Amazon: Wheels on ebay

[JIM C]

I am going to buy a new set of tyres before I fit the wheels. Think I will stick with the 165 15 size.
Jim

[Alf ista]

Originally Posted by JIM C

I am going to buy a new set of tyres before I fit the wheels. Think I will stick with the 165 15 size.
Jim

Your joking surely.....

[dgbalfour]

So what tyres to you chaps that already have the wider wheels run? Their advantage to me would be the extra width that could be accommodated, 185 or 195mm? I like the look of the standard 80% profile though, and tyre choice with that combination seems to be poor.

If we take 165 80 15 as the standard (not quite original, but it's the nearest modern equivalent), the circumference is 2026.33 mm.

I'd like 185 80 15 (circumference 2126.86 mm). This would slow the speedo down by about 5% which would suit me fine as mine is over 10% fast at the moment. 195 80 15 gives a 7.5% drop in indicated speed which is even better, but both sizes seem to only be available in commercial (van) or 4x4 tyres.

I don't know what makes a 4x4 tyre different, but I put commercial rated tyres on my 240 once (another odd size 185 80 14) and the reinforced sidewalls made the ride far too harsh. Never again.

Of course 185 or 195 70 15 are both reasonable matches for speedo accuracy, but the selection still isn't great.

I'd be interested to know people's thoughts!

David

[classicswede]

For rim that wide I'd at least be running on 195/65 or 195/70 tyres. I'd probably be more temped towards 205/60/15's

If you fitted 165's you would have a strong risk of the tyres popping off the rim when cornering. That would be leathal. A chap I know did this on VW and the tyre cam off giving a instant blow out, and caused him to loose control and bend two wings.

The norowest tyre I think you owuld get away with would be 185 but what would teh point be of teh wider wheel be?

[Derek UK]

Originally Posted by Alf ista

Your joking surely.....

I know you didn't actually buy them (lucky you!) but if you're keeping to the original size you might as well keep the old wheels. Yes they will go on but will make for a much more rigid tyre. The choice of 165's is getting very poor and that in itself is a good reason to go wider. Result is a good choice of modern rubber at competitive prices. 5 1/2" doesn't shout "wide wheels" quite as much as 6" and looks less obvious unless you try and get the max size tyre on it. Although it is a bit smaller diameter, I like the 185/65-15. More rubber and a fraction lower, also helps a little if you have OD with a lower powered engine and 4.1 axle. The 195/65 is still a fraction smaller but a good choice if you want a bit more contact area. 60 series tyres will maybe give sharper handling but at the expense of ride comfort. It all depends how you drive your car and the sort of trips you make.
Clearance problems likely at 205 plus.
Another option is the 185/70-15 available from Vredestein. Size used on 1800ES 5 1/2" wheel. Expensive so 195/65-15 often used.

Specification Sidewall Radius Diameter Circumference Revs/Mile Difference
165/80-15 5.2in 12.7in 25.4in 79.8in 794 0.0%
185/70-15 5.1in 12.6in 25.2in 79.2in 800 -0.8%
185/65-15 4.7in 12.2in 24.5in 76.9in 824 -3.6%
195/65-15 5.0in 12.5in 25.0in 78.5in 807 -1.6%
205/65-15 5.2in 12.7in 25.5in 80.1in 791 0.4%
195/60-15 4.6in 12.1in 24.2in 76.1in 833 -4.7%
205/60-15 4.8in 12.3in 24.7in 77.6in 817 -2.8%
215/60-15 5.1in 12.6in 25.2in 79.0in 802 -0.9%
225/60-15 5.3in 12.8in 25.6in 80.5in 787 0.9%

From http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

[Alf ista]

Here's a 131 for sale on German fleabay. Has the wide wheels so it gives an idea. He painted them a bit odd though....

http://cgi.ebay.ie/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...E:B:SS:IE:1123

[JIM C]

I am going to keep the wheels the stock silver colour. I think I will need to investigate tyre sizes now.
thanks
Jim

[JIM C]

My wheels arrived today which was excellent service. They look well finished but think I might give them a few more coats of paint before getting tyres. Delighted so far.
Jim

[jakobandhismakarov]

In the 185 \ 70 size Derek has suggested, you've not got a hell of a lot of choice and the costs could be eye watering at best.

I had a quick look around for three retailers and the cheapest I could find was the Fulda Y2000 at £69.50 each. This was from camskill.co.uk. I've heard varying reports about them as retailers.

Next, I tried mytyres.co.uk, whom I use for the GSD F1s the Citroen wears. They have the Y2000 as well, for a lot more per tyre. Their cheapest 185 \ 70 boot is the Vredestein Sprint Classic at £77.40. Used these and the Continental SportContact 2 on my standard wheeled 121, and they're excellent.

Finally, for authentic, canonical and eye wateringly expensive motoring, I hopped over to www.longstoneclassictyres.co.uk. They are clearly the Fortnum & Mason of the classic tyre world, and I think I'd need to be an Octane subscriber to contemplate shopping with them.

Their range of NOS remanufactured tyres is impressive though. In our chosen size we have the Pirelli CN36 @ £158.00 each, the Avon CR6ZZ (£160.00), the same Vredestein Classic for a steep £106.00, and the prince of old skool pneumatics, the Michelin XWZ. Are you sitting down for this? They're £255. A tyre, less carriage.
I actually had a set of the latter on my Amazon when I won a set of 4" steels for £32 on eBay. They weren't in the first flush of youth mind - but anything was better than the 37 year old Goodyear C 800 S I took off the front axle!

I did the Bus Stop chicane on those. They squealed like the finest overdubbed 70's car chase you never dreamed off. As well as the Mancunian Way in torrential rain, the Snake Pass, and the entirety of the M5.

Love the wide steels.

[Colonel Froth]

So Jim, apologies if you've already reported on these wheels in another thread but it has been almost a year and I'm dying to find out. Did you don them as delivered or paint them up a little? Have they given miles of wobble-free joy? Have they rusted from the inside out? Has your drive-train exploded with the stress?