What tires to buy for my Impala SS Wheels?

I have a set of 17 inch Impala SS wheels on my 95 Caprice wagon. Its time for new tires, so I'm here looking for suggestions on tires you guys liked and performed well. MY car is not a race car, so I don't need any super crazy exotic tires. I drive it on occasion with my family, haul some trailers, and normal driving.

There are 255-50-17 size tires on it right now, and I bought the SS wheels with the tires on them, so i'm not even sure if this is the stock Impala SS tire size.


I called a local tire place and they have a set of Hankook Ventus ST tires for under $700 installed after tax and recycling. They look more like a SUV tire…..

How accurate is your speedometer? If it is off a good bit, you should consider a 10% taller sidewall with the 255s. The stock Impala tires are 27 inches in diameter, and the stock wagon tires are 28. You can get a 235/60 instead of the 255, and be within the OEM specs. The sidewall will be a greater percentage of the tread with the smaller tires, although it will be the same height as the 10% taller 255. The taller tire will give you a smoother ride.

You are very correct in your thoughts as my speedometer is a little faster than my ground speed, so these tires are a little shorter.

I really like the appearance of these shorter tires as they are very fat and really fill the fenders with rubber. The car already sits a tick higher than i would prefer, so taller rubber would make that worse.

I have a brand new set of taller tires on wheels here and they just don't have the visual pop. They do ride better tho!

I'm thinking I better stay with the 255-50-17.

If you put Impala springs on the car with the taller tires, you would end up 1/2 inch lower, and have tires that really fill up the wheel openings.

I have 235/75/15s on my OCC, and it looks aggressive.

Throw a pic up if you can.

Here's my current set-up!

255/50 is the stock size for the SS wheel.

You can get pretty much whatever you want on there. I run 235/55s on my 17x8.5 wheels and like how they have a sliiight stretch, but fit the wheels nicely. A 275/40 can fit too and look bulkier, if you're into that. 235/60 is closer to stock diameter for your speedometer, though.

275/40/17 is what I have on the 9C1 and it fits and looks great, but only really works if it's lowered in my opinion.

Looks good, I don't want any less sidewall tho, mine are already short enuf!

It's a pretty harsh ride but man it makes the car handle.

What about 255/55/17 Redlines

I have 255's on mine and my only complaint is that they rub on the swaybar. If you crank the wheel hard in a parking lot it tends to jump around a bit. On the bright side, those 2 spots on my sway bar have 0 rust (not that rust is really an issue here in Colorado)

I'm running 235/75/17 Goodyear RS/As (Crown Vic - cop tire).
and also a stock size on new mustangs. I have found several sets of near new take offs for cheap (I'm on my 3rd set of them ~ 80K miles driven)

They fit on the rim well and don't rub up front (had some 245s and they'd rub on full lock).
They are also alot easier to find than the 255s.

Sprocket wrote:

I'm running 235/75/17  Goodyear RS/As (Crown Vic - cop tire)..

"It's got a cop motor, a 440-cubic-inch plant. It's got cop tires, cop suspension, cop shocks. It's a model made before catalytic converters so it'll run good on regular gas."

Sprocket wrote:

I'm running 235/75/17  Goodyear RS/As (Crown Vic - cop tire).  
and also a stock size on new mustangs.  I have found several sets of near new take offs for cheap (I'm on my 3rd set of them ~ 80K miles driven)

They fit on the rim well and don't rub up front (had some 245s and they'd rub on full lock).
They are also alot easier to find than the 255s.

Are you sure you are running 17 inch wheels? The wheel tire combination is 30.9 inches tall. Shouldn't it be 15 inch rims? They are 28.9 inches tall.

I bought the Hankook 255-50-17's for $385 shipped to my door!  

That's a great Price - who did you get them from?

Thats an incredible price! $467 is the cheapest I could find in those.

They were on ebay, forget the seller. The local tire shop put them on for $60 and recycled the old ones. They didn't mark up the wheels and used tape weights. $445 put brand new rubber on it!

After much research and anguish - I pulled the trigger for new tires for my 95 RMW on 1996 Impala SS factory wheels.  I decided to go with the 255/50-17 HANKOOK VENTUS ST RH06 50R TIRES purchased through ebay /  Discount Tire website for $467 delivered.  Although not the ideal size for wagons (only 27" vs the ideal 28.3" in tire height), this is the OEM size mounted on Impala SS wheels and is acceptable for this application.  

Used tires are not an option for me.

All other sizes could not come close to this price.  The supposed "ideal" tire for this RMW impala ss wheel application from my reading here is 255 55 17 (tire height is 28" which is the closest to the RMW spec of 28.3" and exact 96 Impala tire width of 10.04"); this size not an option at $230 / tire. The height difference is minimal.  I can live w the speedo difference.  

My Budget:
4 used Impala wheels - local cl find - $124
Tires - $467
4 Center Caps / ebay - $27
Elbow grease to polish the NY stink out - FREE
Center Cap / Buick Logo - TBD
Mounting/Bal - $70

Found these...

http://www.directbuytire.com/product-p/14ei7afa.htm

Thank for the info post pulling the trigger - lol. I have never heard of Federal's nor checked into the reviews. Also, this tire in not available / on back order although I certainly do like the price at $103 each.

Thats why I had to post them!