Tyres

[Watership Down]

I went to get a price for tyres to fit my 87 G Esprit.
The guy told me that 195/60/15 & 235/60/15 are not available. He suggested changing the wheels to 16 or 17 inch!! If that is the case,will 16" or 17" wheels fit the "G" Esprit wheel arches or is he throwing me a line.

Thanks

[judgea]

Mine is also an 87 HCI turbo. Late last yr., I bought two front tires--didn't shop around much, just bought Michelin. No problem finding them (same size you noted). My rear tires are showing a little wear, so I was thinking about Toyo or Yokohama. I was very surprised that my local Sears Auto. carries the Toyo in my size (same you noted)!!! I haven't bought them yet, but intend to replace all four (not particularly impressed w/the Michelin). Anyway, I'm no expert, but I think your salesman does not want to admit that his stock is limited--shop around.
Edit: just noticed you're in Canada; I'm in U.S. ??

>> Edited by judgea on Tuesday 13th July 05:17

[kylie]

Hi there, the guy is rubbing his hands together seeing you come in. Worst case you dont find any in your size, try a size up ie 195's to 205 before swapping original rims etc, if you still have them on. I have no experience with G cars in the way they handle on the road etc, but a slightly wider tyre probably wouldn't hurt and would not change the profile too much. I have had to do the same with my car. Hopefully another G owner will chim in to see if this is possible - Keep looking.
Also find out what the width of your rims are and see what range of tyres each manufacturer offer.
Regards,
Kylie
89 Esp Turbo

>> Edited by kylie on Tuesday 13th July 06:02

[hilly]

I have fitted larger wheels to my 'G'car with no problems, 205/50 16 on the front and 245/45 17 on the rear.

The only difficulty you will find is getting rims with the correct rear offset as it is a bit odd on the Esprit. The 'G'car esprits have a rear offset of -ET20 which gives the deep dished profile and that sort of offset is mostly found on 4x4s. Most cars these days and an offset around ET35 ish and so this is what dealers and manufactures stock.

You could get split rims made up with the correct offset but these are quite expensive. I got around the problem by making a pair of hub-centric spacers for the rear and have had no problems so far.

To be honest, the rear tyres are getting harder to obtain but it is not impossible, if you can get hold of a pair then it is a lot less hassle and cheaper than fitting new rims.

Andy
1981 S3

[maigret]

Check out some tyre manufacturers web sites for available sizes. eg GT radials (I recently put a pair on the front of my car S2. 225/50R15 on Simmons rims)

www.tyres4u.co.nz/gtradials/gt_range.asp?brand=GT&catid=0&from=consumer

Your 195/60R15 is listed as tyre code 12259

The tyres I got aren't listed on the site so don't assume a published list is complete.

[Watership Down]

Thanks for the replies,I figured that he was trying to sell a little more than tyres. I am just outside of Toronto (50km)

[f1karting]

My 83 uses Michelin Pilots..

You may also find useful G-car wheel and tire information here..

http://esprit.driestone.com/index.php/Esprit/Wheels

Jan

[LOTUS84TE]

For what its worth, I have recently mounted some Dunlop SP Sport 8000 tires on my '84TE, 'G'car. Lowered the profile to 50 and stepped the width to 205 Front and 245 Rear. I was aware that this configuration produces a 5.6% speedometer error (actual speed of 56.7 when indicated is 60). Tires fit the original 15 inch wheels well and there is no problem with clearance in the wheel wells. I was willing to accept the speedometer error for a matching set of ZR rated tires. Haven't yet put too many miles on them but I believe the handling to be at least a good as the original Goodyears. While the wider fronts might increase low speed stearing effort somewhat, I really do not notice as even the 195 required significant effort when stopped or at low speed.

Just a potential solution that I chose rather than replace the wheels.
Russ