Another Tyre Question :-)

[andymac1966]

Evening Folks,

I had the rear wheels off the car today and was a little surprised at the condition of the tyres - there is a fair bit of cracking between the treads. They were on the car when I bought it, so not sure how long they have been on - believe there is sometimes a date on the side wall ?

The question I have is what size should be on the car. It's a 1986 2.5 Lux with the original Teledial's on it, however the front and rear tyres are different sizes. It has 215/60 R15 94H on the front and 225/60 R15 96W on the rear. Falken Ziex all round.

Looking at the owners manual there are a few choices but 215 looks to be the widest.

Any suggestions ?

Thanks,
Andy

 

[Mikebarry202]

Hi Andy,

with regard to the the age of the tyres (from manufacture), have a look around the side wall for a 4 digit number. This relates to week number/year, so an example of 3709 is therefore week 37 of 2009.

there is probably lots of views of when to change tyres due to age; my personal stance on a 944 would be 6 years. Any one else can chip in as required, I’m certainly not trying to promote any arguments, merely saying that’s when I would change them.

 

[Waylander]

Tyre age is a real subjective thing,
Tyres are built with a self lube in the rubber, if you have ever noticed the brown sort of coating that appears after driving, that's the plastisizer coming out the tyre
If they don't get used very often then they dry out and crack,

I personally agree basically with the above statement 6-7 years with low use, or if you use the car a lot you will replace tyres long before that age
If they are cracked and feel dry and hard, time to stick some new ones on

There are other factors of course, temp, car stored inside or outside, in sun light or in the dark, and so on

 

[andymac1966]

Hi Andy,
After a bit of internetting, I think 215/60 15 front and back would be the original fitment for a Lux. The Turbos had wider rims on the rear and ran 225/55 15s on them.

Evening Folks,

I had the rear wheels off the car today and was a little surprised at the condition of the tyres - there is a fair bit of cracking between the treads. They were on the car when I bought it, so not sure how long they have been on - believe there is sometimes a date on the side wall ?

The question I have is what size should be on the car. It's a 1986 2.5 Lux with the original Teledial's on it, however the front and rear tyres are different sizes. It has 215/60 R15 94H on the front and 225/60 R15 96W on the rear. Falken Ziex all round.

Looking at the owners manual there are a few choices but 215 looks to be the widest.

Any suggestions ?

Thanks,
Andy

 

[andymac1966]

Thanks Steve,
I'll probably go with that I think. I need to get the wheels refurbished over the winter so will change all 4 tyres after that. I had a quick search for that size on Blackcircles and there isn't much choice. Some cheap ones that I wouldn't consider, Falkens at around £90 and Pirelli at ca £250 (!). Should I be looking at 'vintage' tyres for this such as Pirelli Cinturato ?

Andy

 

[Tizzy]

My 89 2.7 with 15” teledials has 195’s on the front and 215’s on the rear, OE size, the rear wheel is appreciably deeper. I fitted Kumho’s all round and am very happy with the grip, though see my other post on tyre pressures!

 

[944Turbo]

Hi Andy,
After a bit of internetting, I think 215/60 15 front and back would be the original fitment for a Lux. The Turbos had wider rims on the rear and ran 225/55 15s on them.

Pretty sure turbos were 16" and 225 front 255 rear, the 250 turbos don't have a lot of clearance to the standard brakes, my coupe has big blacks on the front now and needs 17" to clear, and if the weights are fitted with thick foam they can touch the calipers. I cant remember the size difference between the standard 'medium' blacks and the big but it is not that much

 

[scam75]

Later turbo's were 225 50 16 front and 245 45 16 rear. This limits choice of matching rubber quite severely. Conti, Toyo and Pirelli IIRC. Anyway that's not the question. I wouldn't bother with the Pirelli Cinturato classic stuff unless you want a 30 year old design and pay £1k for 4 corners!

Stuart