Newbie with an oldie

NICE! Get ready to be stopped everywhere you go by gawkers and enthusiasts with comments and thumbs up! Enjoy the ride.

Thx, I have owned several Porsches over the years. In just this first week of ownership, this car has recieved more attention than all of them, combined.

Yup, agree....

I get the same reaction with my new Tub.

I love your car btw... color is really nice.

That's an absolute beauty...and an oldie too. Mine was built by IM in 1978 and finally got registered and on the road in '83 ( by previous owner ). Congrats, Dood !

I love how low it sits, makes me want to lower mine a bit more.

Do you mind my asking what size tires are on your car?

My car is a bit higher than yours and at full turn, the tires rub.

Not sure but I think Vintage Speedsters (my tub) comes stock with narrower tires.

The previous Owner put 165's on mine, wonder what stock is?

165/80-15s are usually the thinnest tire you'll find on a replica.

Many use 185/65-15 as they are more of a performance tire and are a bit wider and lower. 

hmmm.. maybe I'll take another look.

Maybe they are 185's... (hoping)

Because when I lower it more, whatever is on there now is really gonna rub. haha

Mine are 165SR15 Dunlops...I added the Portawalls. 165SR is the same as a 165/80.

I have a steep driveway I have to pull in and out of sideways and if I am not careful I can rub the fronts, but It is a small price to pay for the ride height I enjoy.

Nice, I have the portawalls on my 64 Bug as well and LOVE the look!

Thanks for the info

Standard on the Vintage cars is 165-15  same as the original Speedsters.  I put 30,000 miles on a set of Khomos and just replaced them with Verdesteins at Lane's suggestion.  They make one with a "classic" tread pattern which is what I got and when I had them balanced they took hardly any weights.  Good looking tires made in the Netherlands of all places. Wonderful ride too.

The old tires were sill fine and you had to look hard to see any wear but they were 5 years old.  The enemy of tires on these cars seems to not be wear because the cars are so light, but mis-aligned front ends and mostly incorrect camber settings.  I have a tool I check my camber with at each oil change ---just mount it on the rim of the wheel and read the degrees on the bubble guage. I want to see 1/2 degree negative camber.

If they are 165-15's (165/82-15) then they are tall, at well over 25". Are they on the back as well? They are close to what was originally on stock speedsters. If your car is lowered at all then you're going to need something shorter. I've been told there are 155/70-15's (about 23 3/4" tall) and 165/65-15's (23 1/2") available, but I didn't find either at tirerack.com (doesn't mean they're not made). You may have to do some digging. There are 155/60-15's (22 1/4"), 165/45's (20 3/4"), 165/50's ( 21 1/2") and 165/60's (22 3/4") but as you can see, they are all really short.

There are 135-15's (23 1/4") and 145-15's (24 1/4") still made, but being both narrow and short, their footprints are really small and neither tire handle or brakes well (especially with front discs; they lock up very easily and it gets scary when you lose control). They are favorites with the VW Callook and drag race crowd. The 145's aren't too bad, being a little taller and wider than the 135's and giving a slighty bigger footprint than the 135's for the car to act on.

If you have or can fit 185's (185/65's at about 24 1/2" tall would be a good choice) on the back then there's a whole pile of shorter front tire choices with 175's and 185's in the 23-24" range.

Hope this helps. Al 

Thanks for the info!

I double checked and they are indeed 185/65/15 all around (explains the slight rubbing at full turn from the front).

So if I wanted to lower the car a bit more, what would you personally suggest for a new set of fronts? The 165/65-15's @ 23 1/2" tall?

Thanks! and Sorry to thread jack ya car-reras

Upon further investigation here's what I'm thinking will work.

145/65/15 or the 175/55/15's

I can go lower with the 145's but the 175's will surely feel better with the greater contact patch.

This was a VERY useful tool to use when comparing what you have to what you want

http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/infoTireMath.dos

Hi (insert first name here, please)-

This is good because the wider tires give you something to work with. Determine exactly where they are rubbing, and if you think about if for a while, will a shorter tire (it would be nice to stay fairly wide- a 175 or 185 for handling and braking) do it or will it have to be a little narrower as well? If you can get away with a shorter tire, there are 185/60's (23 3/4"), 175/65's (almost 24"), and 175/60's (23 1/4"). The 165/65's are still a good option if they have to be a little narrower as well. A good way to experiment would be to find a used tire dealer; try something for the summer and if they work, great; if they still rub a little then you haven't spent a lot. 

This is where getting to know the guys at your local tire shop comes in handy; the service you get at a big store just doesn't compare. The owner at the place I deal with is a hotrodder and general enthusiast; always interested in what you're doing and willing to help any way he can. He'll mount something on a rim just so I can take it home and see what it looks like and how it fits.

PS- Remember that the smaller the tire, the more your speedo will also be out (in a VW it drives off the left front spindle and it will read faster).

PPS- Ron's suggestion below is good too.

Intertrucks, is your front wheel rubbing on the inside?  If so, there is an adjustment stop, located by the steering arm, that allows you to change how far you can turn your wheels.  I had the same rubbing problem until I adjusted the bolt so that my tire just stops short of rubbing on anything.  The only downside is my turning circle is now wider.

Ron

Name is Christian

99.9% forums insert the authors signature at the bottom of each post, this forum sadly only posts the sig. on the first post of a new thread (but we won't go into the problems of this new format as it's been beat to death).

Thanks for your tire advice, I also didn't consider that just by going from the 185/65/15 to a 145/65/15 that my car will drop a little over 1" where I installed the 145's (-1.02 to be exact).

So that's something else to consider I guess...

Ron,

Thanks for that tip, however I'm not really worried about the rubbing as it's not too often. All this tire inquiry is due me wanting to lower the car and I just don't want it to rub when driving straight.

Yes, the tire is rubbing on the top of the sidewall near where the tread starts.

Hi Christian- Ideally (for a 1" front drop) you want to lower the car 1/2" and use a 1" shorter tire. You want the tire to still "fill the wheelwell" and doing the drop with a 2" shorter tire only could look not quite right. Just something else to keep in mind... 

Don't you love thread drifts?

How 'bout them Yankees?

Speaking of drifts, there was this huge snow drift in front of my front door last winter.......

Ron