can anyone advise on tyre size

[yellow 145]

Hi everyone,does anyone out there have any knowlege on tyres on my early 73 145.
its on standard steel rims but the tyres are getting old,its very hard to get 165/r15/80 or 175/r15/80 renforeced with out paying a fortune all the tyre stockists say thre very hard to get even harder for good quality.
my main question is asuming the rims are 5.5j has anybody used different or more modern types eg 185/65 sr15 as these seem to be the equivelent.
i have seen many a volvo on glt aloys will this affect the handling,make the steering heaver.
my car is used daily and in summer tows a caravan 5 up and all luggage i would like to keep it on steels but dont whant to risk budget/part worn or poor quality tyres any help in this matter would be great.

thanks

[Snowman]

185/65 x 15 is the closest equivalent at a sensible price and will fit fine on the steel wheeel you have. You can buy the original size still from Vredestein but you'll pay for it! The handling could be marginally better and you'll hardly notice any low speed steering difference. Anyway, 165 x 15 in those wheel arches looks like a bike tyre IMHO!

I use GLT wheels sometimes and they are slightly wider but no problems unless you go daft on tyre width (over 195).

[yellow 145]

Thanks for that info i will try a set of 185/65 r15 as you can buy top quality rubber for reasonable cost.
thanks

[john h]

Originally Posted by yellow 145

Thanks for that info i will try a set of 185/65 r15 as you can buy top quality rubber for reasonable cost.
thanks

It's a reasonable compromise.

Don't forget to advise your insurance company becuase, obviously, they're non-standard for the car.

John

[yellow 145]

yes i will phone my insurance company to find out, but i will be very surprised if infact it will make any difference as i will not be changing the roling diameter if the wheel unit or changing from standard steel to alloys.
the people who need to contact insurance companys are those people who change to alloys,up grade engine size or bhp,ad od boxes,change from left to right hand drive,twin carbs etc and end up costing us all a fortune when the renewal notice comes.

cheers yellow 145

[john h]

Originally Posted by yellow 145

the people who need to contact insurance companys are those people who change to alloys,up grade engine size or bhp,ad od boxes,change from left to right hand drive,twin carbs etc and end up costing us all a fortune when the renewal notice comes.

cheers yellow 145

I don't think I understand your point. The owner of the modified car will pay more of course, but I don't see how it would "cost us all a fortune". One person modifying a car should make no difference to other people's insurance renewal quotes, or am I missing something?

John

[222s]

Originally Posted by yellow 145

yes i will phone my insurance company to find out, but i will be very surprised if infact it will make any difference as i will not be changing the roling diameter if the wheel unit

If it was originally specced with 165R15 / 165/80R15 tyres, then changing to 185/65R15 will certainly alter the rolling radius!

Btw, there are several choices available for tyres in 165R15, & the cheapest of the 'known brand' ones are the Firestone F560 & Toyo 330, for about £45 / £50 each

[Snowman]

To get an identical rolling radius in a 65 series, you'd need a 205 section tyre, a 185/65 has a rr of 25mm less than the original. The speedo and trip will always be reading a bit low but by a small 5%ish margin.

(Guess who looked up one of those comparison sites!!??)

[Geomowat]

Originally Posted by 222s

If it was originally specced with 165R15 / 165/80R15 tyres, then changing to 185/65R15 will certainly alter the rolling radius!

It most certainly will and having been using 185/65 for years I can say that it is noticeable on the speedometer. The approximate formula that people used to use was for each 5% one reduced in the profile, then one had to go up 10mm in the width — i.e. 80%-65% = 3*5%, so 165mm + (3*10mm) = 195mm.

I was surprised by Snowman's suggestion that one would have to go up to 205mm, but perhaps this is more accurate than my rough estimate.

As there are quite a few good offers on 195/65%/15, I wondered if anyone knew whether or not these would fit my 164 without any problems. There does not seem to be too much clearance with the 185/65, but nothing fouls the body or suspension with that size.

With the much higher cost of fuel in the Highlands and Islands (up to 15p a litre more than Edinburgh!), reducing the gearing by 5% or so is not an attractive proposition.

By the way, thinking of cost, Tyre-shopper has 165/80TR15 Continentals fully fitted for £55 each, with 185/65TR15 Avons for the same price or the H version for £5 more.

George

[Snowman]

George, I just took the info from one of the web based alloy wheel/tyre converter pages, can't be sure they'll be right but I guess that's what they do for a living!

As my 144 and your 164 are I think pretty much the same at the back end, I can tell you that I picked up a set of 6" wide Virgo alloys with 195/65 x 15 on them. The car is lowered buy an inch and they fitted but only just, I would think that at normal height they would have been clear enough. My 185wide rally tires with protruding sidewalls will sometimes scuff the rubber cover on the rear damper as well. With a standard 5.5" steel wheel it might be a shade different. Fronts were fine.

Hope that helps.