The tires on the Tiger were about due for replacement, so I've been thinking
long & hard about what to replace them with. I have the original LAT 70
wheels, so I'm stuck with a 13" tire, something that is geting less & less
popular. When the cord started to poke through on the left front I knew that
the time for thinking about it was over & it was time for action. The
Yokohama 185/60-13 008 autocross tires that were on the car sure were
sticky, but I wanted to get away from the harsh ride, & I wanted to have
some real tread for when it rains, so I decided to go with an actual street
tire. After shopping around, I settled on a set of Brigestone Potenza's, at
least in part because Potenza seemed to be a cool name & fun to say. I
mounted them up on the LAT 70's, with new tubes,( I know, many people do not
think the LAT 70's need tubes, but they still look like a high school metal
shop project to me, especially on the inside where the bead has to try to
seal) While the wheels were off I inspected the suspention & mounting points
to make sure nothing was ready to fall off the car, & I added a little 90
weight to the steering rack, through the ends of the boots, that I
discovered were now due for replacement, & were oozing the 90 weight out
little cracks that I had not noticed, or mabey wern't there before I added
the oil. There were no major problems, so I bolted on the new Potenza's
(185/70-13's, H rated) & thought I would give the list a report. First off,
they have not rubbed on anything, though my front lower panel was long ago
trimmed, so it's not 100% stock in that area, and the rear has not rubbed in
spirited cornering. That cornering is definatly not as spirited as it was
with the Yokahamas, the loss of grip is very noticable, especially the first
time I dove into the downhill left hander that goes onto the freeway on my
way home from work. It was a bit unsetling the first time to feel the rear
start to slide when I didn't expect it to. The Potenza's do corner pretty
well, and have a lot more gradual breakaway than the Yokohamas did, You're
less likely to loop the car when it does start to let go, the Yokohamas were
hard to catch when they started to slide. The ride down the highway is a lot
better & the Brigestones do not get caught in the semi-truck ruts in the
asphalt like the Yokohamas did. I was surprised to see how much lighter the
steering is, & how much less the car drags & shudders when I make a tight
corner & the infamous Tiger akerman problem rears it's ugly head, I guess
there are advantages to having less grip. An added advantage is that since I
removed the semi-slick 008's no one has told me that I need to get some new
rubber on there & I have not had to explain, once again, that tread is only
to let the water out. It was geting a bit tiring trying to educate the
public about the advantaged of racing slicks. The last noteworthy change is
increased ground clearance, something I was in need of. I have not dragged
my poor abused mufflers since I put on the Potenza's (wasn't that fun to
say?), something I did regularly with the Yokahamas. Overall, I think they
are a good choise for a street Tiger with stock wheels, but not the last
word in performance.
This unsolicited opinion is worth every cent you paid for it.
Doug Leithauser
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