would like a wider tire to go on the original wire wheels in my S type. I am considering 195/65R15.

I am getting the car ready to repair the engine and want to have new tires ready. I will need tubes as well.

Any opinions/advice on this size tire and tube size?

Thanks.

 

You can get these guys to do what ever you want with the sidewall, I had a quick look around and there isn't much in that size that isn't modern.

Shop Diamond Back Classic Tires - White Walls, Redlines, Goldlines : (dbtires.com)

 

The 195/65s will be quite a bit shorter than the original tires....you might not like the look. Have you seen any other S-types with that size?

How wide are the original wire wheels? Are they 5" ? That's pretty narrow for modern, wider tires.

Cheers
DD

 

JeffR1 thanks for the link, the prices are high. Considering I can get the Uniroyal TigerPaw in black wall for $65.00 each locally. Maybe I should go with Inserts? Maybe I should just do blackwall tires?

Doug: thanks for the info. No I have not seen another S type with that size tire, 195/65/15. The wheels are 5" as far as I know. I want to duplicate the thin whitewalls presently on the car, which are Michelin 205/70/15 and are way too big. I can't even remove the rear ones without deflating them completely.

 

You need to keep the rolling circumference the same as a 185 X 15. (which BTW is an 80 profile). With a 195 X 65 X 15 your speedo will overead by 6,27%

https://www.vintagetyres.com/tools/

 

Glyn, what size would that be? I don't want short sidewalls (ground-to-wheel edge)
80 profile ? sounds like bycicle tires.

might have to stay in the 70 profile.

 

Jose, Your car looks great on those tyres. Roughly speaking, sidewall height equals width times profile divided by 100. But, if you look at some of the photos on the Longstone website, it's clear that sizes are approximate at best.

 

See calculator above Jose or go to the Tire Rack & they show rolling circumference in many forms including Revs per Mile which will allow you to compare tyres fairly accurately as they test every tire & size inflated.

You can buy Universal tyres in the US in 185 X 15 as original with the Dunlop tread pattern with & without narrow white walls. You can have redwall too.

 

Jose ~ See pics here.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/m...e-size-243671/

 

Glyn, Gregory's MK-2 has the tires I want.
I do not want blackwalls, they don't make the car look good.
Going to check the Universals. Looks like I am giving up on the 65r measurement and going 70r. Speed rating is not an issue since I don't drive so fast.

 

Jose, Longstone tires can put a white strip on any tire, he doesn't like to do it, but he will.
I have these on my MK II, they will fit the S-Type and look period correct.
(they're free shipping world wide for a set of 4)

180 R 15 Michelin XAS - 180 x 15 Tyres (longstonetyres.co.uk)

I was like you, accepting compromises because I rationalized that I didn't drive the car that much so I don't want to spend a wheel barrel full of money on tires.
In the end I was never really satisfied or happy with those compromises with modern looking tires with big ugly printing on the side or tires that just don't fit.

I wasted more money on tires that I didn't really like.
I should have just went for the correct ones on the first place.

We have old cars, expect to pay more for some things.

 

His are the Universal Vintage Tires, in the original 185 R 15 size.

I have the same tires, but in blackwall, and I really wouldn't want anything wider. It would make taking the rear wheels on and off difficult.

 

Actually 232.00$ for those isn't that bad.
A standard Michelin tire for a modern truck is priced about the same.

185HR15 Universal Sport 5/8" White Stripe Tire (universaltire.com)

 

My car with blackwalls beside Gregory's Mark 2 with whitewalls at the Jaguars on the Island show in Victoria, BC.

 

Good. They are a nice tyre & look really good. They are HR Rated = 130 miles per hour which our cars won't do. They use modern construction technology. As I say they are 80 profile i.e. 80R. (Prior to the introduction of lower profile tyres so not stated ~ 80 profile was standard)

185HR15 Universal Sport 5/8" White Stripe Tire (universaltire.com)
https://www.universaltire.com/univer...rt-radial.html

 

uugghh! $300. per tire ! Gregory must be a wealthy magnate.

There is a company in Chattanooga Tennessee called Coker Tire and they have radial and bias whitewalls for $212. each.

185/15 look too thin, I would like a wider tire. maybe 195/15 or 205/15. Actually, i am confused. Is 185/195/205 the HEIGHT or the WIDTH / FOOTPRINT of the tire?

without the whitewalls, the car would look sort of "flat"/unfinished. I have seen MK-2 with very wide whitewalls and it looked awesome, very luxurious or "formal".

 

The 185-195-205 numbers are the section width

The height of the tire is denoted by the aspect ratio number, which is the height relative to width. This is the number after the section width designation.

Consider 205/75, 205/70, 205/65, 205/60 sizes. The tallest in that series would be the 205/75 and the shortest would be the 205/60

On the older design tires there was no aspect ratio shown in the tire size designation. For example, the 185x15 tires mentioned. These generally have an aspect ratio of about 80, as mentioned earlier. If the aspect ratio was included the designation would appear as 185/80.

Cheers
DD

 

To add to Doug's explanation, the width is literally in millimeters or mm for short, so 185 mm.
The aspect ratio is a percentage of the width, but not the entire tire, just from the edge of the tire to face, so a 185/80 r15 would be 80% of 185 to get the height over-all.

So a 185/80r 15 would measure up at around 26.7 inches tall or 678mm and the width is 185 of course or 7.3 inches.
I used this tire calculator to plug in the numbers.
They're all over the internet.

So if you do that, you will find a 205/70r15 a little shorter and a 205/75r15 a little taller in over-all height when compared to a 185/80r15

The "r" stands for radial and "15" is the rim size.
Personally I think the 205's are going to be too wide and come too close the edge of the fenders, especially in the back.
A 195/75r15 would be a better match, but I don't think there is too much out there in that size.
As manufactures were moving away from tall thin tires, the 195/75r15 that was replacing the 185/80 series became obsolete as cars were designed with fatter and shorter tires.

There is a 195/70r15, but then you're getting to short, the car will sit too low to the ground and your speedo will be out too much.

Coker makes a 195/75r15 with a thinner white wall and it's not too badly priced at 164 US dollars.
If you go any wider then that, I think you're not going to be happy, it' just too wide to fit in the fenders of the car.

American Classic Radial | 3/4 Inch Whitewall | 195/75R15 - Tires (cokertire.com)

Tire Size Calculator

 

$232 is not $300 per tyre. They have gone up in price over the last few years, Are you adding shipping??? or whatever.

Try buying a Michelin 185VR15 XVS or 185HR15 XVS-P 93H or Dunlop VR SP Sport Aquajet 185R15

You get what you pay for.

The other option is to just stay with your 205/70/15's and put up with rear wheel changing difficulty when mounted on wire wheels & knock offs. With studs & nuts on a straight steel wheel it is not an issue because you don't have the long extraction off of the splined hub at the rear.

195/XX/15 is a size that is not well catered for. I can't think of a single car that had them standard. Even 180 X 15 was specifically for the Citroen DS family.

That Coker195/75/15 that Jeff suggests has close to original rolling circumference as long as you like what it looks like. Might be just what you want. Note that it is S rated 112 miles per hour max.

 

You also need to check the actual width, not the nominal width. I have seen up to an inch variance in actual width between tires that are supposedly the same size, but by different manufacturers. With the narrow rear wheel well opening on the S Type this is very important.