Tyres

[busybee]

For £250 a full set of Conti's delivered, Think they're great. If you get them, you'll laugh at how skinny they are compared to modern porker tyres.

[IanM]

If you get them, you'll laugh at how skinny they are compared to modern porker tyres.

I have seen SWB's on skinny tyres and I think they look fine. I think the CT22 tread pattern looks very nice.

Dougal (from Longstone tyres) did this drawing a while ago:

[Dougal Cawley]

yep.

I have to sell tyres for a living. My art career went out the window some time ago

[Dougal Cawley]

I’ve just bought a set of 4 continentals 165/80/15 from camskill. Just over £250 delivered. They look so skinny! Very period

The Conti tyres might be cheap, but they wont handle as well as the Pirelli on a car of your age.

[912Flyer]

I have a set of the 165 CN36's and am very pleased with them. I originally had modern 195 Contis on the 912 and in comparison the 165's feel better balanced and due to the profile of the tires the steering feeling has really improved.

I got stuck in a storm and they ran very well through standing water which is probably helped through their rounded profile as opposed to the flat modern conti's that I did have fitted.

There is quite a good article on an historic post on the performance of the Pirellis against Michelins, Blockleys and Conti Classics which helped me to decide. Is your car worth spending a grand on tyres? - to me, yes because I rag it around at full pelt. I was sold on Classic Tyres when I put Michelin XAS FF on my Elan and they utterly transformed the car.

[IanM]

Going on rims later this week as I'm having my wheels refurbished

Would like to see a picture please..

[Dougal Cawley]

I have a set of the 165 CN36's and am very pleased with them. I originally had modern 195 Contis on the 912 and in comparison the 165's feel better balanced and due to the profile of the tires the steering feeling has really improved.

I got stuck in a storm and they ran very well through standing water which is probably helped through their rounded profile as opposed to the flat modern conti's that I did have fitted.

There is quite a good article on an historic post on the performance of the Pirellis against Michelins, Blockleys and Conti Classics which helped me to decide. Is your car worth spending a grand on tyres? - to me, yes because I rag it around at full pelt. I was sold on Classic Tyres when I put Michelin XAS FF on my Elan and they utterly transformed the car.

XAS on an Elan would be great. I have had XAS on a few cars. I have an earlier Elite on Cinturato and they are fantastic. I'm currently trying to sell it https://paulmattysportscars.co.uk/lotus-elite-type-14/ because i have bought a racing Elite instead. But what a beautiful handling car.

The other thing that helps the grip of the CN36 in the wet is the modern compounds, but yes the carcass is suited to your car and should not do any of that nasty suprise aquaplaning.

I bet it feels fantastic after taking off 195 tyres. In every way it will be so much more of a pleasure to drive. the only advantage that those 195 tyres would give would be straight line braking in the dry. but really do you ever lock up your wheels?

[busybee]

I’ve just bought a set of 4 continentals 165/80/15 from camskill. Just over £250 delivered. They look so skinny! Very period

The Conti tyres might be cheap, but they wont handle as well as the Pirelli on a car of your age.

Really. You're the experts. What will be the difference? I run Conti's on my SC and 3.2 and like them a lot. For this 90hp when new car, I'm not sure I could tell the difference.

[busybee]

Going on rims later this week as I'm having my wheels refurbished

Would like to see a picture please..

Took about 5mins to resize the image but here you go. I like em.

[busybee]

And apologies for any delay. I don't check into DDK often.

[busybee]

Rear view

[IanM]

Looks good. Thanks

[Dougal Cawley]

Hmm They don't look that bad.

However i am going to picky about some subtleties.

I couldn't actually find anything about these tyes on the Continental web site. However i did find this description on another commercial tyre web site:-


Continental Contact CT22 product description & features
Offers outstanding travelling comfort and year round performance.
Lower rolling resistance for better fuel consumption.
Improved grip and road holding, especially in wet conditions.
The Continental CT 22 is a tyre designed with 'family' vehicles in mind. It provides high grade performance; a top quality driving experience and efficient handling has made the CT 22 a top choice as Original Equipment (OE) for many vehicles.


It is the "designed with 'family' vehicles in mind" bit that would steer me away from this tyre. This same web site has them for sale at £ 72-65. We sell a black wall Michelin XZX for £ 454.80 for a set of 4 tyres. That is a chunk more money, and i am not actaully receomending the XZX for a 912, because just like the CT22 it is a tyre that is "designed with 'family' vehicles in mind" however the reason why the XZX would be better for your car is that it is "designed with 'Classic family' vehicles in mind" in that the carcass structure of the XZX is more suited to your suspention. So when you look at the straight on picture of the XZX you will see how rounded the shoulders of the tyre are. This is important for classic cars because it keeps the steering and break away progressive.

However what i really suggest is that you don't consider cost in any way when you are buying tyres for your classic sports car. I suggest that the greatest contributor to the handling of your classic car is the tyres. You can spend all the money on restoring your car, but the handling won't be right if you just put cheap tyres on your car, and it will subtley change the characteristics of your car if you fit a tyre that doesn't have a carcass structure suited to your chassis.

It is my suggestion that you fit Pirelli Cinturato because https://www.cinturato.net/images/test-c ... s-0716.pdf

As far as the looks of the tyres go, the CT 22 doesn't look that bad actually. often moderrn tyres like the Vredestein for instance has all sorts of modern fangled grafics all over the side wall that looks a bit shouty and attention seeking, and in no way classic. the Continental side wall looks OK. The tread pattern, well that is wholey modern, but not the end of the world, those coloured lines will come off the minute you drive on them.

If you are buying on price i would think stumping up an extra £ 150 for the XZX will give you a better drive than the conti. However i guess stumping up an extra £ 150, isn't buying on price. Really, I just think of all things to scrimp and save on, not the tyres, it doesn't make sense on a sports car. Buy Cinturato or XAS. They are N homologated by Porsche, they cost more but they are better.

https://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/classi ... e/912.html