I thought I had finally decided on the Vredesteins 185s, but when reading through some on-line reviews stumbled across a strong recommendation for the Nexen SB-802 165/80 R-15 87T tires - for our older British cars - for about half the costs of the Vreds. https://www.tires-easy.com/165-80-15...xoCGoIQAvD_BwE
My Mark I has 4 1/2J rims, so this eliminated a lot of possible tires that called for 5 or 5.5 rims. the Nexen tires are about 1 inch less in overall diameter ( 25.4") and only have a tread width of 4.5", as opposed to the Vreds' 26.5" diameter and 5" tread width. I think I can live with these differences. This Mark I will only ever be Sunday driver, at moderate speeds and prudent thrashing. Would I be making a mistake to mount these Nexens tires on the Mark I ??? I know they will look very skinny, but the Mark I has kind of a unique look already...
Thanks for your thoughts !
Schmitty.
It will work fine. Rolling circumference will be slightly smaller & knock your speedo out a little. It's nice for a change to see a manufacturer show the correct aspect ratio on their tyres for older cars. Namely 80. I don't personally like the skinny look but it's not my car & they are ultra cheap.
From a looks point of view we all have our personal tastes. To me this is what a Mk1 should look like with a wider rear axle fitted. This is a very good looking car to me. I also like the racing lacing of the spokes. I was very tempted at the time to go that route but wanted to enter the car in concours so I stuck to stock.
My only worry about this is that the Mk1 handles poorly/erratically because of it's narrow rear axle & this might exacerbate that. Even Coombs fixed that very quickly for the track with a wider axle.(see below)
Those are Volkswagen Beetle tires, I had them on my 340 and they were too narrow and the car sat too low.
They did not look right at all.
You'll have trouble getting over huge speed bumps in parking lots.
Longstone tires in the UK have tires for the Citroen DS, they are 180 width _ the aspect ratio is not stated, but looks to be a 85 or even 90.
Those are Volkswagen Beetle tires, I had them on my 340 and they were too narrow and the car sat too low.
They did not look right at all.
You'll have trouble getting over huge speed bumps in parking lots.
Longstone tires in the UK have tires for the Citroen DS, they are 180 width _ the aspect ratio is not stated, but looks to be a 85 or even 90.
Yeah, they are expensive, but they look correct on my car anyway.
The 165's that I had were made by Dunlop, and were just too small.
The XAS is 80 aspect ratio for Citroen Jeff from the mouth of the Michelin Technical Director ~ Eric-Philippe Vinesse & remember the DS was front wheel drive so it handled well. It had a wide front track. The Hydropneumatic suspension handled speed bumps. You just shoved up the ride height.
first off.... i'm not a "tire guy", i buy pretty much the least expensive tires i can find, especially so for my vintage cars. i don't show or race, i drive often and far.
WRT the vreds and nexens? i've recently had experience with purchasing and running both, but NOT on my mk2.
IMO, the larger diameter of vreds vs nexens will provide about 4% more speed per RPM in all gears (reflected in an inaccurate speedometer). the width will possibly affect handling and, if there is no power steering, will require more effort when maneuvering at slow speeds. ...and, as mentioned, the price difference is not to be dismissed lightly!
i should note that on another forum involving another british marque, some expressed a concern that the wider tread on the vred was a safety concern with the width of the 4" rims on which i was mounting them. in fact, i noticed that they were indeed considered too wide for the rims by several "rules of thumb". but i bought them anyway, mounted them, inflated them to unreasonably low pressures (!) and have driven them extensively on those 4" rims, at break-neck cornering speeds i might add, without issue. IOW, they ain't comin' off them thar rims!
as previously mentioned, the car will sit higher off the ground with the vreds. it's noticeable if one is looking for it.
the nexens were perfectly acceptable to me and a great value.
I've fitted these to my 2.4 MK2 and they seem to be pretty good, perhaps not the ultimate performance but for a fair weather driver they seem to cling on, especially on the islands i've been testing it on recently.
