Tires

So Robert, where would you recommend my finding the 185x15 tires and tubes?

The tires on my '69 E-Type OTS are 205-70-R15s on wire wheels and need replacing. It appears, from the posts that the Vredesteins are good tires. Where can they be purchased and what have some of you paid for these?

I suppose that, for the wires, they will likely be tubed, not tubeless tires.

Thanks,

This cheapskate finally broke down today and bought Vredesteins. Only 3 on the shelf so one to follow before I can judge them. Thanks for all the input

Vredesteins or Cokers... both are good tires..better than dunlop in my opinion. I went with the cokers..more money but:1- they will last many years so it averages out and
2-when it comes to rubber to road...i never cheap out...better grip. and better safety ...tires brakes and steering are my trinity when it comes to cars.

I like the Vredstiens both for look and drivability.

Alan,
Go with the Vredestiens, you wont be disappointed. Make sure to get the 185's and not a 185x70 as that tire is much to small in diameter and besides looking to small will increase your RPM's at any given speed which any E-Type with a 3.54 gear hardly needs!

Thanks Preston. As far as I can tell there are only two tire sizes to fit our 15 x 5 rims. The readily available 185/65, which has a circumference of 77 inches (about 7% less than OE I have been told), or a closer match of 195/70 which doesn't seem to be a normal size from the usual tire manufacturers but may be the Vredestein size.

Alan,
Go with the Vredestiens, you wont be disappointed. Make sure to get the 185's and not a 185x70 as that tire is much to small in diameter and besides looking to small will increase your RPM's at any given speed which any E-Type with a 3.54 gear hardly needs!

I put 185/65R15 Dunlops on my car in January. I got them them through my local mechanic at about $100 each. Check Tirerack.com, though, they have several choices listed.

In the hope that they will improve the drivability of my SII (after a complete front end rebuild last year), I have tried to find some 185 or 195 tires to fit my original 15 x 5 Dunlop wire wheels, which currently have 205 x 70 Pirellis. The only options seem to be Vredesteins or Cokers, which are expensive, tho cheaper than replacing the wheels with 6 inch Daytons. Does anyone have knowledge of any other brands in the 185/195 by 15 size? Thanks

William you are right and I will buy the tires for any member that can show me that the tires are the limiting factor in the car's performance--It is always a lack of skill in the driver!--Period!

Edited on 2012-04-13 15:35:03

And yet other points we are missing! 1, Suspension height must be considered, virtually every E I see has collapsed springs and torsion bars, apparently the low look is liked by many and is tolerated even though the car has virtully no suspension movement. 2, Friction between the tyre and the road, the 185 tyres give the car a much nimbler feel and reduce stress on the steering gear, the larger tyres, having a wider contact area, need more effort from the driver to turn! 3, Tyre pressures, how do we compensate for the wider tyre, they will not need as much air to support the same weight! Happy Motoring

Blake,
Maybe a point we are missing, the rules are different for 2+2 cars. I took the 215-70-15 tires off my 2+2 parts car and put them on my 1970 coupe, the coupe woudn't even move! Those tires where tight against the anti-roll bar and bumpstop on my coupe! Apparently the floor pan and anti- roll bar are different on 2+2 allowing larger tires. I ended up using 205-70-15 tires on the coupe. They are recomended to be mounted on 5 to 7 inch wheels, speedo is spot on and are affordable enough to replace every 5 years or so. I have a 64 roadster with the narrow original tires, but like the look of the coupe better.
For the record, I have not tried drifting with these tires.

Hello
I am running 205/70/15 P5 on 6" Daytons on my 70 OTS. Car handles great, no rubs. I would appreciate opinions as to an age that these tires can be considered safe. I like to participate in our local clubs HPDE.
Thanks

Yes, I do have a 6" wheel.

The DOT date on my tires are all ending in 06, even though they were just installed about 1.5 years ago they are still 6 years old.... so I think 6 years is the recommendation for age right?

