Seeking Tire Advice

When it comes to tire specs, including diameter, an excellent source is Tire Rack:
www.tirerack.com

They even had specs for the Michelin TRX tires when I replaced my 308's wheels with superformance ones.

BTW, if you get the OEM style metal bodied tire valves, you may find that they don't quite seal against the Superformance wheels. Fix is to find slightly fatter o-rings than come with the valves.

For lots of opinions on tires, search the archives for 'tires'. Select advanced search & [titles of threads]

Here are several of the better threads:
http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=63326&highlight=tires
http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=49062&page=2&highlight=tires
http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=54829&page=2&highlight=tires


BTW, I'm running Kumo Supra 712s on my '82 308 QV. Really like them, Was recently surprised to find that they still hold the road quite well & don't squeal in 20 degree weather! Did some hard corners & they just hung in there!
Not as well as when they're really warmed up on a hot day, of course, but much better than some all weather high perf. tires I've run on other cars.

Usually high performance tires don't work well at all below about 60 degrees.

 

I'm no expert but I know they're pretty darn close, it's simple math.

First of all tire size is specified by width/aspect ratio percentage

225/50 = 225mm wide / 50% or 112.5mm high

New
112.5mm+406.4mm(16")+112.5mm=631.4mm(24.85") total height

Old
240/55 = 240mm wide / 55% or 132.0mm high
132mm+390mm+132mm=654mm(25.74") total height

so a difference of 7/8 inch total height (I hope this is right)

 

The newer Mondials that came stock with the 16 inch wheels ran 225/50's on the rear and 205/55's on the front. Most came with stock with a Goodyear Eagle tire.

The old Goodyear Eagles are NLA (probably a good thing), however, the modern replacement is the Goodyear Eagle F1. This tire gets consistently higher feedback ratings than any other tire in that dimension on the Tirerack site. I have a set on my 3.2 Mondial and they are great - non-directional, quiet, sticky, progressive break away, etc. Not cheap, but worth the extra $. Good luck!

 

Verell, had those originally on the car here and they even did OK with light snow! The only thing i disliked was the tramlining the 712 did (as compared to the Mich PS2). Agree the 712 are quite impressive in many respects.

 

KUMHO

 

I just learned 205/60-16 and 225/55-16 will be exactly the same outside diameter as the metric TRX.

But can't find any good tires in these sizes.

 

Yes, not completely surprising as those aren't the most common tire sizes.

I'd go with the 55 series on the front - the later Mondials that came stock with the 16 inch tires came with 205/55's. The 60 series tire will likely look a little tall compared to stock and probably not give as responsive steering. Obviously, the 55s on the front won't change your gearing (which is good).

The 225/50 on the rear is a stock dimension for a later mondial and looks pretty good IMHO. Gearing here will, obviously, be affected, however, that dimension seems to work pretty good on my 3.2 Mondial - nice cruising rpm on the freeway.

 

Doug,
Sent you a pm. I bought the same wheels last week & very pleased with them although like you they aren't shod with tyres yet. Did you get the inserts too? Mine resemble a Shire Horse. LOL.

 

I like Kumho ECSTA MX . I used them on my e39 M5 for years with great results ...http://www.kumhousa.com/Products/PtnDetails.asp?CatID=7&mainCatID=1

 

Another strong recomendation for Tire Rack, and even stronger recommendation for Pirelli P Zero Nero. The closest thing to race tires I have ever found in street tires. Excellent grip and better still, they give almost all that grip with no squeal. I just hate a tire that squeals close to the limit. An example would be the Pirelli P6s that I put on the GTI for my wife. Perfect girlie tires: good grip, with LOTS of audible warning of impending breakaway, especially under braking. Ooh I really HATE those tires!

Uh-oh, looks like I'm going to have to find new tires, they aren't making 16" Neros any more!

Yes they are!

http://www.pirelli.com/en_42/tyres/catalog/tyre_product.jhtml?selected=size&productid=3983&catid=WW_UHP

 

Doug,

Are the sets of wheels that you have staggered? Don't you have a pair of 7" wheels and another that are 8"? If all 4 of the wheels are 7", then you got 4 front wheels.

The size that would give you the closest dia to OEM would be:

rear: 245/50-16
front: 225/55-16 (215/55-16 would be very close)

I've got a set of the Avon's in those sizes if you are interested. I'll PM you.

Henry

 

How about Falken Tires?

http://www.falkentire.com/index.htm

dm

 

Doug, the car looks great M8 and I'm trying to get a price on the same Avon tyre in the UK.

Regards, Mike