Dunlop 205/70VR15
Discussion
My Jensen Interceptor is well under it's restoration and she is going back to original factory specification. It was supplied new with these Dunlop tyres and I was wondering if anyone has purchased them in the past and can give me some feedback on how they are on the road, and the quality of them etc?
Arcnewal said:
My Jensen Interceptor is well under it's restoration and she is going back to original factory specification. It was supplied new with these Dunlop tyres and I was wondering if anyone has purchased them in the past and can give me some feedback on how they are on the road, and the quality of them etc?
There's a Longstone Tyres thread around somewhere... They're the boys to speak to.This tyre was originally known as the Dunlop SP Sport and was developed by Dunlop and Jaguar for the XJ12 saloon. It was originally made in the size known as ER70/VR15 and was fitted to the first XJ6s in 1969.
It had a patented tread pattern known as Aquajet, that was very clever and actually squirted water from between the tread blocks through tubes manufactured in the tread. It absolutely transformed wet grip and was fantastic in its day. It was so successful Dunlop produced it in all sizes.
It is still available in original form and is the only tyre I would put on my classic of that era.
J
It had a patented tread pattern known as Aquajet, that was very clever and actually squirted water from between the tread blocks through tubes manufactured in the tread. It absolutely transformed wet grip and was fantastic in its day. It was so successful Dunlop produced it in all sizes.
It is still available in original form and is the only tyre I would put on my classic of that era.
J
As above a Very good tire for its time. My Late Dads 71 V-12 E - Type had them and I well remember as a boy trying to prise stones out of the tread !
Then In Jan 1982 my first road car a very quick 3 Litre Capri had them on the front ( SP Sports Formula 70 I think they were called ) and they were superb and were regarded back then as The tire to have.
205 x70 VR 15s were also in the early 80s commonly fitted to lots of TR6s, but they were too large and put such a strain on the suspension that the lower front chassis wishbone mounts used to break !
Then In Jan 1982 my first road car a very quick 3 Litre Capri had them on the front ( SP Sports Formula 70 I think they were called ) and they were superb and were regarded back then as The tire to have.
205 x70 VR 15s were also in the early 80s commonly fitted to lots of TR6s, but they were too large and put such a strain on the suspension that the lower front chassis wishbone mounts used to break !
Hi
I don't know who EXK120 is but last time i had any dealings with him on this forum he had made a similar comment. What transpired is he had asked me for a quote for some tyres. I had recommended he fit the best quality radial period tyres to his car. Because cars such as his handle better on period radial tyres, on today's modern dual carriage ways and motorways.
What EXK120 chose to do was go out and buy the cheapest tyres available, from a tyre company that only offer one tyre, which low and behold they say is the best.
After having bought the cheap tyres EXK120 was forced to admit the handling was dreadful and that they were completely hopeless. And agreed that other companies were selling the same products that we offered at similar prices. We are not expensive. I don't know why he wants to make these derogatory comments. Longstone Tyres are paying sponsors of Piston heads; we will encourage our customers to fit what we believe are the best tyres for your cars, not based on price. If you just want to buy cheap tat and don't care what the handling is like, we are still prepared to supply those tyres but we won't just tell you what you want to hear. Cheap low quality tyres do effect the handling of a classic car.
There is a 205/70R15 available with a thin white wall, but again this is just cheap. It won't be as good as a good quality tyre. (And a white wall certainly isn't something i would choose to fit to a Jaguar)
Back to the subject
Jensen Intercepters were originally fitted with the Dunlop Aquajet. There was an issue for a while when Aquajet was still being manufactured by Dunlop, in that they did not have a V speed rating. The SP Sport has now got a V speed rating. and the price is pretty good.
The current Aquajet, looks great, and is pretty good, but personally, i would fit either the Pirelli Cinturato CN12 or the Michelin XWX. These are genuine tyres made in house by 2 of the world best tyre manufacturers; they had have a higher W speed rating. The UK police used to take the SP Sport off their XJ6 Jam Sandwich and fit Michelin XWX and it was an acknowledged upgrade for Jaguars. Also thee Cinturato CN12 was a top tyre made in 1971, Lamborghinni Muira used to fit CN12 Cinturato. There is plenty of good choice in this size, there is also an Avon road tyre that is pretty good and an Avon CR6ZZ which is great on the track.
I don't know who EXK120 is but last time i had any dealings with him on this forum he had made a similar comment. What transpired is he had asked me for a quote for some tyres. I had recommended he fit the best quality radial period tyres to his car. Because cars such as his handle better on period radial tyres, on today's modern dual carriage ways and motorways.
