Tucker the Rallyfortwo Update: It's Time

"Mercedes Streeter" (smart) 08/30/2017 at 11:55 • Filed to: rallyfortwo

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My tyres are absolutely wrecked, so it’s time to invest in my first stage of the lift kit (the ED suspension) and I’m back looking for A/Ts. I hope to have them installed before the end of next week!

At the same time, I removed the bumper bar. The lights were way too heavy for it. I will be finding a different solution (like a real bush guard). For the meantime, I reverted back to just the two service flap lights. I mean, I kinda sorta like this look more anyway. *shrug*.

Before

After. (I also re-wired my fog lights so they work now, just need to replace a bulb.)

If anyone knows of any small sized A/Ts out there please contact me! :)

benjrblant > Mercedes Streeter 08/30/2017 at 12:10

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I’d address suspension and making sure those tires will fit first. Smallest A/T off the top of my head is the BFG KO2 at 215/75R15.

Michael > Mercedes Streeter 08/30/2017 at 12:14

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Look into UTV/SxS tires...

What size wheel do you want to run?

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Mercedes Streeter 08/30/2017 at 12:20

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http://www.rm-autosports.com/tire/

These guys out of Colorado sell rally tires, which are probably going to be your best bet for finding a capable AT tire in small car friendly sizes. My guess would be that you’d want the harder rubber compounds, but even then there is probably no real guarantee of good treadlife on the street.

benjrblant > Michael 08/30/2017 at 12:27

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Those are not DOT approved or street legal.

HammerheadFistpunch > Mercedes Streeter 08/30/2017 at 12:28

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I know they make small grabber AT2 and small BGF KO (not sure about the KO2)

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=BFGoodrich&tireModel=All-Terrain+T%2FA+KO2&partnum=175SR5KO2&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes

HammerheadFistpunch > Mercedes Streeter 08/30/2017 at 12:33

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https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=General&tireModel=Grabber+AT+2&partnum=075TR5GRAT2OWL&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes

vicali > Mercedes Streeter 08/30/2017 at 13:01

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Gravel rally tires are going to be expensive and terrible on the street. You might look at a ‘snow’ type winter like the Winterforce.. Basically what people are running for RallyX already.

If you want a small A/T -> General makes a lot of the smaller end sizes Grabber AT2 is the most common. Yoko Geo At-s are pretty small. You might find some old stock BFG TA/KO in the smaller size as well.

Subaru peeps are looking for the same thing..

vicali > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 08/30/2017 at 13:04

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Yikes, don’t buy new gravel rally tires.. if you want to try them (note: they suck on road) find a team with year-olds and buy them used.. Hit up the SS classigfieds; http://www.specialstage.com/

Mercedes Streeter > Michael 08/30/2017 at 13:14

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Looks like I’m going to need bigger wheels xD Looks like the maximum tyre widths for my wheels (195) do not come in A/T flavour!

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > vicali 08/30/2017 at 13:28

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I agree with this one. If you can get some real A/T’s that small grab em right away, but otherwise the RallyX guys in my region either run Winterforce or Genetal Altimax Artic (which I own and plan to rally on)

Mercedes Streeter > benjrblant 08/30/2017 at 13:29

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Looks like to fit the tyres period I’ll have to get wider wheels...That or settle for winter tyres. I may have to wait on the A/Ts since wide wheels for smarts are a fortune. lol

benjrblant > Mercedes Streeter 08/30/2017 at 13:34

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Many A/T tires such as the BFG KO2 and the General Grabber AT2 carry a M+S or snowflake rating so they are as effective as snow tires. It’s possible to mount a wider tire on a non-matching rim width. I’m unsure of the safe limit but having a 70 or 75 profile sidewall helps.

I’d think if your factory size is 155/60R15 that you should be able to mount a 205 or 215/75R16 just fine but check with an expert. Might have some inner fender rubbing, especially in the front.

HammerheadFistpunch > Mercedes Streeter 08/30/2017 at 13:35

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Your rates are 5.5 which is acceptable with the 205 grabbers. Can you get some 5.5s for the front with different offset?

Mercedes Streeter > HammerheadFistpunch 08/30/2017 at 13:51

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Wait, 205s will fit on a 5.5? Oh shoot my fronts are 5.5s!

Textured Soy Protein > benjrblant 08/30/2017 at 14:11

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M+S rating means absolutely nothing. Any tire that’s designed to supposedly have mud and/or snow traction can have the M+S stamp but there’s no test that tire needs to pass to verify its abilities in those conditions. Basically every all-season car and truck tire has an M+S stamp.  

