ericthered posted:Thanks everyone for the info!
@chines1 have you had any issues with the tires rubbing with the tire height? I'm running 5.5 rear and 4 or 4.5 front steel wheels in 15 size.
@Kevin-bay area Those are the look im going for, love the side wall.
@edsnova are those tires a radial or are they a bias ply? Have you had the car up to speed yet (80plus or hard corner carving) any info you have on how they handle compared to the modern tires? Understand they will not be as good as modern but wondering how far off they would be.
I haven't driven the Vreds at all yet (car is still not titled or registered...fingers crossed for very soon after the new year) but they are modern radial tires. The Sprint Classic is an all season tire, harder compound than the Sporttrac and sized with high aspect ratio like the old bias ply tires. Here are some reviews from Tire rack buyers and Tiretest.com (whatever that is).
My tire guy is an MG/LBC guy and he asked me about them when mounting, told me some of the MG guys he works with have gone back to the Hanhooks & such (Which I have on my MG and which perform well).
At this link Moss tested the Vred Sprint Classics against expired Michelins and found them far superior to tires that should be thrown away!
Excerpt from the Moss test:
"The Vredesteins also performed well on the track. They had enough grip to get around corners with authority and provided nice, progressive breakaway characteristics. While these tires lack the outright grip of modern radial race tires, you won’t embarrass yourself at a marque-club autocross with them either. Our lap times of 44.7 seconds are respectable and beat the old tires by two-and-a-half ticks.
"Braking revealed the Vredesteins’ biggest advantage— they only needed a little more than 140 feet to stop from 60 mph. Unlike the old Michelins, braking with the Vredesteins was consistent and predictable, with only slight lockup on the front brakes during the last few feet of the test. The Vredesteins also aced our 35-mph emergency lane change, as the Triumph snaked through the left-right-left chicane with no drama whatsoever."
Fwiw my theory (which is mine and should be taken for its full face value) is that the 80 or 75-series 175, 165 or 155 tires should work better than modern low profile rubber—even wider 55 series tires—on any swing axle car.
Don't get me wrong: modern tires are really better—if the suspension can keep the treads square to the pavement (which modern suspensions mostly can). But when the car starts to jack, a sticky, square-shouldered low profile radial will tilt on its thin edge all at once. I think it's the perfect way to create snap oversteer.
I think the taller tires' rounded shoulders should break away more gradually and more controllably than modern, better tires, which should allow the car to be driven more expertly.
Again...a theory. I plan to test it when I get the Spyder going.