Tyre Alternatives

[Kenyon]

I know tyres have been done to death all over the place... And I know you are best advice is to get up to Longstone Tyres... end of! But I dot think I can get up there.

I need some new tyres for my 356B. Its currently on 165 15 86s Firestones and they're too old. Does anyone know of the equivalent in modern sizes of the above? She looks a bit over-tyred, but may be that's just the way.

Also, I'd assumed the tryes will have tubes, but the current tyres say they are tubeless. Could that be correct (i.e. tubeless)? Wheels are original.

Many thanks

[neilbardsley]

Are you sure the profile is 86? I last had 165/80R15 87T VRED T-TRAC fitted. If you don't want the T-TRAC then the do a Sport - Trac or Classic (which lots on here like). There are quite a few mobile fitters you can get them from.

I think mine are tubeless

[roy mawbey]

I have Firestones on my car, they are tubeless on original wheels. I questioned no innertubes and the fitters said no problem. That was over 5 years ago now. They run well.

Below a link for all current tyres from Longstone suitable for 356 might help your choose..

http://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/page/porsche-356

Roy

[Kenyon]

Thanks very much. Really appreciate this.

I think the reference to 86 is the load index. The car's at my folks and I understand the tyres only have 165R15 86 marked on them. So a bit of half information. Bit of googling - I think then they are Firestone 165R15 F560. Which would make them 165 / 65 / R15s.

I took a look and the Vredsteins look good.

Cheers for the help with this.

[Andy J]

I had a very good deal from Camskill tyres with Vredastein sprint classics a few months ago.

Worth a look .

[roy mawbey]

Yes, I run Firestone F560 tyres on my original wheels. I like the look of them and so far over the years they have run well. But.. I am no racer , drive my car just as you would a daily driver, so cannot comment on how they act under really hard driving.

Many do have the 'Vreds' fitted and are pleased with them as well.

I have heard could be wrong Langstone don't sell the F560 tyres now as they have risen in price??

Not checked that but there does seem to be a lot of choice now.

Tyres have to good I believe, the Michelin X tyres I used to run many years ago always looked and worked fine, the newer styles they have now might also be good??

Roy

[Winston Teague]

I also ran Firestone F560 tyres, they worked well and were cheap. Have now put bigger vanity wheels on with a set of part worn Avon CRzz tyres i got f-o-c. Longstone still do the Firestones, but don't push them as they are now made in the far east and are of reduced quality. I'm sure the Vreds will work well. W

[vwgillybilly]

I'll vouch for the Vreds - a very nice tyre.

Gill

[Merv]

My spare is an old Firestone. The road tyres are all new Vreds. Very pleased with their look and performance.

[roy mawbey]

Thanks Winston for advising about where the F560's are now made. I think mine hopefully will still last for a long time, they seem to ageing better than me.

Roy

[Rob 911/356]

You don't need to go up to longstone, I ordered mine over the phone and they delivered.

Rob

[Kenyon]

Cheers for all the input. This was really helpful. I'm sorted now.

BTW, I think I was wrong above referring to the Firestones as 65 profile: "Firestone 165R15 F560. Which would make them 165 / 65 / R15s". I'm told that where tyres don't show the profile they are usually an 80.

Just in St Petersburg at the moment - There's a surprising number of Porsches, like a lot... though nothing older than a 997!

[Dougal Cawley]

that is what cars of this peridoHi

I believe this page has pretty much most of the options http://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/page/porsche-356

This is a fitment guide from Porsche https://docs.google.com/viewerng/viewer ... lassik.pdf but i don't suppose Porsche know as much as we do about the variety of classic tyres available. What they have done is get involved with Pirelli and produce this V rated and N4 Porsche homologated tyre http://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/page/16 ... 36-n4.html which without doubt are brilliant.

There are other really good option:-

http://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/page/16 ... n-xas.html 1965 tyre. Before Pirelli and Porsche got involved with classic tyres this was our simple recommendation as it was far better than anything else. Still if you are considering long distances on dual carriage ways this is probably the best as the XAS was developed to help earlier cars handle high speed cruising better by improving the directional stability. I have had a couplle of cars on XAS and they truly are a great tyre, specially for fast cruising.

http://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/page/16 ... -ca67.html 1952 tyre. I kind of disagreed with Porsche when they homologated the CN36 as the tyre they recomend, because it is a 1968 tyre so not really right. However, it is fair to say it is better for the likes of early 911 and 914. But really the CA67 is more correct. It is the only tyre that is produced today that you could have fitted in period i believe. These are the tyre for sports cars of the late 50's and '60s. they were fitted by Ferrari, Maserati, Lotus, etc because when it came to predictable hard driving on the throttle they were a radial tyre that gave very progressive predictable handling. granted when you chucked it into a corner they would start moving underneath you earlier than a more modern tyre, but that is what you want because they do it gracefully and controllably, so you could handle it. that is the way cars of this period worked. the rest of the chassis is not built for heaps of ultimate grip. so these earlier cars don't suit modern tyres. Without doubt when i thrashed my Lotus Elite into work this morning on the CA67 Cinturato's i virtually had the door handles scraping on the floor, but there were no unpleasant surprises.

All the other stuff out there just aren't sports car tyres. Here is a good comment that usually gets everyone revved up. there are only 3 reasons you would not choose one of the 3 above tyres
1/ racing
2/ you have wider wheels and you need a wider tyre like a http://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/page/18 ... 36-n4.html or http://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/page/18 ... cr6zz.html
3/ Price.

[Kenyon]

Dougal - Thanks very much for the detailed reply. That's really helpful.

I wondered where tyres are period correct and fitted by Porsche at the time (i.e. Pirelli CA67), has tyre technology not moved over the last 50 years to make these obsolete?

Appreciate your point about the design of the chassis but assume not as they wouldn't be for sale. Seems strange as we are bombarded with adverts about the advances in tyre technology from the major suppliers.

[Dougal Cawley]

Tyryes have advanced to suit the cars that are being produced today

and

cars have advanced to take advantage of the developments of tyre design.

I am not an artist:-