How much of a difference in performance do you get from the gt lace wheels vs the se 14 inch wheels? My car is the 84 styled car, and I have steel rims right now with the black pontiac center hub, and I was going to buy a set of the 14 inchers with tires so It would still look stock but perform better than with the 13 inch rims, but upon searching threads lately it seems the gt wheels have a profound affect on the cornering and braking, and the black lace with silver outer rim look sick. So I am wondering if it is worth the extra money to find a set of those.

The cross-lace 15s are 7" wide, while the 14s are only 6".
You can use wider tires, but the theoretically ideal tires are 215s on 7" wheels, versus just 195s on 6".
Because the Fiero carries just 44% of it's weight on the front, as opposed to over 60% for typical vehicles, Fieros benefit from fitting wider wheels and tires on the rear than on the front.
Ideally, your fronts would be 80% as wide as your rears.
'88 V6 fronts are 15x6, all other Fiero 15s are 15x7.
If you want best performance, fit some 17x7.5s up front, and some 17x9s out back. Then mount up some 205/50 and 255/40 tires.

[This message has been edited by Isolde (edited 02-25-2011).]

The big difference is in two areas: the first is in wheel width and the second is in tire profile. The wider the tire you can get on the wheel, the more likely your grip both in acceleration/deceleration and in lateral G's will improve. I say "more likely" because there are other factors like tire compounds etc that come into play. The 13" rims were 5.5" wide, the 14" rims were 6" wide, and the 15" rims were 7" wide.

The second factor is tire profile. All wheel and tire combinations that came stock on the Fiero were about 25" tall. That means that for the larger diameter wheels, the tire profile had to shorten to keep the same rolling circumference of the tire. As tire profiles shorten, the handling precision increases since there's less sidewall flexing... but this comes at the cost of somewhat increased ride harshness. Most people don't mind.

So then to answer your question, if better handling is what you want without regard for increased ride harshness, then go for the 15" wheels... although you should try to source a set of tires for them first since the typical tires that came with them are getting hard to find (205/60/15 front and 215/60/15 rear). With these wheels, you can put even wider tires on like 225/60/15, but I'm not sure I'd try that with the 14" X 6" wheels.

If you'd rather keep the more comfortable ride, then stick with the original 13" wheels with 185/80/13 tires. For something inbetween, go for the 14" wheels, but again check to see if tires are still available before you buy the wheels (215/60/14).

My own '84 2M4 ( with sport-ratio 4-speed ) was built with 215/60s on 14x6s. And as I now expect of a 215 on a 6, handling at the limits of tire adhesion was squirrely at best. I changed tires, to a different brand. That wasn't it. Mine had just 43K miles, garage gept, so it wasn't bad bushings. And the shocks / struts were only 3 years old, so it wasn't that.
215s on 6s gives a muscular look, protects the sidewalls and rims, reduces unsprung weight and manufacturing costs compared against the same tire on a 7" rim.
I'm not suggesting overdoing it like the drift guys, putting 205s on 8s.
But 215s on 6s is NOT fun.
And some Fieros were built with 205/60R14s, which are just under 24".
Notchie Fieros have larger rear wheel openings, and if you run a 25" front tire, consider a 26" rear tire. From my above post, this would mean a 255/45R17 rear, or a 255/40R18 rear.

[This message has been edited by Isolde (edited 02-25-2011).]

I have never driven with the GT wheels and tire combo though and I am wondering if it is worth the extra money to go for the 15x7 lace rims, also they look really nice when the lace part is black and the outer lip is polished silver.

It's also getting harder to find 14" tires as there seem to be less being manufactured every year. Same will probably happen to 15" over time.

I just really need to know if getting the gt rims and tires vs the se rims and tires is a justified increase in cost. I hope it is because I really want them, but not if they are going to be purely aesthetic.

The performance gains between the 14" and 15" rims will be marginal at best. I certainly doubt anyone could say they would know the difference in a blind test. But as we've been trying to say, there is more to it than just aethetics... start calling your favorite tire dealers, or start looking online and you'll see that virtually nobody makes performance tires for these size wheels anymore. If you're going to spend money on wheels, start looking at 16" and larger diameters otherwise you might find yourself with a set of four really good looking white elephants.

the GT style wheels themselves are not expensive.. People sell them on here all the time. (keep an eye on the mall) usually can be had for about $150 a set.. As for tires, everyone is right about that, tires for them are getting harder to find, but not impossible. I got some Eagle GT's for my GT wheels. They where expensive (about $400) and there are cheaper ones out there. But i like Eagle GTs so i spent the extra cash.

Im getting ready to put some 17" wheels on mine, in a few months, so if your still looking ill sell my lace wheels with tires.. The tires are still like new, only about 500 miles on them. Mine are the grey ones, but you can easily paint them black.. But i wont be selling them untill my engine swap is finished, in another 2 or 3 months.

Keep in mind if you do try to get some lace wheels, and i know you said you wanted black, but the black ones come with a different offset, as they only came on the 88 formulas i believe. So if your car is a pre 88, you'll need to get the grey or gold ones and paint them black.. I think you can still use the black 88 rims on pre88 cars, but it'll look a little off.. im not sure.

[This message has been edited by Jonesy (edited 02-27-2011).]

I get what you are saying, but I want to keep the car all fiero and no aftermarket. Personal choice, I have been restoring it. I just have heard bad things about the 14's, and it seems that they are squirrely in fast corners so I will probably go with the gt wheels then.

Heres what the car looked like when I got it:





pretty sweet whitewalls huh? 4 different brand tires and oh yes, all different sizes.
I feel the notchbacks with the 84 and 85 se and basemodel style bumpers look best with fiero rims, and I don't care too much about awesome performance with this car, I just really wanted to know how people felt driving around with the different fiero wheels.