe_jr]

Hi all,

My wife and I are swapping vehicles, and I'll be driving her '03 GT. We've bent a rim on her car in the past, and have had problems with air leaks and suspension bottoming. The Michigan roads haven't been kind to the wheels.

I'd like to go to plain, smaller-diameter steel wheels (like 14"s) with hubcaps, and get higher profile tires that are the same diameter as stock GT tires. I am a musician, and have to haul my gear around. I think the higher profile tires will improve the ride and not need as much attention (especially in the winter) as the stock ones, with the vehicle loaded up.

Are there smaller, steel wheels available for a GT? And higher profile tires?

TIA

[PT_Cuda]

Most step down to a 15inch for winter driving ie snow/studded tires. Steelies from a Jetta will fit just fine. Just remember that the GT has larger calipers and some wheels will not fit cause of that reason. Its the back of the spokes you have to be careful of, when looking at aftermarket wheels.

A 16inch would be a good compromise between comfort and handling, any smaller and you start to get clearance issues, or control issues. I found personally with 15inch wheels and tires my non-turbo PT was not well suited for small wheels and tires daily. My opinon yours may vary.

And a 16inch you get lots of tire choices and your air leak issues go away when you dump the stocker rims. I have 4 PT's at my house and all but one are on aftermarket rims, guess which one leaks air? Yep the stock wheel car.

And you are driving to hard if you bottoming out the suspension, you should be looking at the road and slowing down if you hare hitting bumps/potholes that hard.. You should be driving it as if its lowered if your roads are that bad - slowing down so you don't destroy rims.

[joe_jr]

Many thanks for the info!