Uncle Jack wrote:
>I'm curious -- for you folks struggling with the
>issue of flares, how do you feel about the rules
>pertaining to wheel width and tire sizes?
And Bill Dentinger, whose opinion I value (based upon a combination of
genuine respect and mortal fear), wrote:
>I am running my TR3 on 5" wheels . . .
>I feel that wheels should be limited to 1" wider
>than came with the car (from the manufacturer).
>Past that, I do not believe the aspect ratio should
>be less than 70%.
My only vintage experience is with VSCDA where: "Wheels should meet original
specifications for diameter, width, and offset. Where original sizes are no
longer available, wheels of the same diameter, within 1/2" of the original
width may be substituted."
Despite the fact that stock 5 1/2" steel wheels for a TR6 are obviously
'available', this rule apparently means that my TR6 can wear 6" wide wheels.
Finding 6 1/2" rims (Bill's proposed limit) might be a problem. Personally,
I'd rather not see the wheels and/or tires get wider since I don't relish
the prospect of putting even MORE stress on the fragile parts that are
currently connecting my car to its wheels.
VSCDA rules also provide that: "Tires should be as close as possible in
size, including tread width, section and diameter, to the original
equipment. Original racing type tires are preferred. The aspect ratio-height
divided by width- must be at least 60 percent for all Vintage cars and at
least 50% for all Historic Production based sports cars. All of the vintage
and historic production based racing cars must use tires with a full width
molded tread pattern."
I know that I can be maddeningly slow on the uptake, but I still don't quite
understand the point of requiring flares to be removed on genuine race cars
if everyone is limited by the same size wheel, tire and track dimensions
anyway . . .
Jim Hill
Madison WI
|