Mike...
I have a Mk1 Lotus Cortina with the same wheel/tire sizes that I vintage race
and sometimes run in road events (hillclimbs, rallyes, etc.). I sometimes
use the Bridgestone RE-71R, 185/60-13 on the 5.5in rims and they work just
fine and are very sticky. They also work excellent in the wet and are my
rain tires of choice. I also sometimes run BFG T/A R1's in 205/60-13. These
are available in a 185 also. They are very sticky and I've also race them in
the rain, although they have less tread than the Bridgestones. I've also
tried Toyo Proxes RA-1s in 185 and 205s. All of these will fit on the 13 X
5.5 stock Locort rims. I'm not a fan of the bias ply Hoosiers. I hear the
radials are very sticky but they have virtually no tread at all. One of the
vintage groups I run with has banned them (CSRG). For an all around
road/rain/competition tire, the Bridgestone is the best value. There are
still some dealers here with leftover RE71R soft compound tires from the old
SCCA spec racer series and sell them for around $40-$50 each NEW!! You can't
beat it for the money. All the other choices are around $100/tire +/-
I also run the Porterfield Carbon Kevlar pads with excellent results, EXCEPT
when they get worn about 1/2 way down and under heavy use, the pad material
separates from the backing plate. I've had this happen twice now. If I
replace them before wearing to this level, I've had excellent performance
from them...better braking, less fade, less abuse to the rotor, no
overheating the fluid, etc.
Hope this helps.
Myles H. Kitchen
MHKitchen@aol.com
1965 Lotus Cortina MK1 #128
Look for me at Steamboat this weekend.....
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