Another Tyre Question

[Warren S Smith]

I am in the process of buying 4 (2x6" front) (2*7" rear) 13" Minilite wheels as advertised recently on the forum. The car will be used on the road only. What tyres and sizes should I be looking at?

 

Thanks for all responses.

[EFA]

Radials - A032R's 185.s on the fronts and 215's on the rear.

 

Crossplys - ACB10 6/21/13 front and 7/22/13 rear (or 6/22/13 rears if you have a taller diff than a 3.92:1

 

 

 

 

Arnie Webb

So fat the chassis snapped....wink.gif

 

See Fat Arnies 2 piece Seven here

See the Le Mans Trip Website here

See the Lotus Seven Club North Kent Website here

[Alex Wong1697456877]

Alternatively, you can put a set of Avon CR500's on them which I have on a similar set of wheels. They aren't the best dry track tyre but are good all rounders and more durable than ACB10's or even 032R's.

 

They are pricey though and you need to watch the front ride height.

 

Alex

[Warren S Smith]

Thanks guys. I had a word with George Polley this morning to check prices on the Yokos. I was told that the 215's come only in hard compound whilst they sell a 205 in soft. Should I go for 185(f) with soft and 215® with hard compound or 205® in soft?

 

Can I mount the 13" wheels (at the moment I am running on 16" HPC) without any changes to suspension or other areas?

 

Thanks,

[kenny.]

Warren,

I too run HPC wheels on road, and 13" on track.....the main problem I find is cosmetic,on 13" rims the cycle wing stays, and the longer cycle wings on HPC make the appearance a bit naff at the front......I've toyed with idea of having 2 sets of stays and wings, but think it would be a pain changing them all the time.

I have adjustable platforms and had the car lowered and flat floored with the 13" rims on......same settings are OK when I put 16" back on.

I only revert to 16" wheels for road because I think car looks miles better with them.....but handling feels crap in comparison, and I shudder to think how it would feel on track.

 

Kenny HPC

 

 

[Warren S Smith]

Thanks Kenny,

At the moment, I'm running 205 x 45 on 16" so my calculations tell me, for example, that with 13" 185 X 60 on the front, the car will be lower by 1.93cm. Do you agree? If this is the case, would I be able to get away without problems of grounding on the road if I leave (at least to start with), the existing non adjustable springs which I will (when future funds are available) either swap for adjustable else replace with firmer springs?

Thanks,

[kenny.]

Warren,

You are right, although the difference between 16" and 13" sounds vast, I think I found only 3/4" difference in ride height(obviously because of the vastly different tyre profiles). You could run on normal ride height with no probs..........I only lowered mine to fit in with Caterhams suggested figures for track work.

 

Kenny HPC

 

 

 

Edited by - kenny on 21 Jul 2001 12:09:05

[David Ward]

Warren

There are many routes to tyre happiness on a 7 (as I have discovered over the last few months)....

 

Like you I have fitted 6x13 front and 7x13 rears - tyre choice was Yoko 032R in soft 185/60 and 205/60. 215? Does this mean they are available in 50's? This setup replaced 185/60 Yoko 021R's allround and so far the rear end is a bit less twitchy but when it lets go it does so rather quickly! It does fill the rear arches rather better though....

 

R500 wheels & ACB10's next I think...

Cheers

[Alex Wong1697456877]

Warren,

 

Don't forget that you may need a change in camber setup if you go from radials (most road tyres and yoko tyres) to crossplys (ACB10's) if you're going to get the most out of them.

 

Alex

[murph7355]

185/60 fronts and 205/60 rears work very well, though you may get decent results with 185s all round if you don't have too much power (mine's c.200bhp and has the wider rears, the car worked well on all the same width at 130bhp).

 

I've found 21Rs to be superb as all round road tyres (which I think is what you're after). Am taking them on track next week (2nd set just fitted today).

 

No doubt 32Rs will be a fair bit better in the dry but opinions vary on them in the wet. Standing water seems to be the big problem (with ACB10s too) and you get a lot of that around where I drive. The 21Rs cope with it admirably.

 

They also last longer than both the above.

 

Whilst there are a few stalwarts who insist they're good general tyres, the ACB10 option is too extreme for me and involves too much faffing with camber etc if you're going to do it right. Which then leaves you with only one option without changing camber back etc.

 

CR500s are a bit pricey (getting on for twice the price of either Yoko) and I cannot see them being that much better (whilst I'm open minded about it, I can't see me shelling out over 400 quid on a set of tyres to find out).

 

What tyres have you been running? I'd be inclined to give 21Rs a go and then see what your new benchmark is. They're likely to be infintiely better than anything you'll have had on 16" rims.

 

Yoko are bringing a new tyre out soon-ish (48R) which may well surpass anything in the current range. Maybe try those when the 21Rs expire.