• Hi Guest!
    You can help ensure that British Car Forum (BCF) continues to provide a great place to engage in the British car hobby! If you find BCF a beneficial community, please consider supporting our efforts with a subscription.

    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

Soooooo...

Nunyas

Yoda
Country flag
Offline
I dropped my car of at the tire place this morning to have Bridgestone Potenza G009 195/60-15 tires fitted to my Shelby wheels, and mounted to the car. I called the place just before lunch, and they were practically finished with it. I guess I forgot to mention I wanted the alignment set when I dropped it off, because they said they would need it longer to do the alignment. I'm fine with that. I trust the place, and know they do good work.

However, the waiting is killing me! This is worse than last night. Last night, I felt like an 8 year old on Christmas Eve. Now, I feel like that 8 year old waiting for his parents to wake up on Christmas morning, so I can open the presents...

maaaaaaannnn... I can't wait!
 
That's the perfect size for a B, and H-rated is a good thing. You should be happy with them. I'm typically a Michelin fan but I recently tried a new model from them and hated it because it was so soft. I switched to a nice stiff H-rated Bridgestone Turanza and have been very happy with them.
 
AHHHHHH!!! i got it back! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/thumbsup.gif /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/driving.gif

Looks better than I thought it would too /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

I'll post pictures later this weekend... after I've washed the car /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

1" spacer/adapters put the tires right out to the edge of the wheel wells. Well, not right to the edge, they're set in to the wheel well just enough to not rub the outer fenders, which looks very sharp, IMO. Also, the new wheel/tires fill the wheel well a lot better than the 185/65-14 tires I was running before /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

boy oh boy am I exctied /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/thumbsup.gif /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/driving.gif /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cheers.gif
 
Steve_S said:
That's the perfect size for a B, and H-rated is a good thing. You should be happy with them. I'm typically a Michelin fan but I recently tried a new model from them and hated it because it was so soft. I switched to a nice stiff H-rated Bridgestone Turanza and have been very happy with them.

If I drove 20K miles a year, I probably would have put serious consideration into Miches. However, I don't even break 10K a year, so 40K-50K mile tires is good enough for me /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif
 
Rob, are you planning on lowering the car at all? I want to run a similar setup to yours, but I also want to lower it about an inch. I'm worried about rubbing.
 
I lowered the car about a year ago. I have 550# springs in the front and 1" blocks at the rear. No rubbing. The rears tuck behind the fender lip.

Also, lowering the car adds to the negative camber. The tire shop did an alignment and the print out shows I'm currently running 1deg negative camber on each front wheel. So, take that into consideration, if you're thinking about adding negative camber wishbones. I was, but I'm not anymore.

My Shelby wheels have +40mm back space. So, I had 1" (25.4mm) spacers fitted while the tires were being installed. The total back spacing I'm running is ~+15mm. Moss recommends +22. My tires are sitting almost 0.25" closer to the outside of the car than what Moss recommends. No signs of rubbing yet. I'll let you know if the rubbing status changes after I go out in the mountains and give 'er the berries.

I reckon that's another piece of information to consider with your Shelby wheels.
 
I did order the negative camber wishbones way back when. I may have to get creative with my setup, as I don't want to look like the boy racers in high school who cut the springs on their Civics.
 
I don't care about how long tires last. I need good handling and safety. The reason I like Michelins is that they have always served me well over the years and I'm typically disappointed when I go with another brand. This time was an exception.
 
Stewart just used on of my favorite "thingees"....
 
and Steve just mad me shoot iced tea out of my nose... /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/lol.gif
 
Well, I just got back from the "break in" run. I drove Angeles Crest to the closing point. I stopped at the "end of the road" for some pics of the scenery and the car with its new 'kicks'. On the way back I took Angeles Crest to Upper Big Tujunga to Angeles Forest, to Angeles Crest out to Foot Hill BLVD.

6000+ft of elevation does stuff to the tuning of your SUs. At that elevation, the air is so thin my car barely runs. It idles around 400 RPMs, maybe even lower. It just does not want to run up there. I have to apply the first stage of the choke to keep the car running.

Tire performance was as good or better than expected. Lots of grip, so much that I felt like I'd chicken out before I hit the limit, especially on mountain roads. The alignment job did wonders for the steering. When approaching the limits the outside front talks to me (before the alignment the inside front did the talking). The car is ~A LOT~ more sure footed in turns, ~especially~ on rough pavement/broken asphalt.

I had absolutely NO tire rub. So, that's a good thing. I was somewhat concerned I might have some in tight turns while driving spiritedly. I have none. I am happy /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

I think I might leave the tires inflated as they are, or at most I'll let out a skoash of pressure. The balance is nice, under power in the turns if the fronts start talking and I let off the gas I can feel the rear "go light". I get the sensation that I can control the balance of the car in turns with my right foot.

Give me a few, and I'll post pictures, and another video. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif
 
nunyas....forget the car pics....we want more pics of the buuny with a pancake on it's head!!! and a video of it running around would be to die for!!!
 
Steve_S said:
Ok, here's a bunny with a pancake on its head.
/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/lol.gif /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/lol.gif /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/lol.gif That's my second keyboard Tango Uniform! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/thumbsup.gif
 
You're not the least sorry, Jeff. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/jester.gif

I'm very pleased to find the tires worked well, Rob. That's gotta be the best thing you've done to it.
 
Back
Top