tire size

[Hans Efde]

Hello all,
At the moment my Gold Convertible is on 175/50R13 rubber from Bridgestone. After a long trip home with still too much revs on the highway (with a 3.1 diff) I've decided to go for bigger tyres. My previous Midasses had 165/60R13 tyres which seemed a good choice for these cars. I experimented with Toyos 175/60R13 tyres on my first car, but they would chafe the body under heavy cornering.
So the choice is to go back to the good old 165/60, which now seem to be only available from Falken and even this company has stopped producing them. With the tyre calculator (link in an earlier message about tyres) I found a possible alternative in the size 185/55R13 available from Toyo. Does anyone have experience with this size tyre under a Midas? Are there other alternatives?
For your info theoretical diameters (via the tyre calculator, some may not exist) are:
175/50 = 505 mm
195/45 = 506
165/55 = 512
185/50 = 515
175/55 = 523
195/50 = 528
165/60 = 528
185/55 = 534
175/60 = 540 (chafed!)
165/65 = 545
195/55 = 545

[wolfie]

When I was using 13" rims I always used 185/55's. I had to grind out a little bit on the inner arch but thickened it back up by putting a bit more fibreglass on the inside (nice and easy because it's in the footwell). It might depend on the wheels offset, I cant remember what it was on my old wheels(they were made by BBS)

[manifold]

Hans,

Its probably going to be a tad too much that, unless you have a weird backspace on your wheels.

Even my Falkens rubbed under very hard cornering at slow speed.

I put some Goodyear NCT2's on I had knocking about and they are better. Less of a shoulder than the Falkens too.

[Alan D.]

Hi Hans,

I have 195 x 45 fitted to 5.5inch rims, they are no problem. No rubbing at all!

Alan

[manifold]

Alan,

I've heard the extra 23mm makes all the difference.

[ACourtney]

Hi Hans,

I have fitted 185/55s and found differences between brands on diameter. I had no problems with a pair of Dunlops on the front of a Gold, but these are no longer available. The Auriga Camacs that are readily available in that size rub on the back of the arch and need the mod that Wolfie tried.
I have been using Camacs on my Excelsior and have found them pretty good and they even coped well at Castle Combe last year.
I tried to purchased a pair of Toyos just before Stoneleigh for the show car, but couldn't track any down easily so I ended up buying some Camacs. I would still like to try some Toyos so I will be looking around for a set.

Cheers
Alistair

[Hans Efde]

Hi Alistair,
When you have them please let me know how they drive. The Toyo's I had were very good in the rain, but were not sporty. The walls are rather soft, so they were more for comfort than sharp steering. My present Bridgestones are on the other side of the scale. Very sharp. Also the rubber is much more wear resistant. Unfortunately Bridgestone does not seem to make 13 inch tyres anymore.
Cheers, Hans

[The Sheepherd]

How about 175 60 R13? The list says chaffed, what did it mean?

[Rich]

How about 175 60 R13? The list says chaffed, what did it mean?

It means they rubbed/touched the bodywork.

[The Sheepherd]

Damn...ok, than not 175 60's...