What are your ROAD tyre recommendations and sizes?
Discussion
Supateg said:
It may be interesting starting a thread
" how old are your tyres"
I'm sure there will be some interesting results!
When i bought the car, the front tires were 11(!!!) years old." how old are your tyres"
I'm sure there will be some interesting results!
They had deep cracks all over. Instantly Put 4 new goodyears on.
Wonder how he got through his MOT...
According to http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.js...my tires were pressed in august of 1908 
.
Could be why they get a bit 'squirrely' on hard acceleration
.
.Could be why they get a bit 'squirrely' on hard acceleration
.Gazzab said:
225 35 18s fitted. Am going to go for 25 psi all round this time.
So have a pair of part worn t1 sports 225 40 18s for sale with 4.5 to 6mm tread on both (from inside to outside edge)
Do fancy having a go with 'em but the logistics (and therefore cost) make it impossible for me to put my hand up.So have a pair of part worn t1 sports 225 40 18s for sale with 4.5 to 6mm tread on both (from inside to outside edge)
Good Luck though
BTW
You know there's an FB-based TVR 2nd hand Parts page
(Oopos, here come the Web-police
)Edited by Mr Cerbera on Friday 12th September 17:30
I've rarely been able to afford new tyres for my cars, not least because it's taken me so long to resolve the tracking issues that used to destroy my front tyres so quickly on my other car. So I've always snapped up bargain tyres on eBay. I've found some real bargains that have helped me keep my cars on the road, and had a chance to try several different brands. Almost all have been used and had 6mm or more tread, and none have had puncture repairs.
In preparation for a long roadtrip I fitted a pair of 245/45ZR16 Dunlop D40 to my other car which had about 7mm on the rear. The car was fully loaded and there was the possibility of sustained high speed so I inflated them to the recommended 43psi. I was really impressed with the Dunlops dry grip, I pushed them really hard on several mountain passes, and they performed really well.
However about 2000 miles in to the trip, on a very hot day I suddenly experienced a wheel bearing/cv joint/flat tyre type noise. I couldn't work out what the problem was, but I pulled off the autostrada immediately, and the sound got worse and worse. Eventually the car became undriveable and I jacked the car up to discover one of the Dunlops had developed a bulge in the tread rather than the sidewall. I checked the pressure and it had risen to 50psi.
I was about 40 miles north of Florence, Italy, with no sign of any tyre fitters, so I let both rears down to about 20psi and drove the rest of the way very slowly. I stopped at the first tyre fitter I found and asked for a quote for a new pair of 245/45ZR16, luckily I was sitting down when he said €500, this was six years ago in 2008.
Obviously I left assuming that I could do much better, though every quote I had afterwards was higher or the same. I was even quoted €800 for a pair of Pirellis. Bear in mind I was used to paying no more £60 for a good used pair, so this really was a shock to the system. However I tried to console myself that at least I'd have a brand new pair of Bridgestones or Contis (the two makes that I was offered for €500), although in fact I knew the Contis wouldn't be available.
Eventually I found a fitter who quoted €500 and assured me that the tyres would be delivered the following day. I limped back to the campsite where we staying, as by now the damaged rear was leaking as well, and hoped I could coax the car back there the following day. I didn't want the tyre issue to detract from our limited time in Florence, but I also had to get the problem sorted swiftly so our forward travel plans and booked accommodation weren't affected.
At 3pm the next day I limped back to the tyre fitter, having to stop every half a mile to pump more air in to the rapidly disintegrating tyre, but the promised Bridgestones had still not arrived. About an hour later they did arrive to my considerable relief, however I immediately noticed that they were Expedia S01 - surely they had not been made for some years... Sure enough the manufacture date was '1700' - May 2000, I was not impressed. I expressed my disappointment to the tyre fitter, who agreed it was not ideal, and asked whether I still wanted them.
I had no option, there were no other tyres in that size available, the other outlets probably had access to the same distributor, and if they had been returned and I'd gone to another supplier I almost certainly would have ended up with the exact same tyres. My €500 now seemed an extremely poor deal, but I had no choice at all. I didn't want to risk changing just one Dunlop, as the likelihood of the other tyre suffering the same fate seemed quite high.
I knew the Dunlops were '99, so I was replacing them with some Bridgestones that were just a year younger - very depressing...
