need new tires got a few questions

[sqrlnts]

Went to leave work today and found the front tire blown out!!!




Glad it blew out in the parking lot and not going down the road. I have 15x7 rims with 205/75/15 tires. Will stay with the 205's up front for tie rod clearance. Question is with the rears.

I would like to run a wider tire in the back and ideally taller to help with RPM's on the freeway. I have plenty of clearance for wider and taller.

I am thinking 255/??/15 on a budget. Any suggestions?

[Dan in Pasadena]

25.2mm = 1" so a 255 is a full two inches wider than what you're running now.

The 205's are already slightly over 8" wide so on a 6" rim the tire side walls are pulled in about an inch per side. 255's would have them pulling in two inches per side. Seems a bit too wide to me.

I've got 235/75 (take offs) on 7" rims and they pull in about 1-1/8" per side. Looks about right to me.

[1project2many]

255 is width
/??? is "aspect ratio." You could think of as a percentage of the treadwidth to make an estimation. Or you could use a tire size calculator online to find a size that's close to what you want. 255/60-15 is about 1/2" taller tire. 255/70-15 is a bunch taller, about 3". That would lower rpm on the highway by 10%.
http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

[sqrlnts]

Dan, I have 7" wide rims to the best of my knowledge.

Thanks 1project, here is another awesome calculator.
http://www.grimmjeeper.com/gears.html

[sqrlnts]

Just found 2, 255/70/15 BFG's for $100 on CL. Here is a picture of this that size tire on a 15x7 rim.....i think its perfect

[_Ogre]

as hot as it's been in az
i'm surprised all your tires don't blow
or melt