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Tires again!!??

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N

nomad

Yoda
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Well I'm still agonizing over tires. In my opinion, 175/70's are the right height but to wide while 155/80's are also the right height but to narrow. Vredestein offers a 155R13 and I'm wondering if they would be the same size as the 155SR13 old Yokahoma's I have that IMO are just the right size. A 165/75 would be right as well but no one offers these. Also wondering about side wall stiffness. Seems all tires nowdays have a sidewall about as stiff as an inner tube used to be. Theres a reason anyone wanting a good handling tires now looks at super low profile. Is there a way to guage if a tire for sale has a stiffer sidewall??

Kurt.
 
nomad said:
...A 165/75 would be right as well but no one offers these...
Click to expand...

Kurt, as an alternative, I'm running Vredestein 165/70R13 Quartrac 3 tires on my daily driver. (I changed to this size as I was having some rubbing issues with 175/70s on my SWA).

Only had them a couple of months, and so have only driven in dry and some heavy rain, but I'm pleased with the performance so far. And no tire rubbing issues!


Find them here:

https://www.vulcantire.com/quatrac3_t.htm


Here's how they look:

DSC00064.jpg


DSC00061.jpg


DSC00067.jpg


Can't wait to try 'em in the snow... :banana:


Good luck~
 
Here's my 175/70-13s. They are Falken Sinceras.

Cost about $230 for four (new) on eBay I forget the seller, but I could find it.

I just put the car on the road yesterday (65 miles so far) so not a lot to report. No rubbing problems or any obvious issues.
They seem fine. They are a bit harder than I wanted, but this car is just a parts-chaser (it's got a folding top, roll bar and front bumper now).
Rims are skinny (4" wide) Austin A35 wheels.

DSC_0014.jpg


DSC_0019.jpg
 
Thanks for the comeback on this.
I miss the days when I had good tire shops with guys with enough expertise to make good recommendations. Thinking I'll try the Vredesteins but hate to spend that much and find out I've made no improvement. I have a set of Sumitomo HTR all season's that I can't stand. I know many of you are running these but the only way I could run them was with 35psi to keep the car from sloshing all over the road in the twisties. Course this was on 4" rims but when I grab hold of the deflated tire I can twist it all over the place. No wonder they are squirrelly.

I'm curious about those Falkens, Nial, wish you had a few more miles on them.

Well, I may remount the Sumitomo's on my new 4.5" rims and live with them or....

Kurt.
 
Pythias said:
Not that these will work for ya (being 175/70 13s) (https://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/page/175-70r13-avon-cr6zz.html) but you may want to look around. the sight.

Avon tyres at 157 lbs each!

Longstone is in England as Coker is in the US.
Click to expand...


Unsprung weight issues, Bill!!

Well, should have thought! 175/70's are wider on 4.5" rims!! Only rubbing issues I had with them on 4" rims was when suspention bottomed. So Bill Powells suggestion of 165/70 Vredesteins looks quite attractive since one of the reveiw's mentioned good handling and stiff sidewall's. Can't get that site to come up for me Nial.

Kurt.
 
Are we talking 1/4 or 1/2 spring cars.. My BE tried the 175.. and it rubbed on the later installed support bracket. Have's don't have that issue anyway.
 
Pythias said:
Not that these will work for ya (being 175/70 13s) (https://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/page/175-70r13-avon-cr6zz.html) but you may want to look around. the sight.




Seriously, Bill, the sight is interesting. If you want to spend money you can still get about anything. I can even still buy Borrani rims for my Ferarri!!(Soon as that lottery win comes in, that is!)
I think your idea of fitting 14" rims has a lot of merrit. Unfortunatly, on wire wheeled cars going to 14" adds one heck of a lot of weight to the wheel.

Nial, I don't believe I can fit 175/70's and keep from rubbing a lot now with the wider rims.

The perfect tire would be a 165/75r13 and I can get them in China or the Ukraine. Need to order 500 sets though so you guys better start sending me your deposit's!!

Kurt.
Click to expand...
 
These Tempest Touring Plus are working great on my BE (House brand for Tire Kingdom made by Sumitomo). I run 20 psi and I installed a Speedwell anti-sway bar up front. The tires don't squirm, car handles really nice now and they stick very good. They are mounted on a set of Minilites-4.5" wide. Wider tires don't necssarily equate to better handling. UTQG=440.

Tempests
 
Thanks, I ended up fitting some 155/80 Falken's I had planned for another car.

Kurt.
 
I am enjoying my General Altimax RT's.
Of course I had to get brutal with the rear fender wells but now they fit well and the ride is great.

Something fun happened on Sunday, one of my kids said "Dad, there's a bunch of guys out looking at the green car".

I went out and met about 8 young guys that were just all over the car, not touching it but really looking it over.
They started peppering me with questions, wanted to sit in it and hear it run.
Noticed the rolled rear wheel wells and asked about that and wanted to see the engine and were genuinely interested.
These guys were all about 18 - 22 years old, and it was like they had never seen a British car before.

That is a major part of this hobby for me, kind of like being an ambassador for the LBC. Stranger in a strange land stuff. :laugh:
 
Hey Rick, what size tires on there that you needed to roll the rear wheel wells.
 
175/70R-13 with 6 inch wide slotted mags
 
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