Safety of Stretching Tires?

[aither]

I'm wondering about how safe it is to severely stretch tires, which seems to be a pretty common drift set up (i.e. a 195 or 205/??/15 on a 9" wheel). I understand the dangers of underinflation, and how drifting will kill a tire. Also, I think I understand the theory behind why one would want to stretch a tire. However, what risks are presented with a super stretched tire, as opposed to a tire that fits pretty much straight on?

[Grant@tirerack]

When the tire sidewall is spread out that far, it limits how much of the bead makes contact with the rim and it will not hold or seal as well as with the correct sized rim. That's just bad mojo...

[s13sr20chris]

stupid imo. some people just do stuff and dont really know what they are doing.

[p00t]

u sure it just wasnt stretched over that rim because the guy bought cheap *** tires to burn up drifting, and didnt care if the tire blew out? if you get real cheapy used tires they will be in all different sizes, and some people just dont want to buy wheels that will fit them. its better to have a set of ****ty 15x6 or 15x7 wheels for drifting, tires are least expensive in that range, which = more play for less $$$.

if your talking about drift cars that are in magazines, thats a whole nother ball game. for most of the photoshoots they have like 19" wheels with the tires stretched just for looks. they would rarely ever take those cars on the road with that setup, just going over a moderate bump would scratch the rim or bruise the tire.

[yeswepromise]

think about it. its drifting. how long do you expect the tires to last?

[aither]

Grant: Thanks a lot for your reply. It's cool to be able to get a propt, strait answer to my question! Now I know what to be careful about in the future.Also, to everyone else, I was amused by the posts, but I believe there is a reason why one would want stretched tires to aid drifting. From what I can tell, it gives the tire a much more rigid, "stance," on the wheel, with much less flex than a normal set up. If you combine this with the right tire pressure, you get a tire that is very easy to push past its limit of adhesion, because it will have a much lower slip angle. Anyways, I was just wanting to explain where I was coming from (it's not from reading a mag and doing what looks cool). I'm thinking about what's ideal for a certain function, not what can I get at the tire store with the $20 in my pocket.

[s13sr20chris]

oh yeah bro, i was not trying to say you are a doofus or anything. i like my tires kind or tight on sports cars as well. not nearly as tight as what you were talking about though. ever check out the wheels and tires on lemans prototype racecars? the wheels are quite large in relation to the tire size.