Newbie

[YETi]

Hi, I'm new to this forum. I'm British and live in Wiltshire, England. I have a '72 stock TC that I've owned for 2 years now. I always always loved the Europa shape and finaly was in a position to buy one; some say it was a mid-life crisis, but hay, I now own one and have not been disappointed.

Question; the car needs new tyres all round (pn), it has the standard 185/70s on the rear and 175/70s on the front; the TC manual sec G has the line that under no circumstance should a rear wheel be fitted to the front. Does any one know why? I would like to fit 185s all round as they are easier to get hold of.

Thanks.

[LotusJoe]

I have 185/55s with no issues.

[EuropaTC]

Hi there, and welcome to the forum from one of the other few Brits on here 

As a winter project (now stalled due to "New Kitchen Installation" duties      ) I have some MGF 15" wheels with 195 & 205 tyres which I test fitted earlier the year. I was expecting some problems at the front as another UK owner with an S2 had mentioned some slight scuffing on full lock, but nope, there was plenty of room in the front wheel arches.  I thought the S2 & TC body moldings would be the same in the wheel arches, but clearly not.

Anyway, I'd expect a 185 to be ok, the handbook warning is probably more about the possibility of someone swopping front & rear wheels around and messing up the handling ?  Of course the easiest way to be sure is just jack up one side and try it.

Brian (Lincolnshire and freezing cold !)

[YETi]

Thanks Guys; continuing the thread, what's the realistic max tyre width one can sensibly use on a standard suspension set-up?

Wiltshire also freezing, esp in the shed re-furbishing an A-series.

[Mecky]

We use 215/50/13 at front and 235/45/13 as rear tyres.
The wide rimes at front (8Jx13) are limiting the steerings maximum angle of turn, but for this is not relevant for racing.
With the standard suspension set-up are these wide tyres no problem, but we use small (2 cm) flares at front and around 5 cm flares at rear.

[exarkun1178]

185 60 13 fit fine all around - with the right size wheels - 5.5 19+ offset and 3,9 back space up front(and in the back)


you can go   up to 205 60 13 in back with 6. 23+ offset and a 4.5  inch back space

just when through this

[cal44]

I bought 175/70 Michelin.  I figured that with todays tech, the tire can handle anything a 1500 lb  car can throw at it.
I have Vredestein on  the other cars.  Very good tire.  Had em' on the 356 as well.

mike

[YellowS4DHC]

Just another data point:

I also have a 72 TC, and the 185/70s that I bought rubbed at full lock on one side with the original Lotus aluminum wheels.

Since the rolling diameter of the 185/70 is larger than, say, a 185/65 or lower, if you go to a 185 be careful if you want 70 series tires. You might want to shoot for a 185/65 to avoid a headache.  I ended up just using the stock size of 175/70 in front and 185/70 in back.
 
Regards
Rick

[JLM]

Rick:

I see you are CA as I am. Where did you source your tires? The sizes you have (185/70 & 175/70) are getting hard to find.

Thanks

[YellowS4DHC]

Larry,
I bought my tires, Kumhos, from the Tire Rack.  They aren't anything special, but they hold air and that's all I wanted for right now.  Eventually, I'll get something better once I decide what I want to do with the car.  If I just do casual touring, I may not need anything better.  Even a cheapie Kumho is better than most tires from that period (early 70's). 

Try this URL:  http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearchResults.jsp?skipOver=true&width=175%2F&ratio=70&diameter=13

Regards
Rick

[Bainford]

Hello Yeti and welcome to the forum. A common size upgrade for those still running 13" tires is 185/60 front and 205/60 rear, though I don't know wheel offset details. This is the size I intend to run when I change 'em. The scarcity of 13" tires has driven many to go to a 15" wheel, though I intend to hold on to 13" as long as I can. You may find that 13" tires are getting hard to find these days, especially performance tires in specific sizes, though perhaps 13" is easier to find in the UK. The choices for size and brand are few and far between on these shores and getting fewer every day. Good luck, and let us know how you make out. Cheers.

[buzzer]

That's a good shout on tyre sizes. And you can get toyo r888's in those sizes

[3929R]

As of last spring when I got my tires, Federal made 13" performance street tires that fit on a TCS.
Federal 595 tires in size 205/60/13s are used on Legend racecars and stocked by their dealer network.  Locally (Utah, USA) I think I paid about $85 a tire.
Federal 595 in size 185/60/13s can be ordered from tire dealers that stock Federal tires.  Locally I got them from Les Schwab for $65.  It took about a month to ship from Taiwan to the port in Portland, Oregon (a shipping container goes every weeks), then truck to Salt Lake City.  Shipping was free because they were included with a regular/larger order to the dealer.

[JLM]

Thanks for the update on 13" tires. I found an on-line dealer in Northern CA who advertises Federal tires in 13" sizes. Here is link to the site for 185/60 & 205/60 tires

 http://ssl.delti.com/cgi-bin/rshop.pl?dsco=135&cart_id=40792811.135.21644&sowigan=&Breite=185&Quer=60&Felge=13&second_size=1&Breite2=205&Quer2=60&Felge2=13&Speed=H&kategorie=6&LoadRange=&Marke=&ranzahl=2&rsmFahrzeugart=&suchen=View+tires

The model is Federal Formoza FD1. I think these are different than the Federal 595 tires you mentioned. These look to be a reasonable alternative and are priced pretty good (185/60 is $54, 205/60 is $71). I haven't seen any reviews on these tires so would be interested in your experience.

If you can't see it, try their web site at www.tire-easy.com. They have a search by size feature which allows different sizes front & rear.

[Bainford]

As of last spring when I got my tires, Federal made 13" performance street tires that fit on a TCS.
Federal 595 tires in size 205/60/13s are used on Legend racecars and stocked by their dealer network.  Locally (Utah, USA) I think I paid about $85 a tire.
Federal 595 in size 185/60/13s can be ordered from tire dealers that stock Federal tires.  Locally I got them from Les Schwab for $65.  It took about a month to ship from Taiwan to the port in Portland, Oregon (a shipping container goes every weeks), then truck to Salt Lake City.  Shipping was free because they were included with a regular/larger order to the dealer.

Thanks for the info on Federal tires. Last year I bought a pair of Federal 185/60 13. I bought them because they were cheap and available, but wasn't familiar with the brand, so didn't install them fearing they were junk (besides, I haven't upgraded to 60 series yet, still running 70s, 175 F & 185 R). It's good to know that not only are 205/60 13 available as well, but they are actually used as racing tires. That's reassuring.

Question for anyone running a 205/60 13 tire; can these be fitted to a 5.5" wide wheel, or must one go to a 6" wide wheel?