Tyres Again!

I have heard a few rumblings about Yokohama doing a sticky 165/80 x 13 tyre.I have scanned the archives on here and cant find a reference and have given up searching various suppliers sites on line. Does any body know if this Yoko exists and what type it is? Else I’ll be going for 185/70 A021R’s and taking a mallet to the spring pans!

I cant help feeling that the 185’s are too grippy and wonder what they’ll be like in the wet?

Regards

Mark

Look at this site

intech-competition.com/perso-27917.htm

No 165/80-13 tires there. For that, Michelin XAS FF seems to be the solution.

longstonetyres.co.uk/radial.php

The availability of high performance tires for 13 inch wheels is a problem. If you are willing to put up with dodgy wet handling and reduced tire life, you could look for DOT tires with a tread wear rating of 60 (not 40), but 80 series tires are close to non-existant. For DOT tires, probably you are looking at 185/60-13 which are smaller in diameter than the standard 80 series tires.

Good luck

David
1968 36/7988

Thanks David, I refuse to run Michellins, a personal issue!! I detest the thought of Jap tyres as well but I rekon it’ll be Yoko’s!, the lesser of two evils :smiley: , just need to findf a cheap supplier

Mark

Mark,

If you would rather not have Yokohama tires, you could try an English brand.

Avon cr6xx (along with Vredestein) at

longstonetyres.co.uk/radial.php

or Dunlops at

dunloptyres.cz/en03.html

(Why are there not more vendors of English tires in the UK?)

There are some specialist producers of bias ply tires also, for the ultimate in vintage look and feel.

Unfortunately, except for the Yokohamas, tire prices tend to make you think twice or more. However, I believe in gulping twice and paying the price for the performance. 10,000 miles later, you will have forgotten the hurt on your pocket book, but still getting the benefits of the higher performance.

Don’t forget that if you go for a modern sticky tire, that there will be more problems with oil pressure loss in corners. Depending on your driving style, you may have to go to a baffled sump, swinging oil pickup, or even dry sump.

David
1968 36/7988

The Dunlop brand is now owned by various companies in various regions of the world and many of the modern high performance Dunlop tyres are actually made by Sumitomo Rubber who own the brand in Japan and much of Asia.

Most of the historic racing Dunlop tyres are made in England by whoever owns the brand their, not sure who it is but there factories are old and tired and the volumes made small which is why they cost so much.

In Australia the Dunlop brand is owned by Goodyear and Dunlop tyres made by the Goodyear tyre factory. The various Dunop brand owners swap tyres around the world as they need to offer the full range.

cheers
Rohan

The new Yokoham’s are called A drive and they do most sizes but not 165/80 x 13 they are ?25+vat and are very sticky.

Maybe 175/70/R13s in them ?

Chris Hewett has some you could ask him what he thinks to them ?

demon-tweeks.co.uk/products/ … 557013AA01

Matt

Thanks Matt,

on doing some research of other tyre manufacturers sites, 175/70 and 185/70 have the same rolling radius, so 175’s could be the answer.

Mark

I guess you’re talking about the Plus 2. Doesn’t have to be expensive, take a look at Toyo tyres, for instance for my plus 0, I can get Toyo type 350 or 330 tyres 165/70s at 38 Euros (25GBP) here in Germany. They even do a H rated 600-F8 series if you need this rating. (Haven’t tried 'em, still running Michelins).
toyo.de/do/de/PKWSommer.asp?typ=350
toyo.de/do/de/PKWSommer.asp?typ=330
toyo.de/do/de/PKWSommer.asp?typ=600-F8
Gordon

Gordon,

Be careful with the tire sizes selected.

165/70-13 is 942 rev/mile. The standard 155-13 is 912 rev/mile, a noticable difference.

If you have a +2, the standard tire is 165-13 which is 887 rev/mile. 185/70-13 at 893 rev/mile is the closest to that.

To illustrate, at 6500 rpm and with a 3.77 differential ratio, 165/70-13 gives 110 mph, 155-13 gives 114, 165-13 gives 117, and 185/70-13 gives 116. (If you remember, a couple of different road testers got 7000+ rpm with a 3.55 diff and 155-13 tires - close to 130 mph. And this was 40 years ago.)

Or to put it in different terms, at 60 mph, you go from 3344 rpm with 165-13 to 3551 rpm with 165/70-13.

Some people care, some don’t. I use a spreadsheet that shows all these figures. Ask me for a copy (david_harralson at hotmail.com) so you can do your own research.

