Tyres

[Richard Houlgate]

I’m currently running Nankang tyres 185/60R13 front and 205/60R13 rear.

 

They are fine in the dry, but of course in the wet rather scary. I’m thinking of trying to obtain  some second hand wets & wheels, but I’m wondering if I need to stick to the exact size of the Nankangs, or if small differences won’t matter. 

 

What does everyone think please?

 

 

[S2T]

A small difference wouldn't matter too much in my view, for example i was using 185/55/13 and 215/55/13 dry and 185/60/13 and 205/60/13 wet and seemed to go alright in the wet...for ease of calculation respective diameters are front 530 vs 551 and rear 559 vs 577

[Richard Houlgate]

Thanks, I now have to find some!

[Howard]

I run 185/60R13 on the front and 235/45R13 rear AR-1s normally and, like you, find them rubbish in the wet.  Back end of the season I invested in some Uniroyal Rainsports in 195/50R15 fitted to a set of 7" rims I had lying around. Been very impressed with them, even in the dry.   I thought that in the dry, with little provocation, the back end would break traction more easily but, if anything, from cold they are better than the AR-1s which, as we know, need plenty of heat to be any good.

 

Of course, I'm going to have to kill you now 😁

[Alex Gaskin]

To further what Dad said, on the Uniroyal tyres, whilst its easier for the rear to step out, it’s much more predictable and controllable than with the Nankangs which aren’t so predictable and kick a bit.

 

Whilst we haven’t had the chance to run them on Dad’s car in the wet, we put them on Adrian’s ( @ACW ) car at Anglesey on the Saturday, and I was seriously impressed by them. The added driver aids probably played a big part as well, but the tyres allowed for much better feel and you could actually turn into corners with some confidence!

[Richard Houlgate]

It won't make much difference Howard as I really don't like driving in the wet - beaten before I start!

 

Were they really 15 inch tyres? Didn't that cause problems with the suspension geometry?

 

 

[Howard]

Yes, 15 inch. They date back to when we were on 1A tyres.  I wasn't overly concerned about the reduction in width on the rear as I'd be pussyfooting around in the wet anyway. Besides, Dave Cleaver had used these sizes very effectively.  No problem with geometry. In fact, at Harewood I kept the Uniroyals on all day even after it had dried out although it was cold. I thought the car handled as well if not better than it ever has and had better 64ft times than the others in the class who were all on Avons and Nangkangs.

 

The Uniroyals are dirt cheap but limited in width availability.

[stephenh]

It wouldn't necessarily alter the geometry of the suspension, if you accept an increase in ground clearance.

[Richard Houlgate]

All I need now are some wheels...

 

Presumably Ford wheels would fit.

[Richard Houlgate]

Howard, have sent you a message.