I pointed this out to the tyre fitter, who initially dismissed the Dunlops as a poor quality brand, but then noticed that I was wrong, the Dunlops were not '99 - they were manufactured in '89 - I had misread the three digit date stamp!!!
So, it was all my fault, I put the 20 year old Dunlops through hell, and they failed - hardly surprising. In fact I was very impressed with them, they had excellent dry grip, and when the tyre failed it did so very progressively. In fact it had warned me the preceding day, but I had misread the sign - my steering alignment went out slightly, I assumed I must have knocked the alignment out without realising it, but in fact the tyre had simply expanded. When the bulge developed it did so gradually, but dramatically.
Nothing matters quite so much as tyres.
In preparation for a long roadtrip I fitted a pair of 245/45ZR16 Dunlop D40 to my other car which had about 7mm on the rear. The car was fully loaded and there was the possibility of sustained high speed so I inflated them to the recommended 43psi. I was really impressed with the Dunlops dry grip, I pushed them really hard on several mountain passes, and they performed really well.
However about 2000 miles in to the trip, on a very hot day I suddenly experienced a wheel bearing/cv joint/flat tyre type noise. I couldn't work out what the problem was, but I pulled off the autostrada immediately, and the sound got worse and worse. Eventually the car became undriveable and I jacked the car up to discover one of the Dunlops had developed a bulge in the tread rather than the sidewall. I checked the pressure and it had risen to 50psi.
I was about 40 miles north of Florence, Italy, with no sign of any tyre fitters, so I let both rears down to about 20psi and drove the rest of the way very slowly. I stopped at the first tyre fitter I found and asked for a quote for a new pair of 245/45ZR16, luckily I was sitting down when he said €500, this was six years ago in 2008.
Obviously I left assuming that I could do much better, though every quote I had afterwards was higher or the same. I was even quoted €800 for a pair of Pirellis. Bear in mind I was used to paying no more £60 for a good used pair, so this really was a shock to the system. However I tried to console myself that at least I'd have a brand new pair of Bridgestones or Contis (the two makes that I was offered for €500), although in fact I knew the Contis wouldn't be available.
Eventually I found a fitter who quoted €500 and assured me that the tyres would be delivered the following day. I limped back to the campsite where we staying, as by now the damaged rear was leaking as well, and hoped I could coax the car back there the following day. I didn't want the tyre issue to detract from our limited time in Florence, but I also had to get the problem sorted swiftly so our forward travel plans and booked accommodation weren't affected.
At 3pm the next day I limped back to the tyre fitter, having to stop every half a mile to pump more air in to the rapidly disintegrating tyre, but the promised Bridgestones had still not arrived. About an hour later they did arrive to my considerable relief, however I immediately noticed that they were Expedia S01 - surely they had not been made for some years... Sure enough the manufacture date was '1700' - May 2000, I was not impressed. I expressed my disappointment to the tyre fitter, who agreed it was not ideal, and asked whether I still wanted them.
I had no option, there were no other tyres in that size available, the other outlets probably had access to the same distributor, and if they had been returned and I'd gone to another supplier I almost certainly would have ended up with the exact same tyres. My €500 now seemed an extremely poor deal, but I had no choice at all. I didn't want to risk changing just one Dunlop, as the likelihood of the other tyre suffering the same fate seemed quite high.
I knew the Dunlops were '99, so I was replacing them with some Bridgestones that were just a year younger - very depressing...
I pointed this out to the tyre fitter, who initially dismissed the Dunlops as a poor quality brand, but then noticed that I was wrong, the Dunlops were not '99 - they were manufactured in '89 - I had misread the three digit date stamp!!!
So, it was all my fault, I put the 20 year old Dunlops through hell, and they failed - hardly surprising. In fact I was very impressed with them, they had excellent dry grip, and when the tyre failed it did so very progressively. In fact it had warned me the preceding day, but I had misread the sign - my steering alignment went out slightly, I assumed I must have knocked the alignment out without realising it, but in fact the tyre had simply expanded. When the bulge developed it did so gradually, but dramatically.
Nothing matters quite so much as tyres.
Well I have given the 35s a good run today. Strange how such a small difference in tyre profile has on the car. Feels more planted and I much prefer it. There was one corner where I felt the 40s were better - as they (strangely) aren't 'stretched' at the front the 40s felt a little better on a tight fast corner that requires a big quick accelerated turn in. Apart from that the new 35s felt better (I struggle to put why into words).
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