David
1968 36/7988

Mark,
I have done about 500 miles on my yokohama A drives and am very impressed. The handling is vastly improved and I get no tyre squeel. I have 175/70s and they rubbed the spring perches until I altered them with a club hammer. The speedo reads high now.
Chris

165/70-13 is 942 rev/mile. The standard 155-13 is 912 rev/mile, a noticable difference

David,
I’m not sure if I remember a difference when going from the 155/80s to the 165/70s, might have been slightly better acceleration (except for the vastly improved cornering of course). It’s not very much anyway. Didn’t lose any top speed because I have the 5 speed box.
Gordon

Hi all,

I just bought a set of Toyo RA1 205/60/13 for my s130.

Will they fit ??? OOOOOOOOOOOps !!!

205’s are too wide for 5 1/2" standard rims, 175 and 185s foul the lower rear spring platform, this needs adjusting (twatting with a lump hammer seems to be the general concensus) to prevent them rubbing. 205’s are huge! I think you will have some real issues using them, I think you need to find a Capri 2.8I owner that needs some new boots!
Good luck

Mark

I have more or less concluded that I have the 6" Magnesium minilites.

I got the car wearing 225/45 and they were not rubbing…

Comments ?

Bizzare!!! post some pics, never seen 225/45 13s, the holy grail in the capri world were 235/50 x 13 for the rear of x pack cars.

Mark

I don’t know what brand of tire dsly1 is running, but tirerack.com has them in Hoosier A6 and R6. UTQG of 40, though!

David
1968 36/7988

They are the older model Hoosier Street TD. The Street TD and Track TD was replaced by the R6 and A6

Lemme know if you still wanna see pics of the rim or tire

My question still stands… opinions on if a 205/60-13 would be too large for my application. I am running the Lotus TC with about 150-165 HP

me

Will 205/60-13 fit?

The general answer is that the section width is too wide to fit under the wheel arches of either the earlier S1-S3 or the S4-Sprint bodies, even if you have relieved the inside of the wheel arches and flattened the spring collars.

However:

If you have small diameter rear springs and wheels that move the tires in toward the center of the body, they might fit. I know 185s are a struggle, even on a S4. The other thing to consider is the front wheel lock. You just can’t crank the steering wheel as much as the tires interfer with the arb.

On a quantitive basis:

155-13 is 912 rev/mile, 22.8 in diameter.
165-13 is 887 rev/mile, 23.4".
175/70-13 is 917, 22.6".
185/70-13 is 893, 23.2".
185/60-13 is 956, 21.7".
205/60-13 is 916, 22.7"
225/45-13 is 990, 21.0".
185/60-14 (Spyder) is 915, 22.7".
185/55-15 is 904, 23.0".

In speed terms, if you have 6500 rpm and 3.77 this gives

155-13 113
165-13 117
175/70-13 113
185/70-13 116
185/60-13 108
205/60-13 113
225/45-13 104
185/60-14 113
185/55-15 114

If you are relatively sensitive, you can tell the difference between tires that differ by 2mph or even less. A good percentage of the population is not that sensitive, and will happily motor about with even a 10 mph difference.

So your 205/60-13 is practically the same diameter as the standard 155-13, although almost 2 inches wider. However, the wider profile will be more sensitive to camber changes while cornering and braking. So you will have to adjust initial camber settings (if you can) and use different roll bar thicknesses. There is a substantial amount of opinion on this site that the Elan does not handle as well with these wider tires, and you get the best handling with the old 80 series tires. You can be sceptical about this, or accept their arguments as you see fit.

However, the Elan with original tires was a .7g cornering machine. If you go with sticky modern tires, whether Michelin XAS FF 80 series, or a more modern 60 series tire, you can be getting 1g, more or less. This has implications through the car. Bearings, bushings, dampers, roll bars (and rear roll bars) are all impacted, as is the engine sump. The rear suspension suffers the most, since a strut suspension does not have as favorable geometry as a wishbone suspension. To alleviate this, you can go with the Spyder chassis, their wishbone rear suspension, adjustable upper front and lower rear wishbones, and test equipment to properly set up your car. It is not simple, that is why so many of us stay with relatively standard tires.

You ask a simple question, do you get a simple answer?

David
1968 36/7988

Tell me if these wheel arches look standard or altered. They are wearing 225-50-13

What threadwear are the Michelins you are recommending ?

What tire do you recommend that is available in the US ?

I see what you are saying and it is not going to be my race car, so a nice tidy setup tobe able to daily drive it if I wish would be desireable.

Thanks
Shane



Based on what is available at tire race for my 6" wide minilites.

My choces are:

185/60-13
Sumitomo HTR 200
(High Performance Summer)
or
Hoosier R6
(Competition)

175/70-13
Yokohama AVID T4
(Performance All-Season)
OR
Sumitomo HTR 200
(High Performance Summer)
OR
Yokohama AVID Touring
(Standard Touring All-Season)

185/70-13
Yokohama AVID T4
(Performance All-Season)
OR
Yokohama AVID Touring
(Standard Touring All-Season)

Any suggestions ? CAR will be driven occationally/weekly and hopefully spirited. NOT TRACK