Barry A. Waters

Folks,

I'm attempting to source new tires for my '86 Carrera. I have 15"x7" Fuchs on the front and 15"x8" Fuchs on the rear - a common setup as I understand it.

I currently have P205/60 R15 Goodyear Eagle HPs on the front and P225/60 R15 Goodyear Eagle HPs on the rear. I'm being told by local tire dealers that the fronts are rare but still available and the backs are out of production and can't be found. I'm open to any other quality brand but am having trouble finding anything in the sizes I want with the appropriate speed rating.

These sizes work fine for the wheelwell/fender clearance issues (the car is autocrossed occasionally with no problems) and I want to stick with them.

What are my options on this issue? I don't want to go to 16" Fuchs or a lower profile (50s) tire. What are you guys in the same situation doing?

Thanks,

Barry

fixnprsh

BFG G-force sports availible at Tire Rack in those sizes

r911

I run S03's

imcarthur

Barry

Are you sure you couldn't be talked into 55/50 series?



87 with 205/55-15 & 225/50-15 Toyo Proxes T1-S

Superb tires.

Ian

84_Carrera

I second Ian's vote on the T1-S; it's a fantastic street tire (I used them as my track rains at Road Atlanta last year), if you can find them in a size you can live with, and they're not that expensive.

Dan Cobb

I also have SO-3s in those sizes. I'm not sure how long they will be available, but until these are worn it really doesn't matter too much. I'll probably go with 17" wheels once I have trouble locating decent 15" tires.
+++

DGaunt

Your're right about the limited choices in 15" sizes. The way things are going it is a matter of time before we are forced to go to 16 or even 17" wheels just for av availability. If you can afford to, you might want to ride the leading edge of that wave.

GrantG

Toyo RA-1's are fantastic tires in the 205/50 and 225/50 sizes. They are primarily track tires, but work well on the street too (not when it's cold out though).

Good deals here:
http://www.bmwwheels.com/bmwwheels_toyo_tires.asp

Oops, now I see that you want a taller tire. Is the lower gearing not an advantage for AutoX?

GrantG

Have you ever tried those? I just noticed they come in good sizes for my 993 and they are cheap!!!

GrantG

There is a new Toyo street tire called the T1-R that is supposedly better:

http://www.toyo.com/tires/tire_lines...s_car/tr1.html

pjc

I believe that Michelin do still make 15" tyres in their "classic" range - they are not advertised but should be available as special order.

PJC

Barry A. Waters

Finally found something for the 8" Fuchs on the rear. Goodyear Eagle GT-HR tires in P225x60 R15 H speed rated. Let me explain a bit here. When I originally purchased the car it had very worn Michelin Pilots (V speed rated I think) at P205x60 R15 on the front 7" Fuchs and slightly worn P225x60 R15 H speed rated Goodyear Eagle HP tires on the rear.

As the car is basically a street car (some autocross for skill honing - not trophy hunting) I wanted to replace the fronts with the same tires as were on the rear so composition, tread design, etc. would match and give me more predictable handling on the street.

The H speed rating (130 MPH - short term) was OK for me even though the car's manual shows around 146 MPH as a top speed. I've been able to use the most powerfull computer on board the car - my brain! - to ensure I don't exceed the tires speed capability.

The problem is that the rear tires, due to weight distribition, seem to wear about twice as fast as the fronts. Since I started with mismatched tires my next change should even out to all four tires needing replacement. Fronts are currently slighty worn with the rears now being new.

Once the next tire change comes around I'll get an appropriately speed rated tire for all four corners and then be able to lift my artificial speed restriction (as if I ever drive over 130 on the street - give me a break...).

The compound, design and wear characteristics between the HPs and the GT-HRs seem to be very compatible on paper and by eyeballing so there should be no strange handling traits with this setup.

Can't wait to get to a readily available premium tire for my R15s once this last cycle is over! Just hope R15s are still around when that happens as the HPs seem to wear very well with decent dry/wet performance (wet is VERY important in Florida!) and I'm assuming the GT-HRs will do the same.

Just had to report back on my quest - of course if the car demanded nothing but tires I'd of trashed the great fronts in a second but, alas, a 19 year old car does rightfully start asking for other things around this time! :-)

Barry