Tyres for non-PAS Chim 500

[rfein]

Hi all,
will soon need a set of new rubber on my standard non-PAS Chim 500: 205/55-15 W on the front axle, 225/50-16 W for the back. No problems for the back, all the good ones available in the right size. More problems for the front ones,
Yokohama seems the only good one at this speed rating. Additionally, the same Yokohamas (S.drive) are also available for the back.
My question: Is a mix in brands between front and back a good advice? Could I go for a lower speed rating at the front (up to 150 mph)? This would widen my choice for the front. Is it legal to use a spped rating that is below the car's max speed? I usually do not exceed 150 mph.
Any suggestions warmly welcomed. Thanks in advance.
R.

[Golflion]

General opinon is Falken 452's...best used to be Toyos but we've moved on!!

[rfein]

Golflion said:

General opinon is Falken 452's...best used to be Toyos but we've moved on!!

Thanks,
I know the Falkens are good, but they don't come as 205/55-15 which is the front tire size for the non-PAS Chimaeras.
They exist for the back wheels though. This is my dilemma. Mixed brands front and rears, or some other size or speed rating for the front? There must be other owners having to deal with the same question.

[Golflion]

[quote=rfein]

Thanks,
I know the Falkens are good, but they don't come as 205/55-15 which is the front tire size for the non-PAS Chimaeras.
They exist for the back wheels though. This is my dilemma. Mixed brands front and rears, or some other size or speed rating for the front? There must be other owners having to deal with the same question.
TBh 215 will be fine

[bigdods]

I had the same problem, FK452 is not available in 15" sizes, they only do the ZE912 and you do NOT want them.

I went for the DUNLOP SP9000 which seems ok, but not brilliant and I cant recommend them. I will be looking for something else next time.

[900T-R]

I'm in the 'mixed front and rear' camp - after having purchased three additional OZ split rims that looked a lot better than mine I ended up with a set of front Bridgestone S03PPs as well as the SP9000s I already had, both with about 5-6 mm tread depth left. The rears (Vredestein Ultrac) were up for replacement, so I tried the S03PPs, decided I liked them better than the Dunlops (a bit too soft and wallowy in my set up) and worked from there. Didn't want S03PPs for the rear as they would be 3-4 years old at least and I wanted something a bit more 'progressive' (i.e. softer) near the limit, especially in the wet that still would be an OK match in construction and tread pattern - decided on the (then new)
Toyo T1 Sport in 225/55/16 (this being an early Chim that had its speedo calibrated on this size rather than 225/50/16) - not a brilliant 'sports' tyre in itself as Toyos seem to get softer and softer with every iteration, but in the context of the car they work well enough.

Would love to have a matched set of tyres designed/chosen to complement the characteristics of the car, but unless all of the major parties in the TVR world club together and have a run of a couple thousand made it won't happen. A popular option are Hankook Ventus R-S2s, but they are very much optimised for dry grip and response at the expense of wet grip - not ideal for a car of which the difference between dry and wet grip is far greater than with most normal cars... No 205 section front tyre option, either.
Toyo R1Rs - same sort of compromise (although not nearly as lethal in standing water as triple eights IME) and even disregarding speed ratings, there's no sensible combination of front rear widths to be made; the narrowest fronts with the more or less correct sidewall height are 225 section, and the widest rears with an 'eligible' rolling radius are... 225s.

Goodyear Eagles have the same problem as Falken - the rears are available as GSD3s (pretty old hat nowadays, but in the absence of better options...) - the fronts howver are listed as GSD2s which are positively ancient!

[SILICONEKID340HP]

I was very happy with the Toyos T1R1s when i had the 15" and 16" set up,might be the best option.
http://www.camskill.co.uk/m53b0s289p1673/TOYO_TYRE...
http://www.camskill.co.uk/m62b0s302p1695/TOYO_TYRE...



Front £58 including vat 205/55/15
Rear £84.65 including vat 225/50/16

Full set £285.3 plus about £30 for fitting

Any one fitted KUMHO KU31 ECSTA SPORT 92W they might be the new Falken 452..worth looking at..
Reviews http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Kumho/Ecsta-KU31...
http://www.camskill.co.uk/m53b238s289p6367/KUMHO_T...

http://www.camskill.co.uk/m62b0s302p4974/KUMHO_TYR...

front £51.30
rear £64.70
Total £232

Edited by SILICONEKID340HP on Monday 4th July 12:46

[Chris71]

I debated about this endlessly before going for a set of Toyo T1Rs on my non-PAS 500. They're 215s on the front for sure and I think 235s on the back from memory (with standard 15/16" wheel combo).

FWIW I actually got as far as ringing my insurance company to clarify the speed rating and they're perfectly happy with it. If I ever get to 149mph I'm quite happy to ease off at that point, and I've yet to see any evidence that the speed rating has relevance to anything other than the centrifugal loads in the tyre. So, up until that speed (or realistically that speed plus Toyo's safety margin) it's fine.

For me it's a bit difficult to say as I dropped down from 18" wheels (of unknown, possibly incorrect, offset etc.) at the same time as I reduced the width, but I'd be reluctant to go any bigger than 215s on the front. Even now you need a certain amount of strength to wind any lock on in a hurry at low speeds - you can't use a flick of the wrist to correct a slide like you can in other cars.

[.Mark]

bigdods said:

I went for the DUNLOP SP9000 which seems ok, but not brilliant and I cant recommend them. I will be looking for something else next time.

Got these on the front of mine, can't wait to wear them out, but they seem to be made of solid rubber!!

Toyo T1-R's on the back.

[jimbo fr]

I've got the 225/50/15 T1R 's on the front of mine( Chim 500 non PA ) and very happy with them .