Catching up with the list and someone wrote about 185x15's being bit
large in the fender well. I found this ironic as last spring there was a
thread about tire sizes and I thought this was the size recommended as
an upgrade. I mentioned I had Sears (Michelin) Roadhandler 165x15's
which I had on the original 4" Rims, bought in '96. When I swapped these
to the mini-lites, which have 5 1/2" rims- the ride and the handling
were much improved. As I began to enjoy the car going on outings, CTR
and TRAC club events, etc, I noticed, with a handheld GPS, that 3500 RPM
in 4th gear was not giving me a real 70MPH, as indicated on the speedo.
I was really closer to 65mph. At 4000 RPM the difference is more
astounding- like 74MPH instead of 80MPH. I then realized the wider
rims made my 165 x 15's run like 'low-profile' tires, improving ride
and handling- but the overall circumference of the tire is somewhat
reduced. I'm wondering if the 185's - would solve a lot of problems.
So now I see the advantage again (besides lower Engine RPM) that an
overdrive tranny would provide. I've come to learn that Waterloo
Drivetrains has a 5-speed conversion, that might make more practical
sense then trying to convert my 35 year old box. I love the TR
tranny-the choppy shifter etc- that gives a lot of the pleasure to the
'TR experience'.
Thus I could never do a 'Fred Thomas' long distance TR run with the
present set-up.
See related next post on Fan Imbalance/Electric Fan above 3800 RPM.
Sherman
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