14" Tyres for a Caterham Roadsport 1.8 - Avon?

[zed4]

Hello,

I’ve got a Caterham Roadsport SV 1.8K with fairly new Avon tyres on (fitted by the previous owner). I think they’re Avon ZZ1 and ZZ3 (different on the front and back). Someone recommended I should change them as they’re not very good. Is that the general opinion? If so, why is it? What’s wrong with the tyres as they’ve been fine for me.

The sizes are 185/60/R14, what would you recommend I got in these sizes? Also, are winter tyres a good idea for these cars? We plan on using it all year round, but the winters are very mild here on the south coast of Hampshire. We very rarely see snow, and if we do it only lasts a day or two. In which case, I wouldn’t use the Caterham anyway. Temperatures are usually fairly mild too.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Dan

[zed4]

BritishRacinGrin said:

13" Wheels are always the answer, with 185/70 tyres if the usual 175/55 (Avon CR500s) or 185/60 won't afford enough ground clearance. With the right tyres, 13" wheels are better in every way.

I thoroughly enjoyed my 7 in the snow with Avon CR322s. Not a lot of traction / grip, but of course very little weight to get moving.

As a bare minimum I'd ensure that you at least rectify the mismatch of tyres front to rear by replacing the older pair with whatever was fitted to the other end.

Thanks. Good point re. your last comment. I will check which are oldest. All are in near new condition though, although the car has only done 18k miles anyway so I doubt it's got through many tyres in its life.

There’s no way we’d change the wheels. Couldn’t afford to, and our wheels are in as new condition and look fantastic! Is the problem that there aren’t many tyres available in 14”?

[zed4]

Mellow7 said:

I'm sure I was the one who commented on the age of your ZV1 tyres??? Cheapest option would be to put the existing ZV3's on the front and get a new pair of those for the rear, then see how you get on for next time. One thing I hate is non-matching tyres, and thrilled that my company car has one odd Michelin to 3 original Bridgestone's as the result of a puncture (I wasn't allowed to specify the replacement tyre by the lease company!)

Just checked, it was a guy called helluvaname in this thread: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...