[LAC] wide wheels with rather narrow tires

[Peter Berrevoets]

Your right of course, but rather than being argumentative I was trying to
point out that the choice of tire makes these simple numbers ( 205/60-15 )
not entirely representative of what you get on the road.

The Yokohama in 195/60-15 put more tire on the road than did the 205/60s
that were on the car when I first bought it. (Don't remeber what they were -
michelin touring of some sort)

The other drag is that the tire you like might not be made in the size you
need to fit.

Same brand AND Same model, would have been accurate in your excerpt below
but again the really facinating thing with tires (I'm going to use Yokohama
again as their web site gives lots of specific detail on the tires) is the
variance in tread width - the stuff that hits the road - in the different
models of the SAME SIZE.

Ignoring tire compound and tread pattern, data from their site gave four
different tread widths for the same 225/50-16 size on different models -
7.2" , 7.5" , 7.9" and 8.3". Over ONE INCH in variance from the same brand
tire size!!

Start mixing different brands and models, pick a tread pattern then
determine rubber compound, mess with air pressue and suspensions settings
and you can see the choices are far less clear than simply some numbers.

My 195/60-15 setup gave a lot more traction and rubber on the road than
**some** 215/60-15 setups! With the stock BBS basket rim, this gave **me**
what **I** wanted.

Picking tires for your (or my) particular car isn't as simple as someone
else saying "I used XXX/XX-XX and they work great!" because all they know is
that it worked better than what they had before.

On my '73 Datsun 510 (this goes way back) I had 205/60-13 (not go-kart tires
;-) Dunlop SP something tires on 13x8 Revolution four spoke rims and a stock
motor ~94hp. Nobody could catch me on the twisties (Favourite fun spot that
has since been built over). Not an e-type Jag (64), not another hopped up
510 on 215/60-13s, not a 280Z, RX7, bug-eye sprite, and the list goes on.

I think my skill had a fair bit to do with it, but I think that I really
lucked out by having the right wheel/tire combination for the car. A matter
of some skill and some luck.

This is where I say; wouldn't it be fun to have a bunch of q-listers
together on a track and swap different after market wheel/tire combos around
onto your own car and have a go at the track. That would be a most awesome
experience and probably the only real way to get a good feel as to what will
really work for YOU,YOUR VEHICLE AND YOUR DRIVING STYLE.

Just having fun on a favourite topic.

Cheers,

Peter Berrevoets
1990 200TQ
Toronto, Canada


> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: Theron J. Bliss [mailto:tbliss at mestek.com]
> >Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2001 8:21 AM
> >To: Peter Berrevoets; quattro at audifans.com
> >Subject: Re: FW: [NAC] wide wheels with rather narrow tires
> >
> >
> >Look at what I wrote.  I said "You may gain more contact
> >patch by different
> >brands, but comparing the same brand of tire..."  I was
> >using the example of the
> >same tire.  If you put a 195/60-15 of THE SAME BRAND, versus
> >a 205/50-15 of THE
> >SAME BRAND, the 205 will be 10 mm wider!!!!!
> >
> >Peter Berrevoets wrote:
> >
> >> Ah, therein lies the rub. That is not en-tire-ly accurate!
> >(sorry for the
> >> pun)
> >>