The mountain snowflake stamp means the tire is severe snow duty rated. This is tied to an actual test of the tire’s abilities in deep snow. Some all-terrain tires, including the Grabber AT2, have both the M+S and mountain snowflake symbol. Here they are on the AT2s on my old Grand Cherokee:

The mountain snowflake is generally only on dedicated winter tires, and some all-terrain and commercial traction truck tires. Because those are the only tires that can pass the severe snow duty test.

benjrblant > Textured Soy Protein 08/30/2017 at 14:19

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Thank you for the clarification. Guess I had wrong information.

Both the BFG KO2 and the Grabber AT2 have a mountain snowflake rating.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 08/30/2017 at 15:14

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Gravel tires are not actually approved for road use and are marked for competition only (rally cars are road legal in that they get license plates but there are numerous illegal things about them). Wear on pavement probably won’t be a total nightmare as the compounds are rather hard already compared to something like a sticky autocross type tire and they have a lot of tread depth. The bigger issue is that they have very poor grip on a smooth surface like pavement. They make their grip by digging into the surface and you can’t dig into pavement. They are also completely useless as soon as the temperature drops below 45 or 50. They turn into rocks with 0 give to the compound at all.

HammerheadFistpunch > Mercedes Streeter 08/30/2017 at 15:31

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That’s what the grabber at2 data sheet says

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 08/30/2017 at 15:54

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In my experience with them on the road, they have reasonable amounts of grip on dry pavement, but TONS of tread squirm. They’re also heavy, so there is an unsprung weight penalty with them.

 An old racing friend of mine has a Volvo 240 rally car (that also did some occasional club racing) that was also his DD for many, many years in the 90's and 00's. He ran gravel tires on it 3 seasons of the year and snow tires during the winter. I drove it a couple of times on both the street with rally tires and on racetracks with R-compound rubber. Ironically, I never drove it on dirt. I don’t know what his tire life was like beyond that he replaced his gravel tires all the time. He also lived about 50 miles outside the city, and his house was about 15 miles down a properly twisty dirt road in the mountains, so he was putting serious mileage on the car commuting and giving it rally practice every single day.

Mercedes Streeter > HammerheadFistpunch 08/30/2017 at 15:56

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Grabbers ftw then! :D

jonny11quest > Mercedes Streeter 08/30/2017 at 15:59

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Like others, I vote winterforce snow tires. They are the go to rallyx tire.

MM54 > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 08/30/2017 at 19:57

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I have a set of winterforces that I run in the winter on my crown vic. They are very good in the snow and excellent in mud.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > MM54 08/31/2017 at 09:12

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Yep, in the Metro Detroit RallyX scene there are basically 2 types of guys, Winterforce guys and Arctic guys.

I’ve had such a great experience running General Altimax RT43's on my DD that I decided to stick with General. Oh and they were about 20 bucks less per tire, that didn’t hurt either!

Rally Capri still isn’t ready for racing unfortunately so I haven’t tested them out yet. But they’re happily waiting in the garage for prime time.

MM54 > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 08/31/2017 at 20:47

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I so very badly wish we had rallycross around here.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > MM54 09/01/2017 at 10:41

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Where you located?

If in the US, talk to SCCA regional group and try and start it.

MM54 > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 09/03/2017 at 19:39

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NE Ohio

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > MM54 09/05/2017 at 10:32

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If you drive west there’s a ton of it with in a few hours ride.

There’s an active ohio group down in pretty much south west ohio ( http://ovr-scca.org/results/rallycross/ ) and then you can hang a right and head up into Michigan for even more. Detroit area SCCA actually has a race in Wauseon Ohio which might be the closest to you from this side ( http://drscca.org/rallycross/ )

Not exactly next door, but I even have to ride an hour and a half to get to one of the Detroit SCCA events and I’m right in metro-Detroit.

MM54 > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 09/05/2017 at 18:00

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I’d readily do an hour and a half for rallycross (I sometimes drive 2 hours to meet up with friends for autox) but the SW corner of Ohio is more like 4 hours, which isn’t happening as a day trip. Detroit might be the closest, and that’s still 2.5 hours out. Those are also a long ways to tow my car back after I break it :)

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > MM54 09/06/2017 at 14:32

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hahaha depends on what you race and how hard you push.

I’ve rallyX’ed my DD Mercury Milan twice and drove it home both times.