14" Tires?

Have you considered going with reproduction 16 inches (www.superformance.co.uk)?? Not very expensive, you can get the best performance tires in that size for a song, they transform the handling of the car and they look sooooooo much better than 14 inch....

 

Unfortunately, there are almost no more high performance tires even in the 16 inch sizes, especially the popular 245/50-16.

 

I'm running 205/55 front and 225/50 back. No problems whatsoever to get performance tires in this size and they are certainly wide enough! Running Bridgestone Potenza's. Love them.

Hans

 

60s will be too wide vs the stock size, I had Goodyear check...

They flew me some in from Fulda in Germany, they own them, V rated in the proper 14" 205/70 size.........we talk about this all the time.

Your options are to do something like that, go Japanese or deal with Coker at $500 a tire for Michelins..

Goodyear was going to work out sending me a container of XXX tires to Houston, but I have not worked that out yet.....

 

PM your email Rico I have a .jpg of the Fulda Assuros but I cannot post a .jpg on here......it's a nice gatorback modern tread, I have not yet mounted them to drive but they look great, at least stacked in Mom's garage...

 

Hello Rico,
I can strongly recommend the Fulda Assuro tyre set up on your 14" wheels, loads of grip and long lasting tread and to me better looking than the xwx.However, I have now fitted 16" wheels and the car has been transformed,definetely giving it an updated look.
Regards, Tom

 

Thanks for the feedback, Thomas and welcome, you used them then, on your 14"s??

They look great to my eye and I am moving forward to get them on all three cars..

I use the Goodyear F1 GSD3s on my 16" aftermarket rims.....

 

Me too. But I like the way the XWXs fill out the wheel wells.

 

These Assuros have a very similar body shape to the Michelins, being identical size, only the tread is more modern design......I'll work harder on getting them mounted!

 

The BF Goodrich Radial TA is not a high performance tire. It is either S or T speed rated, which is only slighly over 100 mph. If your answer to that is "so what, I barely ever go even that fast," my reply is that the tire will feel less stable at normal freeway speeds, too. A tire designed to withstand centrifugal force of V-rated 149mph (like the Fulda Assuro) will distort much less at 70mph than a tire that can only do 112mph.

Aside from that, the BFG tire is intended for muscle cars. It is heavy itself, designed for heavier cars, and has lots and lots of thick tread so you can impress your friends many times over doing burnouts. That tire is not designed for handling, and it is not designed for a car like any Ferrari. It's not a bad tire; but by putting a muscle car tire on a sports car, you are robbing the car of performance, and robbing yourself of part of the driving experience.

I'd go with the Fulda Assuros. The Lotus Esprit S1/S2 crowd loves 'em, too, and they're a lot pickier.


- Tony

 

I guess you already know that the 205/70-14 size is readily available. I recall that the stock wheel is 6.5", so I'd would recommend not going over 225 in tire width although your 235/60 would fit but would look pinched and wouldn't perform optimally.

Here are some other available sizes which have smaller outer diameters which would lower your overall gearing and make your speedometer and odometer read a bit more optimistically.

215/60-14

If you are willing to run a "R" compound tire - Toyo Proxes RA-1 (I run them on some of my street cars and track/race cars) which are a superb tire, they are available in a 14" size. You will be absolutely amazed at the grip available compared to normal street tires.

Toyo RA-1 205/55-14 available from Aim Tires for $144 each.
Toyo RA-1 225/50-14 $157

Toyo has a new R888 in the same sizes for a bit more $ (approx 4/tire) but I have not tried them yet.

http://www.aimtire.com/typ_category.asp?Unique=39623.5195138889&ObjectID=6650

Joe Craven

 

14" x 7.5" is the standard 308GTB Chromodora, or similar 1975 -1979.......

Man, where have all you Fulda Assuro fans BEEN? I have been trying to set up North American distribution with Goodyear for MONTHS but I have to assure them the market is there, I don't need 1000 tires stacked in Mom's garage.....

A far going wider on a stock wheel fitment, the 308GTB has very limited fender flares and repair can be quite costly.....

 

Well, the Goodyear North American Performance Tire Director blew his freight allowance by 300%, I could tell 'cuz EACH tire bore five different airlines on it when they arrived at the Loading Dock, but if we can get to a "critcal mass" shipping quantity it isn't bad at all......

I am waiting on him but would love to announce it here when he tells me the particulars..

You'd have to move the 6 speed Trans Am, her Buick, the 16" BBS stack, the extra Chromodoras, the Campagnolo 14"s and ten years of Road and Track........LOL! Pretty safe, huh???

 

The 14" s are absoultely correct for the cars thru 1979, and even the repro 16" are heavier, only the OEM 16" QVs are correct alloy and they are very dear, when a QV car is totalled......

 

I have 225 60 14's on my stock rims, they lower the car a little & look great



I use these for show, but I have the new ronal 17's & general 225 35 17 total package w tires was 1400 incuding shipping. Nite & day diffrence. same rolling diameter.
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I am running Firestone Firehawks at 235-60-14 on all 4 wheels. Not a super performance tire but great for the road. I would go with the 245's on the rear and 235's on the front. Steering is not a big issue and they should handle good enough for street driving and up to 100mph+ without any problems. For track use they would have to much sidewall flexing. Good luck.