tyre change

[beef]

I need some new rubber on the rear of my 1997 chimarea
and wondered wether i could go for the wider 245s without any problem with the tyres fouling the arches
and are there any benefits cosmetically or otherwise, thanks in antisipation

[shpub]

245/45/16 is fine.

Steve
www.tvrbooks.co.uk

[ribol]

Putting the wider 245/45ZR16 tyres on the back of my 400 Chim instead of the originals (225/50ZR16) has not helped the ride of the car at all. They fit perfectly and look nicer but I feel they would serve more of a purpose on the more powerful bigger engined cars.

Ivan

[shpub]

Try adjusting the tyre pressures. These cars are very susceptible to this. 1 lb can make a big big difference!

[ribol]

I find it hard to believe that 1lb is going to make much difference for road use. This is assuming you have the means of checking it to this accuracy in the first place, pressure gauges used by proper race teams cost more than my wheels and tyres.

I took of a set of original Chim wheels with good SO2s off, put on a set of Griff wheels with good SO2s on. The pressures were set the same as before and there was a marked difference in the ride quality. I played around with the tyre pressures but could not get it back to how the ride was. The conclusion I came to was that by increasing the unsprung weight (I assume I have, you may know better?) and lowering the tyre profile I compromised the ride quality. What do you think?

Ivan


>> Edited by ribol on Monday 12th May 19:25

[shpub]

They are very susceptible because they run at relatively low pressures. As for calibrated pressure gaugaes... I have a couple and they cost around £20-30 and surprisingly many of the digital gauges are just as accurate.

Lower profile tyres mean better handling at the expense of a harsher ride. Tweaking the air pressures can help but fundamentally there is less tyre wall flex and as this is part of the suspension, it is like stiffening everything up.

The unsprung weights are virtually the same. Might be a few percent but nothing really significant.

>> Edited by shpub on Monday 12th May 07:15

>> Edited by shpub on Monday 12th May 07:17