Tyre size for lowered cars

[SprintMWU773V]

I've started to think about tyres for my car, well more specifically thinking about refurbing my wheels has got me thinking about tyres. Looking at the wheels and tyres I currently have I see they're a 185 60 R13 but they are ancient so will need new ones. In its former life the car was lowered pretty substantially, too much really. I've fitted adjustable height dampers and intend to lower the car from standard but not by so much, perhaps and inch, inch and a half. I may introduce a little rake to the stance, keeping the front a little lower than the rear.

The standard size Sprint tyre of 175 70R13 has a way better range of tyres so arguably this is a better choice of tyre but I was wondering about arch clearance on a lowered car. Can I get away the standard sized tyre or do I really need to stick with the 185 60's? Looks are as important as anything and I don't want it to look either under or over tyred. I appreciate there's a slight change in gearing going to the 185's but it's not anything to be too worried about.

Thoughts?

[Flyfisherman]

I appreciate there's a slight change in gearing going to the 185's but it's not anything to be too worried about.Thoughts?

Mark

Only your speedo and the dready "SPEED CAMERA".

Paul

[trackerjack]

Lower profile means the car speedo will read fast so no probs there.
I always used 185x60x13 and found them perfect and better than standard 175 section as they tend to be a little less direct.

[Carledo]

My only quarrel with 185/60s is that they don't fill the arches so well if the ride height is stock or close to it. Otherwise, up to a point, more is better!

My own solution will not appeal I know, as Sprint owners are more attached to their Sprint alloys than they are to their firstborn! But i've gone for TR7 spec fake minilites at 5.5x14 with 185/60/14 rubber and a maximum 1" drop all round. this ticks all the boxes, it keeps the arches filled, maintains the rolling radius where it should be (and therefore the gearing) Allows me to keep a compliant ride but with a decent stance and has the BIG bonus of letting me use even bigger discs than the standard TJ 239s (mine are 256mm) Plus I have an MGF steel as a spare with a matching tyre, so no speed restrictions when using it!

But I think (FWIW) that if I WERE going to limit myself to Sprint wheels, i'd keep to the standard 175/70 tyres.

Steve

[sprint95m]

I would use the 175/70 size as this will help the car to look original.

Below is a comparison between 175/70 and 185/60
http://www.willtheyfit.com/index.php?wi ... offset2=35




Ian.

[Galileo]

Ah yes, but there is 5.7% extra contact patch though with the 185's!

I've got 185/70's on my car that the previous owner put on it, they're huge!

This is a good site for a side by side comparison https://tiresize.com/comparison/

[sprint95m]

But i've gone for TR7 spec fake minilites at 5.5x14 with 185/60/14

Where do you source such wheels?
Rimmers sell something similar but in a different width
https://www.rimmerbros.co.uk/Item--i-GRID006187,

I think I would prefer the 6J width actually......

so am thinking about going for these:
http://www.johnbrownwheels.com/products ... light.html
These wheels widen the track width (by 26mm I gather from this forum).
There is a 15" option too but I think these could be problematic to fit within standard wheel arches?





Ian.

[Carledo]

But i've gone for TR7 spec fake minilites at 5.5x14 with 185/60/14

Where do you source such wheels?
Rimmers sell something similar but in a different width
https://www.rimmerbros.co.uk/Item--i-GRID006187,

I think I would prefer the 6J width actually......

so am thinking about going for these:
http://www.johnbrownwheels.com/products ... light.html
These wheels widen the track width (by 26mm I gather from this forum).
There is a 15" option too but I think these could be problematic to fit within standard wheel arches?
Ian.

The wheels I have are John Brown Minilights which I got from Midland wheel services who have a regular stand at the Stoneleigh show in Feb/March. I was lucky enough to snap up 3 brand new ones in Anthracite grey for a mere £75 (cheap because there were only 3 and no plans to buy in more) 2 years later I managed to buy a fourth from them, in the wrong colour, but otherwise identical spec. This one cost me £70 and then a few quid more to get my painter to match the colour. But I still got 4 brand new wheels for a tad over £150 which strikes me as good value! And they look lovely in the Anthracite with diamond cut outer rims!

I've stuck to the 5.5s because of rear wheelarch clearance issues, The TR7 spec has a lower ET at about 27mm (but is much easier to get hold of than Sprint ET 35s) The 6x15 MGF alloys on the Carledo (ET 28 ish) needed the rear arch lips relieving for clearance. I would imagine 6x14s at the similar ET would have the same problem, but possibly only under more extreme conditions of cornering. However it didn't take much lean to get the F rims to scrub the unmodified arches!

Hope this helps, Steve

[Jon Tilson]

Ive had 185-70's on mine for years and been very happy with them.

Slight raise in gearing is nice.

Jonners

[gmsclassics]

Agree, I inherited as set of 185.70x13 which are now on the auto Mimosa Sprint and the slight raise in gearing is welcome. Interestingly when compared to GPS speeds, the speedo on this car is accurate to within 1%, whereas the manual Pageant Sprint on standard 175.70x13 rubber reads about 5% fast. So actually doing about 95kph when speedo says 100kph. Original size tyres do look best, but that is just my opinion. Given you shouldn't really lower a Sprint much more than one inch or you raise the rear roll centre and destabilise handling, I would stick with 175.70 as my choice.
Race car looks good on 195.60x14 when lowered an inch but fit in the arches, particularly lateral location at the rear is quite an art and I wouldn't recommend that unless one was building a true race car. I have to use both wheel spacers and an adjustable tie bar to ensure axle is centralised an tyre is equi-distance from inner and outer wing. Polybushes need to be hard as well to minimise float.
195 has the biggest contact patch with the road so is worth the effort at the limits of adhesion.

Geoff

[sprint95m]

Hope this helps, Steve

Thanks,
it is certainly food for thought.



Ian.