Gosh, I haven't heard Semperit tires mentioned by anyone in a long time.
Back in 1978, I acquired a '73 240Z which needed tires, and Road & Track had
just run a radial tire comparison which rated Goodyear at #1 and Semperits
as #2. The price difference was significant, so I put the Semperits on the
Z. It was the first time I had had radial tires on any car, and I was
astounded. They were absolutely a wonderful set of tires. The handling was
great, wet traction was great, and living in northern Ohio at the time, the
Semperits negated any need for snow tires. If I recall, Semperits were made
in Ireland. It's too bad they went out of business. They were some of the
best.
In 1989, when I acquired my first T-car, a '51 TD, it had bias-plys. When I
put the radials on it, I was again astounded at the handling difference. My
thought is, "To heck with authenticity, I'm never gonna run anything but
radials". My TF runs 165-80-15's and at the last slalom that I ran, my time
was faster than 8 of the 10 MGB's. I attribute much of that to the tires,
some to the car's great handling characteristics, and maybe a bit to my
knowledge of how my car handles.
Radials Forever,
Tim in Dallas
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bud Krueger [SMTP:bkrueger@ici.net]
> Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 1999 11:53 PM
> To: Dick Dell
> Cc: mg-t@autox.team.net
> Subject: Re: tires
>
> Dick,
>
> A few weeks ago I threw a chunk of rubber from the tread of my twelve
> year
> old Semperits. An Internet search of tire manufacturers led me to Dunlop
> as a
> source of tires in 165R15. My TD now sports a new set of Dunlop SP20
> 165R15
> tires at a cost of about $230 installed/balanced/etc. So far they seem
> fine
> around town. This Saturday I plan to motor down Maine to the NEMGTR GOF,
> about
> 125 miles each way. I'll let you know how they handle it.
>
> Bud Krueger
> 52TD
> 77MGB
>
> Dick Dell wrote:
>
> > Hello all,
> >
> > I'm putting new tires on the TF. Most of the big name brands no longer
> make
> > the proper size but Dunlop makes the SP20 in a 165 x 15. Does anyone
> have
> > these tires of their TD/TF? If so how are they (not that I have much
> choice.)
> >
> > Dick Dell
> > Raleigh NC
>
>
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