On Fri, 16 Jul 2004, Jim Jones wrote:
> Tim:
[stuff deleted for brevity]
> A word about tire size: For older car like our's wider is not
> necessarily better for a car driven on the road. (Racing is another
> matter.) The suspension geometry, bearings, etc. were designed for a
> fairly narrow tire. The original tire was 185R15 and according to an
> article in Moss's "British Motoring" had an aspect ratio of about 82.
> If ultra wide, sticky tires are mounted to a TR6 it puts more stress
> on the suspension than it was designed to withstand and changes the
> geometry. The steering will be heavy, sluggish and the wide tires will
> make the car "wander" over bumps. I would not mount anything wider
> than a 205 width tire (let the flames begin!) on a road car.
/FLAMETHROWER ON
Well... I've driven my TR6 for over 10 years with 215/70-15's, 225/50-15's
and the current 216/65-15's. The car is ROCK SOLID. It's not twitchy, it's
not all over the road, the steering is no heavier than it ever was, and I
use a 13" steering wheel. I would have it no other way. When the A-509
Yoko's wear out, I'll find a similar tire in size with similar stickiness.
As far as tires changing the geometry, well, let's say that if you don't
change the track (say by altering the wheel offest) the tire offers no
change whatsoever to the geometry of the suspension. So that's a false
assertion.
Point of fact - VTR 2004. Autocross - M4 class. I came in third overall
Triumph for the entire field (Sukey - 1st on Kumho V700's, Brown
(Spitfire) on Yoko A032's were 1-2). My tires: 215/65-15 Yoko A-509's on
stock rims. The car is extremely driveable and controlable. Otherwise I'd
have been DFL. Also note that I drove the car about 600 miles to and 600
miles from the event with that setup over all sorts of different road
surfaces and the car tracks straight and easy.
/FLAMETHROWER OFF
Regarding wheels, there are Panasports and there are minilite replicas.
They are not all the same. I use Panasport Ultra-Lites on the race car.
They are a very high-quality wheel. Price comensurate to quality. The
Minilite replicas can cost as little as $140 /wheel, but they are not
built the same as the Panasport. They are still a quality wheel, they just
are not as strong overall as the real Panasports.
Regards,
rml
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