What brand of tires do you guys recommend.

Blake - define 'too small'...

Too small for when the car was new? Not at all - they were about as wide as you could easily get on a street car in the UK. Most cars were pootling around on much skinnier wheels and tyres.

Too small to work right? Not at all. Everything was designed around the kind of grip (or slightly less from crossplies) that the tyre provides. The car is an absolute sweetie to drive, light steering and drifts a charm with no nasty surprises. A superb compromise between handling, ride and comfort. You would expect nothing less from a Dewis-developed IRS Jag.

Too small for your mechanic, who doesn't have to pay for your new tyres and may even benfit from selling new ones? Apparently. Are you going to have your aesthetics dictated by someone else, or by your own judgement and pocket book? If you think they are skinny, have at 'em and spend your money for a heavier-steering car that will bite back harder when it lets go. Remember that even if nothing rubs the rears will likely be a pig to get off and on if you have wires.

You shouldn't be putting 205s on 5" rims period. If you want 205s get 6" rims (more money) and be prepared to modify the bump stops or the rear arches. You may of course have 6" rims. It will be stmaped on the rim somewhere - possibly hard to see unless you take a wheel off. Do you know what size rims you have? When my car had 205s on 6" centre-laced Daytons the bump stops were fine and grip was nice but the rear arch rubbed on the right at full bump and needed to be ground back slightly. Even then the tyre had to be deflated to fit or remove and it was still a bear and I had to carry a compressor.

I found a set of new 195s dirt cheap on Mk2 wheels and fitted those to the 6" normal-laced rims I have. They are great compromise, getting back closer to the E-type's intended handling with ultra-controllable drift, but with grippy modern rubber. For the first time my speedo is also accurate because it was reading too slow before, being an incorrect ratio.

Now you have some facts, you can work out your own aesthetics and check the age of your existing rubber before deciding whehter money is the most important factor, or looks, or functionality in your preferred driving mode. OEM for an S2 / S3 delivers on all three IMHO, the rest is up to you.

I had thought I saw a receipt for wheels when this car was build when I was organizing the binder.
It turns out that in '92 a set of Dayton 15x6" Chrome wire wheels with 72 polished stainless wheel spokes were ordered from British Wire Wheels out of CA. So it looks like I am working with a 6" wheel.

I'm not an E-type guru but I suspect the "185" part is fine but the "65" part is the problem. This is a lower profile tire than original so the overall diameter is probably too small to look "right"....and your speedo is probably reading optimistically.

If you can live with those things and are happy with the tires....keep 'em !

Others will chime in

Cheers
DD

Are my 185/65s too small?

Right, lateral float. A too narrow rim results in the sidewalls being pinched or squeezed , so to speak, in such a way that they are no longer vertical enough to work properly

I doubt that anything "bad" would happen but it won't feel right

Cheers
DD

You would get a lot of lateral float I would assume.
I currently have 185/65/15 on the car now. I was just confused as the mechanic told me they were to small for my car and make the car look like it has a weak stance.

Blake, Doug is correct on both accounts. As the cars vary somewhat in construction there is a possibility that the tire may clear the bump stops, mine and many others that I know of didn't, but as Doug pointed out the 205 tire is too wide for the 5" rim. I tried this combination and was very unhappy with how the car felt and ended up buying a set of 6"' Daytons.

So it is the sidewall of 65 that is too big? Not the tread width?

Tires fitting the car is one thing. Tires [properly] fitting the wheel is another :-). I think what Robert is driving at is that the 5" rim width won't properly support the tire sidewalls.

Cheers
DD

That is what I was told by our Jaguar specialist / mechanic up here. The 205 would clear the bump stops no problem on the 5" wheels but if I went any wider of a wheel then it would rub.

Blake, I sure don't know of anyone who is recommending 205x65 x15 tires on the original 5" rims! You will NOT be happy with the way the car feels and it most cases the bump stops will either have to be cut back or removed.