C7 DFH Posted June 8, 2005 Share Posted June 8, 2005 I have just bought a 2002 1.6k Roadsport. The car came with standard prisoner alloys and Avon tyres (195 x 50 x 15) I am considering changing the tyres but have been told the 15inch alloys are too heavy and good tyres are very expensive, so I am considering changing the alloys for 13inch minilites. 1) If I replace the wheels with 13inch, what is the best size tyre? I was thinking 185 x 60 x 13 2) Will I have to replace the suspension for adjustable dampers for ground clearance? 3) How easy is it to change the cycle wings? Will I need new brakets or just new fibreglass wings? 4) If I decide to replace the existing tyres for say the next 12 months (3000miles) what 195 x 50 x 15 tyres would you recommend. The car is only used no the road in dry weather. I was thinkng of Toyo TR1's!? Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
susser Posted June 8, 2005 Share Posted June 8, 2005 C7 Thanks for that. I've got similar questions (still). I'm watching. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Bees Posted June 8, 2005 Share Posted June 8, 2005 The Prisoner wheels aren't a bad weight as 15" wheels go (much lighter than your high street aftermarket jobs). 185x60/13 will be fine, especially if you choose a reasonably soft tyre (e.g. Yoko A021R or A048R). Ride height? A lot of people run 185x60/13 on stock unadjustable dampers. It depends on your local terrain. Your ride height will be reduced by 0.5" if you make this change. An alternative is to go 185x70/13, this will increase your ride height over the current by about 0.2". Yoko A021R in 185x70/13 are £34+VAT each from George Polley, superb value. I guess you have the 15/16" wrap-around style wings at the moment? If they're bolted on then it's an easy change. If they're bonded on then not so easy. I'm not sure about the range of wingstays. If you're only looking at 3000 mile duration then go for a softer tyre, Yoko A021R is a good all-round choice. Graham Perry had a nearly-new set of these for sale recently at a very good price. Mike Edited by - Mike Bees on 8 Jun 2005 10:29:30 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephen grant Posted June 8, 2005 Share Posted June 8, 2005 15"-16" wingstays will look silly with 13" wheels, so you'll probably want to get the smaller stays. There are two types of 13" stays - normal and the stay fitted to the race cars(and perhaps also the SLRs). If you get 021s in 65 or 70 profile you will want the slightly bigger of the two 13" stays, or the stay will rub on the tyre. Darren @ CC will know all of this for sure. It's easy to take the stay off, but personally I found it impossible to get a torque wrench onto the big nut, so I couldn't do it back up to the stated torque. No big deal I suspect. If you have bonded the wings, it IS possible to get them off in one piece, but it does take some time. A very sharp stanley knife, a couple of metal guitar strings and some acetate (keep it off the upper surface of the wing though) were my weapons of choice. Gently cut away at the bonding material until you've got most of the excess off (be careful you don't go through the wing - it's easy to do) and then get the guitar string between the stay and the wing and use it as a cheese cutter. Coating a bit of acetate on the blade and the string as you go along seems to make it easier to get through the glue. It took me a couple of hours all in stephen Edited by - stephen grant on 8 Jun 2005 10:40:35 Edited by - stephen grant on 8 Jun 2005 10:41:57 Edited by - stephen grant on 8 Jun 2005 10:43:08 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain A Posted June 8, 2005 Share Posted June 8, 2005 C7 DFH 13" rims are slightly better with the difference only really being important on track. Changing to 13" will cost you new wheels, wing stays and wings if you are going to make a tidy job of it. Aulthough unfashionable the Prisoner rims work fine on the road (I still use them on my 220 bhp car) if you have decent tyres. I currently have Toyo Proxis T1-s which are pretty good and cheap at about £35 each. Also consider the Yoko 539 Yoko 021s and 048s are about £50 a corner and you have to get wheels too. Incedentally it is JUST possible to get 15" rims with 195 / 50 tyres under 13" wing stays and cyclewings if you install them carefully.. so if you do get a set of 13" rims and tyres, you can still use the 15" ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dannyboy Posted June 8, 2005 