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John Lye's choice of tires

To: triumphs@autox.team.net
Subject: John Lye's choice of tires
From: ingate@shiseis.com (Shane F. Ingate)
Date: Fri, 17 Jan 97 09:44:44 PST
Cc: rjl6n@virginia.EDU
John Lye wrote:

        > I'm currently running Goodyear 23.5 X 9.0 X 15 race slicks...

Hi John,

I'll make the assumption that your experiences with wheel
and tire combination on a TR4 can be extended to a TR6.

Converting "23.5x9.0x15" to contemporary tire dimensions,
I make that to be the equivalent of 225/50x15.  Is that correct?
Refering to an old post from Bob Lang who gave us a very valuable
spreadsheet on tire size (I repeat here, thanks Bob!):

SW  AR WS WW   SW   SH   OD    RPM    RPM  G GR   FDR   Speed  Comments  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
185 80 15 5.10 7.28 5.83 26.65 780.38 6500 4 1.00 3.70  139.36 Stock TR6
225 60 16 6.20 8.86 5.31 26.63 781.08 6500 4 1.00 3.70  139.23 "Real Nice match 
for ""low Profile"" TR6 tyre"
215 70 15 5.93 8.46 5.93 26.85 774.66 6500 4 1.00 3.70  140.39 Looks Ideal for 
TR6 Replacement
205 70 15 5.65 8.07 5.65 26.30 790.90 6500 4 1.00 3.70  137.50  
185 65 15 5.10 7.28 4.73 24.47 850.07 6500 4 1.00 3.70  127.93  
205 50 15 5.65 8.07 4.04 23.07 901.57 6500 4 1.00 3.70  120.62 "Probably good 
AutoX tire for TR6, like 4.30 gears"
225 50 15 6.20 8.86 4.43 23.86 871.82 6500 4 1.00 3.70  124.74  "Ditto to 
above, JK Jackson endorses this."
205 60 15 5.65 8.07 4.84 24.69 842.62 6500 4 1.00 3.70  129.06  This is like 
using 4.01 gears in the diff.

Legend:

SW == Section Width             OD == Overall Diameter        
AR == Aspect Ratio              RPM== Revolutions Per Mile    
WS == Wheel Size                RPM== Engine Revs.            
WW == Wheel Width               G  == Gear                    
SW == Section Width             GR == Gear Ration             
SH == Section Height            FDR== Final Drive Ratio       
Speed == Lower speeds indicate relative decrease in speed for equiv. 
engine speed, all drive-line factors considered.

We see that 225/50 would lower the car height by approx 1.4" and change
the speedo accuracy substantially.

In other posts I've read where "..225-65-15's D40's on 7" rims that are 
awesome, but they rub a little on the tops of the front fenderwells 
when turning fast and hard" (Hctcbob@aol.com, his Shelby wheels have
3.75" of backspace, compared with my 7" Pana's with 3.9" backspace) and
Roger Bolick says "...215/65 or 225/60, I've seen both, the 215/65
are safe and look great.  The 225/60 poke out of the front slightly..."

Finally, and we arrive at my question, what are your experiences with
the (presumably) 225/50's?  Do they rub, poke out, etc?  What wheels
are you using and what are their offset/backspace?

        Shane Ingate tired out in San Diego

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