What EXK120 chose to do was go out and buy the cheapest tyres available, from a tyre company that only offer one tyre, which low and behold they say is the best.
After having bought the cheap tyres EXK120 was forced to admit the handling was dreadful and that they were completely hopeless. And agreed that other companies were selling the same products that we offered at similar prices. We are not expensive. I don't know why he wants to make these derogatory comments. Longstone Tyres are paying sponsors of Piston heads; we will encourage our customers to fit what we believe are the best tyres for your cars, not based on price. If you just want to buy cheap tat and don't care what the handling is like, we are still prepared to supply those tyres but we won't just tell you what you want to hear. Cheap low quality tyres do effect the handling of a classic car.
There is a 205/70R15 available with a thin white wall, but again this is just cheap. It won't be as good as a good quality tyre. (And a white wall certainly isn't something i would choose to fit to a Jaguar)
Back to the subject
Jensen Intercepters were originally fitted with the Dunlop Aquajet. There was an issue for a while when Aquajet was still being manufactured by Dunlop, in that they did not have a V speed rating. The SP Sport has now got a V speed rating. and the price is pretty good.
The current Aquajet, looks great, and is pretty good, but personally, i would fit either the Pirelli Cinturato CN12 or the Michelin XWX. These are genuine tyres made in house by 2 of the world best tyre manufacturers; they had have a higher W speed rating. The UK police used to take the SP Sport off their XJ6 Jam Sandwich and fit Michelin XWX and it was an acknowledged upgrade for Jaguars. Also thee Cinturato CN12 was a top tyre made in 1971, Lamborghinni Muira used to fit CN12 Cinturato. There is plenty of good choice in this size, there is also an Avon road tyre that is pretty good and an Avon CR6ZZ which is great on the track.
LongstoneTyres said:
Jensen Intercepters were originally fitted with the Dunlop Aquajet. There was an issue for a while when Aquajet was still being manufactured by Dunlop, in that they did not have a V speed rating. The SP Sport has now got a V speed rating. and the price is pretty good.
The current Aquajet, looks great, and is pretty good, but personally, i would fit either the Pirelli Cinturato CN12 or the Michelin XWX. These are genuine tyres made in house by 2 of the world best tyre manufacturers; they had have a higher W speed rating. The UK police used to take the SP Sport off their XJ6 Jam Sandwich and fit Michelin XWX and it was an acknowledged upgrade for Jaguars. Also thee Cinturato CN12 was a top tyre made in 1971, Lamborghinni Muira used to fit CN12 Cinturato. There is plenty of good choice in this size, there is also an Avon road tyre that is pretty good and an Avon CR6ZZ which is great on the track.
Have to disagree with you on a couple of issues. The original SP Sport in the size ER70/VR 15 was developed for the XJ12. This was a genuine 150 MPH motor car. There were development issues with the V12 engine and the car was initially relaesed in 4.2 and 2.8 litre form, but it had the SP Sport tyres. As the size denotes these were VR rated, and as far as I know it was Dunlop that introduced this kind of speed rating.The current Aquajet, looks great, and is pretty good, but personally, i would fit either the Pirelli Cinturato CN12 or the Michelin XWX. These are genuine tyres made in house by 2 of the world best tyre manufacturers; they had have a higher W speed rating. The UK police used to take the SP Sport off their XJ6 Jam Sandwich and fit Michelin XWX and it was an acknowledged upgrade for Jaguars. Also thee Cinturato CN12 was a top tyre made in 1971, Lamborghinni Muira used to fit CN12 Cinturato. There is plenty of good choice in this size, there is also an Avon road tyre that is pretty good and an Avon CR6ZZ which is great on the track.
I serviced whole fleets of Jaguar police vehicles, including an early XJ12 belongoing to the Chief Super. They were all ran on SP Sports and we never experienced one single blowout. What we did have was very high tread wear, because they were soft, but the grip was outstanding, much better than anything else at the time.
We also had Rover 2000s which were shod with Pirelli Cinturatos. Every single one of them suffered from premature sidewall failure resulting in bulges and blowouts at speed. By the time the 3500 V8 came out we had switched to Dunlops.
The Michelin XWX and XAS tyres that I had experience of were on a Ferarri Daytona and a Jaguar E type. Both of them were utterly treacherous in the wet as the Michelin compound was far too hard for a performance car to give sufficient wet grip; a mandatory requirement in Scotland.