Share Posted June 8, 2005 The list 1A tyre of choice this year appears to be the Stunner Scudo....Initial impression is that it's much grippier than the Yoko A539's and not much worse than my A032r's..and they're cheap...approx £40 a corner for 15" wheels! My car has 13" wingstays and the 195/50/r15 fits under pretty well!! Dannyboy 153bhp and 184lb/ft ??????????????????? My arse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Bees Posted June 8, 2005 Share Posted June 8, 2005 205x50/15 fit under my 13" wingstays no problem... IME the car feels much more alive & agile on 13" wheels. The ride is also better (due to higher profile tyres). So 13" much nicer for road as well as track. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikevernontalktalk.net Posted June 8, 2005 Share Posted June 8, 2005 C7 If you have decided on 13s and want a pristine set of 4 with excellent 185/70 x 13 Avons at £250, drop me an email. With 70 series tyres you should get away with your 15" wings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C7 DFH Posted June 9, 2005 Author Share Posted June 9, 2005 Thanks for all the advice and so quickly too! If I stayed with 15inch alloyus for the time being, what tyres would you recommend? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Bees Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 If you're only looking at 3000 miles road use duration and then Yoko A021R is a good all-round choice. Graham Perry had a nearly-new set of these for sale recently at a very good price. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C7 DFH Posted June 9, 2005 Author Share Posted June 9, 2005 They don't do the yoko 21R in 15 inch tyre Any others? My dilemma is that I could buy 5 new 13inch wheels with yoko 21R's for circa £500, or spend £100 a corner on new 048r's for my 15inch wheels, which after all, I am told are not are not as good as 13inch wheels. So £500 gets either 5 new wheels and good tyres or 5 new tyres!! Also if I change to 13 inch wheels, I then only pay £200 a year for tyres rather than stay with 15 inch wheels and pay £400 per year!!? Staying with 15 inch wheels isn't making much sense unless there is a good tyre at circa £50 a corner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil.cavanagh Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 you don't need to pay £400 for a set of 15" tyres. I run 16" 5 spoke wheels with 205/45 R16 Toyo T1-S. The tyres are £65 each, and last for a good 15K miles. PLUS they are very grippy and progressive. I run some 13" wheels with 032s or 048s for track days normally and to be frank other than a very slight difference in out right grip the T1-S are just as good. There si a lot of machoism around about 'I wore my tyres out in 500 miles, I'm a driving god' which makes some only consider the super-soft rubber. For normal, non competive use (where hundreths matter) good 'normal' tyres like the T1-S are great. The fact that they last 3x as long more than outways the slights (£10-20 a corner) price hike over 13" 048s for example... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinS Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 C7, Hi, I've just replaced the front Michelin Pileups on my prisoner wheels for Avon ZV3's, not a bad tyre from initial experiences, much more grippy than the pileups and the balance of the car is now much more neutral rather than very oversteery before (pileups still on the rears). My other choise was the Toyo's, buy I ended up going for the Avon's as my local fitter had them in stock and did me a deal :) M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 much more grippy than the pileups and the balance of the car is now much more neutral rather than very oversteery before (pileups still on the rears). Increasing grip at the front usually promotes oversteer rather than reducing it... Project Scope-Creep is live... Alcester Racing 7's Equipe - 🙆🏻™ Alcester-Racing-Sevens.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Locust Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 Toyo Proxes t1-s in 195x50x15" fitted to Prisoners is what I'm running as a list 1a sprint tyre at the moment and they seem pretty good at 19psi all round. I would expect they are about £50 a corner (mine came fitted with wheels so I'm not exactly sure!). Ian Green and Silver Roadsport 😬 Edited by - Mr Locust on 10 Jun 2005 14:52:57 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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