After I have seen the photo of Mark Bradakis' good looking
Spitfire at WWW
Gee, thanks for the compliment. The picture in question shows the car with
the autocross wheels and tires on it. These are 13 x 8 lightweight alloy
wheels and 225/45/13 tires. I would not recommend this combo for the street.
That particular wheel weigh 7.75 pounds, I think, and they are a bit too thin
to survive curbs, potholes and such for very long without getting bent. But
if you want to try out a set, I may have a used 6" wide set coming up for sale
soon, as the fellow who raced on them will likely be going to 8" wide wheels
under his TR7. The 13 x 8 was about $140 new, 13 x 6 about $120.
The Mark 4, well, any of the squaretail Spits, '71 and later, have a fair
bit of room under the fenders. The aforementioned autocross combo fits under
nearly stock rear fenders, with just the inside lip hammered flat. The front
is another story. But for normal everyday driving, you should be able to fit
5, 5.5 or 6 inch wide wheels with little, if any, trouble. The wheels must
have 3.75" to 4" of backspace to clear the fenders and the suspension. This
will tranlsate to different offsets depending on the actual wheel used.
Any of these sizes can handle a 185/60/13 tire, though such a size seems to be
getting harder to find in general purpose street tires. Too many new cars
coming out with 16 and 17 wheels, I guess, to make continued refinements in
the 13" sizes profitable. I have been thinking about trying out some 15 x 6
wheels and small 50 sereis tires, just to see what happens. Maybe when I get
this brown Spit I have out of the garage and on the road I cna think about
it some more.
mjb.
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