Now it may be that the compounds have changed on these tyres since the originals, but I personally wouldn't risk it on any of my cars. The Dunlops are the business.
J
Yes the original Dunlop ER/70VR15 was V rated. however recently, up until a couple of years ago the Dunlop made SP Sport was H rated. they now have attained a V rating again.
I am surprised by what you say about the Cinturato and Michelin tyres. I get lots of customers that are really happy by the opportunity to fit these tyres again. and are very happy with the results. All the ones i have driven on have been excellent. I have had more experience of the XAS and that has made huge improvements to a couple of cars that i have owned.
Yes today we are not allowed to use the same chemicals to manufacture tyres that were used in the 70's so the compounds are dnot the same, so among other things they will move water better.
I am surprised by what you say about the Cinturato and Michelin tyres. I get lots of customers that are really happy by the opportunity to fit these tyres again. and are very happy with the results. All the ones i have driven on have been excellent. I have had more experience of the XAS and that has made huge improvements to a couple of cars that i have owned.
Yes today we are not allowed to use the same chemicals to manufacture tyres that were used in the 70's so the compounds are dnot the same, so among other things they will move water better.
LongstoneTyres said:
Yes the original Dunlop ER/70VR15 was V rated. however recently, up until a couple of years ago the Dunlop made SP Sport was H rated. they now have attained a V rating again.
I am surprised by what you say about the Cinturato and Michelin tyres. I get lots of customers that are really happy by the opportunity to fit these tyres again. and are very happy with the results. All the ones i have driven on have been excellent. I have had more experience of the XAS and that has made huge improvements to a couple of cars that i have owned.
Yes today we are not allowed to use the same chemicals to manufacture tyres that were used in the 70's so the compounds are dnot the same, so among other things they will move water better.
What you are saying about the compounds is very interesting and explains something to me from a couple of years ago. I did an engine and transmission rebuild on a 512 BB and the owner fitted 4 new tyres to it before going on a trip to Italy. They were XWXs, original fitment on this car, and I think he got them from you guys.I am surprised by what you say about the Cinturato and Michelin tyres. I get lots of customers that are really happy by the opportunity to fit these tyres again. and are very happy with the results. All the ones i have driven on have been excellent. I have had more experience of the XAS and that has made huge improvements to a couple of cars that i have owned.
Yes today we are not allowed to use the same chemicals to manufacture tyres that were used in the 70's so the compounds are dnot the same, so among other things they will move water better.
The 512BB is a real monster with phenomenal torque and acceleration and being rear engined makes the rear tyres work very hard. However, I was surprised by the grip of these when testing the car, but even more surprised by the fact that the rears were almost worn out after only around 3000 miles!
In the '70s all the Michelin tyres had very hard compounds, the main reason they lasted so long, but clearly the compound must be, as you say, quite different.
In my business I see a growing trend towards many of my customers using their classics as daily drivers. When they do this they will undoubtedly drive them harder, e.g. going to work, can't dawdle. This means the tyres have to be spot on and be able to deliver at any speed. Great to hear they are making VR ratings now.
Bear in mind the experience with the tyres I am talking about was in the early '70s, a different era indeed. No Chinese crap for a start and tyres were so cheap compared to now.
J
Can i guess that the trip to Italy maybe involved going over the Alps?
I once wore a pair of rear tyres out on my 38 BHP Model A ford in 3,000 miles. it does depend on how hard you are prepared to push them.
No doubt Michelin XWX http://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/page/michelin-xwx are fantastic tyres. I don't get any complaints about the longevity of an XWX, but what is excellent with the XWX is, if you accidentally find yourself on a race track, and you give it some welly they don't fall apart. the XWX and the 205/70VR15 CN12 Cinturato https://www.cinturato.net/205-70-15 are both W rated so 170mph. I have a set of the Cinturato on a mates racing Mustanng and he loves them.
I once wore a pair of rear tyres out on my 38 BHP Model A ford in 3,000 miles. it does depend on how hard you are prepared to push them.
No doubt Michelin XWX http://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/page/michelin-xwx are fantastic tyres. I don't get any complaints about the longevity of an XWX, but what is excellent with the XWX is, if you accidentally find yourself on a race track, and you give it some welly they don't fall apart. the XWX and the 205/70VR15 CN12 Cinturato https://www.cinturato.net/205-70-15 are both W rated so 170mph. I have a set of the Cinturato on a mates racing Mustanng and he loves them.
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