"Berang" (berang)
02/23/2016 at 17:17 • Filed to: tires
0
15|
"Berang" (berang)
02/23/2016 at 17:17 • Filed to: tires | 0
| 15 |
The 96 is in need of new tires. The old tires have hardened to the point that they’re scary in the wet, and they weren’t very good in the first place. There are only a few tires available in the sizes I need, which you’d think would make the choice easier, but it doesn’t.
The stock tire size for this car is 155 80 R15, and it is currently fitted with 165 80 R15 tires. 175 tires will rub the springs in front so there’s not much choice available. I could go with a lower profile 165, and there are some nice tires in this size, but even a 165 60 R15 would result in an extremely optimistic speedometer (plus the car is already under-geared with a 4.88 final drive).
In either 165 R15 or 155 R15, there are a number of cheap, crap tires, which I don’t want to touch. Nankangs have lots of bad reviews, Kumho has discontinued tires in that size, leaving Nexen as the only cheap tire that anybody has anything good to say about. But for only a little bit more, one can find Firestone F560 tires (made for Coker, apparently in the Ukraine) and for a bit more than that, Vredestein Sprint Classics.
The Firestones are cheaper than the Vredesteins by a hair, and have a little bit newer tread design, although they still look old, and should be fine - but reviews are mixed. Some people say they’re complete shit, others say they’re better than most other tires in this size. This seems to be the tire of choice for vintage volkswagens though, and yet the VW crowd has not written much in the way of reviews.
The Vredesteins are interesting as they have an older style of tread, and look a lot like the rock hard Continental tire on my spare wheel (which I think probably is genuine 70s vintage - yes it’s getting swapped out too). There are a lot of good reviews of these tires - but also a lot of warnings that they’re no good in the rain. I also don’t know where I can buy them locally, but online they’re available for $90 a tire.
So the choice is between two vintage looking tires (which would be cool) or a cheap, modern tire, the Nexen, which should perform fine in wet and dry, but may have common cheap tire problems. I could afford a set of any of them, although going with either of the cheaper options leaves me with more money to take care of other needs elsewhere on the car (the Vredesteins would effectively max out my car budget for the next two months) I doubt that anybody here has experience running any of these tires, but if you do, I’d like to hear about your experiences.
Steve in Manhattan
> Berang
02/23/2016 at 17:28 |
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Get the best tires - that’s the only place your car comes into contact with the road. Hopefully ...
Where do you live?
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Berang
> Steve in Manhattan
02/23/2016 at 17:33 |
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Texas. The problem is the good tires both have mixed reviews, and I know well enough that more money doesn’t necessarily mean better product. More than likely if I can find the Firestones locally and can’t find the Vredesteins, then that will make the choice for me.
Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
> Berang
02/23/2016 at 17:38 |
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Is that a Saab? I love buying tires. Based upon what you’ve presented here, I’d be buying the Vredesteins and applying some extra caution when wet.
Übel
> Berang
02/23/2016 at 17:53 |
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Nankangs have bad reviews? They were all pretty good when I was shopping for tires for the Ghia, in fact that’s what I’ve got on it right now.
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Berang
> Übel
02/23/2016 at 17:56 |
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I saw several complaints of slipped belts, and out of round tires, so I figured it would be best to avoid them. I know a couple of Saab guys run them and haven’t had problems, but as this is my only car I don’t want to risk anything.
Hot Takes Salesman
> Berang
02/23/2016 at 18:03 |
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I guess on the worn tires you’re a...
Sultan of Swing?
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Übel
> Berang
02/23/2016 at 18:06 |
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Huh, I must’ve missed those. Everything seems fine for me so far, but I’ve only put a thousand miles on them. Fingers crossed though
deekster_caddy
> Berang
02/23/2016 at 18:37 |
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I have similarly sized Kumhos on my ‘54 MG instead of the “correct” michelins that everyone seems to put on them. Happens to be the same size tire as a lot of old beetles, so even JC Whitney carried them! Overall I’ve been happy with their performance. I don’t take it out much in the rain, at least not on purpose, and on a cruise in October I got caught in a snowstorm and didn’t spin out or crash, so that’s good. I don’t drive it far or fast, so I wasn’t too worried that the cheap tires would screw me over.
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deekster_caddy
> Berang
02/23/2016 at 18:38 |
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Given your options, I would try to get the Firestones or Cokers. At least they have a reputation to uphold.
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Berang
> deekster_caddy
02/23/2016 at 20:28 |
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I’m going to check the local VW places and see if maybe they still have some Kumhos hanging around.
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deekster_caddy
> Berang
02/23/2016 at 20:37 |
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Sorry, I meant that I got lucky that my MG had the same size tire as the beetle. I think it was 165/85-14 or something like that. Yours are 15s. I’d have to go out to the garage to check. Anyway, there aren’t a lot of options in those sizes, so good luck! Do check to see if there are ‘vintage’ Michelins available in that size.
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Berang
> deekster_caddy
02/23/2016 at 20:42 |
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I looked those up, but they’re both very expensive, and poor performers. Some people swear by them, but in actual comparisons I have read they’re either not special or worse than Firestones. It’s a lot of money for a period correct look, but not necessarily the most practical solution for a daily driver.
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deekster_caddy
> Berang
02/23/2016 at 20:49 |
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Yeah, I didn’t go with them just based on price. But they are available... The old ones had been on the car for 25 years and still worked well. I replaced them because of cracking in the tread and sidewalls, and ended up having to replace all of the tubes at the same time. So there is something to be said for those Michelins - they do last a long time!
torque
> deekster_caddy
02/24/2016 at 13:53 |
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That leaves 1 choice b/c the “Firestone” (F560) looks like it is made by Coker. Coker seems to be the “go to” place for classic tire sizes that usually are not made any more. Coker (I think) gets the rights to remake (and of course sell) major brand name tire designs for classic cars.
https://www.cokertire.com/catalogsearch/…
That’s what I’d go with as well.
davidpgals
> Berang
02/24/2016 at 15:08 |
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I have a set of 5 155/15 Vredesteins on my Saab 96 and they are great. No problems in the wet and the ride and holding is just fantastic with them on. I got a really good deal from the company in the UK called Jungle Tyres so whether they could send some over to the States or not I do not know but maybe worth looking into. The tyres were about 240 UK pounds for the set of five. Also just fitted a Weber carb to my baby and it has really made a difference over the FoMoCo carb so I am now looking forward to the Summer and a long tour across Europe !