185 or 205?

[Dartmoor7]

Leaving aside the question of what size spare to carry, has anyone any opinions on using 185/60x13 on the front and 205/60x13 on the rear (6" wheel width)?

 

Jerry Parker

L7SVN

1.4 Supersport

[stevefoster]

Done it. On 021's and VX HPC but I had 7" wheels on the rear 6" on the front. Nice balance and good grip in the dry. Better handling of a big motors torque it must be said.

All the big power boys run narrower tyres on the front than rear it seems to me.

185's on the rear offer more grip in the wet than 205's. Weight / water dispersal I guess.

 

I ran one 185 and one 205 for a while after a 205 blow out and

that wasn't as bad as you would think...

 

Edited by - stevefoster on 11 Apr 2002 14:27:45

[Blatman]

If your 1.4 is standard, power wise, I don't think there will be any benefit to be had from running 205's. IMO, to really feel any benefit, you need to have >160/170bhp, and be on a track/sprint/hill, before 205's come in to their own.

[Pierre Gillet]

Why not 185 60 14 at the front? They are about the same diameter than 205 60 13, and you keep the same chassis height that with 14" wheels.

I am envisaging doing so to better fill the rear wheel arches with 205 tyres while retaining the 14" wheels at the front to avoid the replacement of shocks/springs by adjustable ones, and avoid buying new wheels for the front in a first step.

 

Pierre

[I.Mupferit]

I went down this route when I changed to Yoko AO32s, partly because the 205s have a larger circumference, thus raising the gearing slightly, partly because they filled the rear wheel arch better but mainly because, IMO, the handling balance is better.

I do, however, have 192 Bhp available and I really think the additional rubber on the road is useful in this case.

[murph7355]

I'm with Blatman (i'd be inclined to say 170-180bhp, but it's finger in the air time - my 200bhp car is still reasonably OK on 185s at the rear!). With a standard 1400 there's no point. And you could knacker the balance of it all. Stick with 185s all round.

 

Pierre - are you talking about putting 14"s on the front and 13"s on the back? I wouldn't do this. I would have thought reducing unsprung mass on the front wheels is most important for starters. And it could well look very bizarre!

 

Why not go with 70 profile tyres all round? They're much cheaper than 60 profile from Polley and will maintain the ride height you want. Then when you go to adjustables, use a lower profile if you feel like trying it.

 

That said, you don't lose *that* much ride height anyway and soon get used to it.

 

Plus, the true upgraditis route is to kid yourself you will do things in stages and then go and do it all at once anyway. It's what banks are for.

 

PS I have 6" rims on the front and 7" on the back. I have a spare set of 6" rims all round onto which I'll be putting slicks on soon (as wide as I can on the back).

[CHRIS GALE]

Is it possible to put 205s on 6" rims, like Pierre i'm looking to fill the rear arches without forking out on more wheels. Also

Is it possible to put spacers on the rear hubs to do the same job.

 

C7 CJG

[Blatman]

I run my 205's on 6" rims.

[cdg]

I used to run 185 front 205 rear both on 6"x13" rims. On a tight bumpy hillclimb or sprint course I found the extra compliance at the rear gave better grip than a 185 and didn't rattle one's fillings loose, and you didn't tend to notice the rear squirming around too much. Off the line the 205 was far superior, particularly after I'd smoked them in the tyre warming area.

However, back in the paddock you could see how far the sidewall had deformed by the tell-tale black tyre marks on the trailing links!

For billiard table smooth fast circuit use I suppose a 7" rim would be preferable.

[murph7355]

I wouldn't use spacers.

[Pierre Gillet]

The new ali 3-piece Superlite cost 155 £+vat (black spokes free of charge) minus 10% discount for LF subscribers, in 7X13.

Trying to figure out the weight bonus though.I believe they should be slightly heavier than the Barnaby wheels, but would retain the classic look (Seven is a 40th Anniversary). My concern is air "tightness". I am concerned since I do not carry a spare wheel.

[Graham Perry]

I specifically bought 6.5 inch rims because of this dilemma. A 185x13 will fit on a 6.5, although some makes, in particlar the bridgestone RE720's look stretched on them. Avons and Yokos look fine though. If only there was more choice in the 205 market (1a) , or even a 215.