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RE: Tire poll

To: "Triumphs@autox. Net" <Triumphs@autox.team.net>
Subject: RE: Tire poll
From: "Randall Young" <Ryoung@navcomtech.com>
Date: Thu, 4 Mar 2004 16:01:51 -0800
> However, I don't want a
> bone-jarring ride either.  So with that in mind, I'd like to hear from
> people with more aggressive rubber on their street cars.

Ashford, I have 205/55-15 on my daily driver TR3A, with uprated bushings but
stock spring rates (except for sway bars front & rear).  Ride quality
depends a great deal on the tires themselves, but I have not noticed any
great reduction in ride quality.

> but is something like a Dunlop Sport A2

I did not like the Sport A2 on my TR3A at all.  Lousy traction both wet and
dry.  The ride might have been just marginally better but after I almost
spun out just making a normal left turn onto a damp street, I got rid of
them ASAP.

> Michelins are nice, but pricey.

My experience with Michelins has been that they ride very harsh and offer
only mediocre performance.  No doubt different for different models of tire,
but they don't offer any really high performance tires in my size anyway.

> Yokohamas?

I tried a set of Yoko AVS-I, didn't care for them much.  They were OK, I'd
buy them again if there wasn't anything else.

The Bridgestone RE71 on the car worked very well when they were new, but
apparently I've managed to heat cycle them to death just driving on the
street.  With about 50% tread gone, they started feeling very hard and
slick.  That may have had something to do with my not checking tire
pressures religiously, I apparently let them get down below 20 psi and that
(combined with high speed driving in CA/NV heat) may be what did them in.

They're no longer available in my size, so this time I bought Bridgestone
S03 Pole Position.  Haven't tried them yet, tho.

Oh, to answer someone else's question ... the TR6 takes taller tires than
the TR2-4.  Going to 16" rims may be the easiest way to keep the original
rolling diameter in a 60 series tire, without going impossibly wide.
Shorter sidewalls can also help handling.

BTW, 205/55-15 is shorter than the stock TR3A tires.  It was an easy way to
lower the car without upsetting the suspension geometry or travel, and since
my speedo is wildly inaccurate anyway (wrong calibration number for my
axle), I don't care about the speed mismatch.  The speedo is for a 4.10
axle, so the short tires actually bring it closer to actual <g>

Randall





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