r/Cartalk • u/External_Ad_4127 • 1d ago
Do my fat tires look silly? Redditor's own ride
I recently bought rpf1’s that are 15’s to fit the tires that came with the car, but now i think it looks a little funny with all the space between the tire and wheelwell. I really cant afford coils/springs at the moment so I just have to roll with it.
Am I just being insecure or does it ACTUALLY look weird?
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u/plumdinger 1d ago
Nice Pontiac, bro. Man, do I miss those cars.
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u/External_Ad_4127 1d ago
the dream is a gto or a ws6 😞
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u/sohfix 1d ago
2002 ws6 ftw. i own a 1986 trans am that i turned into a 87’ GTA clone. i love pontiac
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u/Shot_Lynx_4023 1d ago
Had 205/60/15 on my 09 Cobalt XFE 5 speed manual. On the OE steelies. Looked way better than the 195/60/15 car came with. Nothing wrong with the extra sidewall
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u/External_Ad_4127 1d ago
i didnt want to have to buy new tires for a new set of wheels as i am but a mere teenager and i do not have the funds for that. my current tires are almost brand new so theres no point in buying new ones.
eventually i’m going to lower it an inch or two anyways so it wont look as bad with smaller wheels
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u/soggyfries8687678 1d ago
You must be a mechanic
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u/plumdinger 1d ago
I wish. Just an old guy who owned three Pontiacs. I miss them all. ‘75 LeMans, ‘79 Bonneville and 2005 Sunbird.
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u/External_Ad_4127 1d ago
(i also live in the Northeast of the US so there’s potholes and mountains galore, so maybe lowering it isnt the most practical thing to do.
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u/obmasztirf 1d ago
More tire is better in those conditions. May look weird but it's more reliable that way.
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u/whatdaheck420 1d ago
Looks awesome, but I think all cars should be rally cars, especially in the NE.
In time you can get bigger tires and maybe some bigger mud flaps. We need more meatier tires!
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u/BigAngryPolarBear 1d ago
Yes. But it being winter helps because it kinda almost looks more like a rally car
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u/nom_nom44 1d ago
I see an eagles sign! Y’all better win against Green Bay, I need this money lol
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u/chadder_b 1d ago
IMO wing looks sillier than wheel/tire combo.
Wheels/tire look more stock than aftermarket. For me, if I’m buying anything aftermarket it’s not going to look like it came from the factory, but my cup of tea isn’t everybody’s cup of tea
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u/External_Ad_4127 1d ago
the wing is technically factory 😞
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u/more_vestra 1d ago
SS wing on a G6 is kinda neat
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u/External_Ad_4127 1d ago
g5 😞
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u/more_vestra 1d ago
Not a bad setup if it's practical, in my own personal opinion, I think Rpfs are cheap looking dinky rims, that ALWAYS look small no matter what they are on. If you could get ur hands on some SS rims, that would be a killer look. But don't stress lol ur car looks fine.
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u/more_vestra 1d ago
My mistake! After a quick Google search I think the g5 is cooler looking anyways. But I'm biased because I love Cobalts haha
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u/xerrabyte 1d ago
Looks fine. It looks meaner like this than if it were to be lowered imo. That wheel well gap isn't anything anyone but you is gonna notice.
Edit: also I think the wing is low profile enough that it compliments the entire look and I agree with another commenter that it has a rally-car vibe. Not bad at all.
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u/KaosC57 8h ago
These look very practical. They likely make the car drive a lot nicer. I think we need to normalize the reduction in Wheel Diameter to increase Sidewall size. Bigger sidewalls mean more absorbing capacity when hitting a pothole or bump. Less shock in the cabin, and less wear and tear on Shocks and Struts.
Bring back 15s and 14s with big sidewalls for economy sedans!
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u/Traditional-Day-7698 1d ago
those are fat tires? id guess 225/70/15. 255/60/15 or higher is fat
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u/External_Ad_4127 1d ago
theyre 195/60 so i guess not that fat, but theyre thicker than other cobalts i saw with custom wheels
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u/Traditional-Day-7698 21h ago
id rather be able to take potholes , than ride rubber bands that are destroyed easily
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u/AlternativeWorth5386 1d ago
Are the tires the oem size? There is a large gap, also is the front suspension monroe quick struts ?
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u/External_Ad_4127 1d ago
the tires are oem size, i have not touched the front suspension (or any of it for that matter) so whatever suspension it has from the factory is what it has now
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u/Jversace 1d ago
Normally it looks goofy but it looks cool man, goes with the scenery. If this was like California where it gets like 50 degrees at its coldest most of the time then it would look a little funky.
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u/Fun-Newspaper-1752 1d ago
Yea it looks a little silly but not much. Gotta stick with what you can afford and go from there. Do 1 thing every paycheck and soon there will be no more improvements to make
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u/Secret_Effect_5961 1d ago
Nicer with silver rims in my po. Big profiles always look beefy old school and I love em! Easier ride too.
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u/External_Ad_4127 1d ago
the hubcaps were silver and i could not stand them. in my opinion silver/chrome rims shouldnt go on white or silver cars
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u/Secret_Effect_5961 1d ago
Each to there own pal. I wasn't thinking the full chrome image, more of alloy silver but I get what your saying.
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u/External_Ad_4127 1d ago
if i get my car wrapped (red or black), and thats a big if, id go back to chrome or silver
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u/Secret_Effect_5961 1d ago
Fair play. I love the dark green wrap with black rims. There's an audi rs6 estate near us in that wrap and it looks real bad ass. Sounds it too.
