Best tyres for a 912 (or SWB 911) ?

[KS]

195/65x15 Vredestein Sportrac 3 – incredible dry grip and excellent in wet, too. Good price but purists won't like the look of the tread. Too bad.

Do you think you could run these with tubes? I don't fancy machining my deep 6's but would love to run them on the outlaw with a sticky tyre.

As far as I am aware, any tyre can be run with a tube (although a lot of people run tubeless on early Fuchs, too...)

[SeanP]

hi All
Mine's a 66' on 15" Chrome Steels. can you please advise the correct tyre size for these wheels? I've imported my and it's been fitted with much lower profile tyres than is standard.
thanks

Lewy

165/80 R15 are the standard size tyres for steels.

Regards

Sean

[Lightweight_911]

165 x 15

[lewy 912]

Cheers Sean

[Dougal Cawley]

Hi

I would suggest that 195/65 will give you a very different style of tyre that won't suit these cars unless they are modified to fit modern low profile tyres. The tyres will have a very different shape caracass that will not suit cars of this period so well. I would think you want 165R15 or 185/70R15, but importantly periods tyres with rounded shoulders to keep your handling progressive. more modern tyres, though they may hold on longer let go more suddenly than a rounded shouldered period tyre.

I think all the best tyres for you will be on this web page here http://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/page/porsche-911

and for those that can read German try an independent article from a German magazine

[gooders]

Just came across this PDF on the Porsche website, seems Porsche recomend Pirelli on SWB 912.

Link to PDFs here... http://www.porsche.com/uk/accessoriesan ... eapproval/

[Lightweight_911]

Well there are errors in that chart straight away:

- 6in wheels weren't fitted to swb models (first appearance on a 'production' 911 was '69 lwb model)
- 7in wheels with 23.3mm offset weren't available either ... & won't fit on a std swb model either
- don't think VR-rated 165x15 tyres were available 'back then' - HR-rated tyres should be more than adequate

[Steve Warson]

The VR 165R15 were produced because current German law requires a tire to be able to handle the car's listed top speed +10% to be listed on a new Fahrzeugbrief. Until recently that meant '67S and for example Toyota 2000GT and TR5 had to run incorrect tire sizes because there wasn't a V-rated 165 available. Old registrations could run HR, new registrations need V if top speed is within 10% of 210km/h.

[Tclynes]

Adding my 2 pence for anyone looking for tyres, 6k miles on my Michelin XAS 165/65's now and they are still great. In there has been heat and snow, mountain passes, Donington and two laps of the full La Sarthe circuit, still have plenty of life in them, but I'm working on that...

[Dougal Cawley]

Hi

No doubt the Michelin 165HR15 XAS is brilliant http://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/page/16 ... n-xas.html that was the tyre we strongly recomended until Pirelli got going and offered an alternative. I still think the XAS is the best motorway tyre. the Asymetric carcass improves directional stability at cruising speeds. they made a vast improvement to my Daimler V8 Saloon.

Pirelli some time ago made the correct 165HR15 Cinturato CA67 tyre for me; in an H rating http://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/page/16 ... -ca67.html these tyres came out in the early '50's and were one of the best sports car tyres of choice throughout the '60s and well into the '70s for little lightweight sports cars because they are so wonderfully progressive.

The CN36 came out in 1969 http://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/page/16 ... 36-n4.html . what they have done with this batch is made a wonderfully high specification tyre that can cover every eventuality.

I would suggest if you scour the fitment guide which is on this page http://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/page/cl ... sche-tyres in full, you will find other cars where they are offering recommendations for all those cars that have fitted wider rims, which is not uncommon in the Porsche world.

I think it is fair to say that this page offers all the best period tyres for these cars http://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/page/porsche-911

[Dougal Cawley]

Just as a heads up the article has now been translated to English on this web page http://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/page/cl ... sche-tyres