Hi People.

I'm looking at getting some new wheels for my project.

I have cornia fronts and capri rear axles.

Any idea what size of wheel / Tyre size combination I can get away with? I would like the wheels to be as large as possible and the tyres to be very low profile.

I want my baby to stick to the road as good as is possible within the confines of the arches. Please bear in mind that I have orderd the larger rear arches supplied by MK for use when fitting capri back axles.

I have ordered the two front ones as standard and would prefer all wheels to match.

I have the same ironmongery as you front and back and also wide arches.
My current wheels are 15"x7J. The tyres are 195/45x15". Fills the arches - that's for sure.
I am changing to 51/2"x13J revolution RFX wheels with 185/60x13" tyres. I prefer this type of setup. That's why my current wheel tyre combo is for sale. All virtually as new - open to neg. for a fellow locstbuilder

The stickiest wheels you can get (in the dry) are Avon ACB10's. If you try racing in them officials have been known to bump you into the racing slicks category. In the wet they are awful.

Now the down side - I haven't a clue what sizes they come in but i bet they aren't low profile cause that hurts road handling for mere mortals.

P.S.

The Yokohama A032R is right up there with the best of the sticky soft road legal racing tyres as well. Not the longest lasting right enough, but that's mot the point is it :-)

Personally I want something that moves around progressively and flatters my very limited talents . I couldn't handle all grip followed by no grip.

dont take my word for it but dont acb10 'sneed a certain amount of camber to work properly. I beleive caterham supply modified ears to account for this at the rear. I am not sure how you do that on an atlas axle.

if you want a good all rounder (i.e. can us in the wet) go for yokohama a021r in 185/70/13....Ill be getting a set in the next month or so.

Having raced on ACB's i would say they whilst been road legal are for track use only, not the longest life tyre in the world either....

apologies, more haste less speed on my part.
If stick is what you are after, pure and simple, i have heard good things about A048R, supposedly better alternative to the 32 and have experienced first hand the grip avaliable from the avon cr500.
in all cases wheels were 13 inch.

Thanks for the reply guys. So you don't really think that I should go for such low profile tyres and large wheels then.

I've actually been deliberating this. You see I've got MK fibreglass seats and nylon suspension bushes (front) and rubber at the back. However I think that the low profile tyres and large wheels would make the ride too harsh???

Comments please guys.

Mike R your tyres sound good to me because it's only going to be a fun car and I don't intend to take it out in the wet. With no screen and those seats who would want to.

Jon, what sort of milage would I get out of a set driving it like a nutter on the road?

Zillspeed, thanks for the offer but if the other comments and my fears are correct then I will be looking for some other wheels. Is this why you are looking at changing? Ride quality?

[Edited on 19/5/04 by VinceGledhill]

I've still not driven my car so everything i say is word of mouth (hence could be complete tosh)

but,

13" with 70 profile means,
lighter wheels (unsprung weight) than 15" with 50 /40 profile typres

70 profile means a forgiving tyre, you should get to know when it is getting to the limit and be able to react, 40 profile has a lot stiffer sidewall so when it gets to the limit it can let go with very little warning.

70 profile also acts as more of a spring giving you a slightly more complient ride on our wonderfully smooth roads

13x70 profile is usually cheeper in a tyre size than the 15x50 profile.

Hi mate,

I have driven a westie fitted with acb10's on the road and i would NOT reccomend them, white lines become dangerous. The chap who owned it reckoned you can kill a set within 1 to 2 track days (300miles) and his set lasted around 1500 miles on the road. He now has ao32r.

the 6.0/20.0/13 acb10 is a rolling rad of 264mm compared to a theoretical 288mm for a 195/50/15, i.e. expect upto 25mm loss of relative ground clearance.

Most people go for acb10 beacause they are so light, they are after all a formula ford racing tyre which happens to be e marked. I believe caterham have developed the CR500 with avon as a better alternative for road, race and fun usage.

I was told that acb10 are similar cost to cr500 at around £90-125 in 13 inch, however the cr500 should last 3 to 4 times longer. maybe john can advise better on this.

Having checked my facts the acb10 do need a modified setup to do there best, they are crossplies.

ao32r will cost you about £60-75 each and you should get 4-6k miles out of them. A021r will cost you under £50 if you but the right size and will last about the same time.

I have run mycar on numerous wheels for testing purposes over the last couple of years and found 185/60/13 and 185/70/13 to be the most linear/frienly feel, 195/50/15 are heavy (notiable on a bumpy road), but do give good turn in.

hopefully this all makes sense, my conlusion would be,

13 rims with yokohama a032/a048
15 rims with cr500

cheers,
Chris

think you'd struggle to do 750/1000k on the driven wheels before they became illegal.

Great guys thanks. OK, so I fancy some Avon CR500's.

I live in Leeds West Yorks. Anyone any ideas where I can get them from?

Any recommendation of light wheels?

Oh Sizes from the Avon website are as follows....

175/50/R15
175/55/R13
195/45/R15
195/55/R13
205/55/R13

So my question has to be which size should I go for given that I have got MK arches on order ?(larger capri ones for the back)

Can I get the 195/55/13s into the front wheelarch? Or will I have to go for the 175/55/13s?

[Edited on 21/5/04 by VinceGledhill]