New tyres- what size to go for?

[Kilroy]

Yes.
I had to fold about half inch more steel on the front guard, and also the left rear.
With the offset my rims have, the top of the rear guard rubs when under full compression - but only on the left side.
It seems the axle is slightly offset towards the left side of the body.
The front guard only contacts at the trailing edge of the wheel arch at the very inner front.
The Mk3 chin spoiler also makes contact, so I modified them too.
Won't make the concours I'm afraid...

[Marinanut]

175/70 x 13 give a good ride and grip; had them on my 1.8 Special back in the day and with Grayston rear spring assisters it certainly handled a lot better.

[Kilroy]

I recently gave the guy who owns this..





.. a drive in this...






He could not believe how different it felt on the road. Much more stable. He is now considering replacing his 25mm spaced Dolomite rims with some 7" jobs.
And I might add that the saloon still has the soft 2 leaf rear springs in it - so his pickup should feel pretty stable anyway.
Perhaps there is a difference in the behaviour of the tyre too. The lower profile on the 205's possibly makes the sidewalls flex less than standard sizes.

Unless you've tried them - you would not begin to appreciate how different the whole car feels on 7" rims and appropriate rubber.
As I have mentioned before - the track ends up 3" wider, and what with a bit of mild lowering, the roll centre must be greatly lowered.
I now find I can attack corners at speeds that my bumcheeks can't handle...

Now there's a nice image to leave you all with..

[JoshWard]

The limiting factor for Josh will be rim width.

I beg your pardon :shock:


The front wheels are now wearing 165x70x13, just got to sort out the brakes and put the front wheels back on then I'll get the rear ones done.