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u/SecondVariety 1d ago
nope, looks smart - I bet they ride nicer and last longer than low profile tires
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u/synerjay16 1d ago
I agree about it looking kinda weird. But from a functional standpoint having “more rubber” is better. Especially with potholes and such.
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u/PinkamenaVTR2 1d ago
when talking about tastes just do whatever you want with your car man
my car has 13's but the fat tires help with ride comfort (at least i heard that), so even though bigger rims would make it less silly, i still prefer the thicc tires
also the black rims kinda hide the tires so its hard to call it silly unless youre really focusing on it
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u/External_Ad_4127 1d ago
what kind of car has 13s jesus
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u/PinkamenaVTR2 1d ago
97 Lancer, i think its called a Mirage in the US
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u/External_Ad_4127 1d ago
we have lancers here
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u/PinkamenaVTR2 1d ago
the very old ones? im talking pre 2000's, mine's a Lancer 6, i've seen similar cars called Mirage in the US with a slightly different rear so i assumed its the same car but different name
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u/External_Ad_4127 1d ago
oh not the older ones, just the modern ones
my knowledge isnt too great on japanese cars
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u/PinkamenaVTR2 1d ago
Yea the more modern Lancers exist there from what i know
But yea my super old car came with 13's from momo, 60℅ rim 40% tire is what i'd describe the look of the wheels
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u/Appropriate-Metal167 1d ago
They look sensible. Someone here has a full- size truck with oversized rims and low-profile tires, looks stupid as you know what.
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u/CraftyCat3 1d ago
I mean it does, but that's all opinion based. Don't stress it, it doesn't look ridiculous or anything.
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u/TheGuyWithFocus 1d ago
What are the offsets compared to the stockers? Something does look off but it’s not the tire height that’s bugging me.
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u/Mammoth_Repair_8281 1d ago
Not so much that they are wide but that they are crazy tall …..what do you have there 65 / 70 ?
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u/External_Ad_4127 1d ago
195/60 r15
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u/Mammoth_Repair_8281 1d ago
Is the car lifted at all ?
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u/External_Ad_4127 1d ago
not at all
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u/Mammoth_Repair_8281 1d ago
Well damn . There’s a helluva gap between the top of the tire and the fender lip .
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u/untamedreverence 22h ago
I bet that thing rides smooth as butter, I had a lowered car with 45 sidewalls on LI and I prayed everyday I didn't pop a tire. Looks a little off but not like crazy.
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u/waffle911 17h ago
The reduced wheel offset (and wider rim width?) is poking the wheels further out than normal, making the gap more obvious.
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u/IllMasterpiece5610 4h ago
Of course they don’t look silly. A gap between the tire and the fender is a normal and necessary thing to have.
Lowering your car to reduce that gap would be silly because you’d lose suspension travel and it’d probably handle like crap.
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u/External_Ad_4127 4h ago
but it would look better 😞
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u/IllMasterpiece5610 3h ago
Depends on who’s looking. As somebody who spent 5 years in a racecar, I cringe when I see some of the lowering jobs out there. If you’re trying to impress teenage boys, then by all means, go for it ;)
In all seriousness, what I see in that picture isn’t disproportionate; the curve of the wheel well and the curve of the tire match, and I think a mismatch there would affect the visuals much more than the gap.
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u/Kind-Entry-7446 1d ago
no the, the after market wheels and wing look silly. the tires and fitment look fine on a daily. if you intend on coverting to to be unusable in the snow-lowering kit is the way to go. if you intend on using it, winter tires and road clearance are your friend
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u/External_Ad_4127 1d ago
the wing isnt aftermarket lol
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u/Kind-Entry-7446 1d ago
in a list of things the descriptors dont necessarily apply to every entry.
but whoever told you that was full of shit, at best its a dealer add on. the promo shots of the car used a similar spoiler but in production it was smaller and flatter. i also cant think of anytime a spoiler has been offered from manufacturer in two tone.1
u/External_Ad_4127 1d ago
the spoiler is from a cobalt ss, which is the EXACT same car as the g5 with minor cosmetic differences, the g5 gt could come with this spoiler, and i painted it myself. mine did come with the low rise spoiler but i preferred the cobalt ss one.
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u/Kind-Entry-7446 1d ago
it could, if the manufacturer wanted either of those cars to get that spoiler, but neither did during production. its an aftermarket add on. you literally just admitted to that.
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u/grundlemon 1d ago
The wheels are so lowkey, dont be a dick
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u/Kind-Entry-7446 1d ago
nah, yall need to hear about what your cars look like to normal people.
theyre fine for the winter black wheels always look shitty in the winter, even when they are clean.3
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u/Pattern_Is_Movement 1d ago
Fat tires are cool, that WANG on the back not as much.
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u/External_Ad_4127 1d ago
the wing comes stock on this car lol
(technically not but some g5s did come with it)
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u/Medical_Mammoth_1209 23h ago
I reckon if you put some fender flares on there it'll look awesome
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u/External_Ad_4127 23h ago
do they make ones for a cobalt?
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u/Medical_Mammoth_1209 22h ago
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u/External_Ad_4127 22h ago
thank you sir. i have a can of paint matched spray paint…. weekend project perchance?
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u/Nice_Emergency5048 1d ago
I think it looks good. I know what you mean though. I have some 16s on my VW I think they would look better with 17s. Maybe next time.