14' wheels and tires

[Jeb Stuart]

I just bought a set of 14" X 5.5" minilite copies - by MWS. I would like to get tires for them that are the same height and width as my old 13" tires. My current tires are 175/80/13 they are 22 1/2'' H & 6'' W. I know there is a formula but I am history major so to save myself some brain damage has anyone else done this or know which size I'd needed? Maybe 185/60/14 or 185/65/14? My SIII front end is lowered an inch (by Rick Cline - Atlanta area) or so just because I think all Alpines look a little high up front. The rear suspension is the regular height. I have the spacers from Sunbeam Specialties on the back.

 

[64beam]

Hi Jeb,

I was always in the belief that the correct size for the Alpine's tyres were 13/175/70 (after conversion). At an 80 profile I think your speedo calibration would be out. Hopefully someone can confirm this. With the 14" rim, I pretty sure that you will require a 60 or 65 profile.

Regards, Robin.

 

[Jeb Stuart]

Does this look correct? So the 175/65/14 would be closest?

Tire Sizes
13†Wheels
Width = 175 Sidewall = 80 Wheel = 13
Diameter = 24 Section Width = 6.9 Section Height = 5.5

14†Wheels 175 Tires
Width = 175 Sidewall = 65 Wheel = 14
Diameter = 23 Section Width = 6.9 Section Height = 4.5

Width = 175 Sidewall = 60 Wheel = 14
Diameter = 22.3 Section Width = 6.9 Section Height = 4.1

 

[Bill Blue]

Jeb, probably the best thing you could do is muck around the internet, looking at tires and sizes. A good place to start is the tirerack.co site. Here is a sample of what you can see:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Spec....&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes&place=0

Note the diameter is given for each size offered in that tire line. Different makes/ lines may have different sizes available, but the basic dimensions will be similar for each size.

Happy hunting.

Bill

 

[gordonra]

Here is a little Excel spreadsheet I did for calculating and graphing the difference in tire sizes. It's not confirmed with any real numbers, but all of the samples I ran seem to be correct. If anyone finds a problem with it, please let me know.

http://members.cox.net/rich.gordon/alpine/Tire-speed%20calculator.xls

 

[Alpine 1789]

I didn't do it scientifically, but through trial and error. I have a terrific tire guy who I buy all of my tires from and he and I spent some time working this out for my car. I am running 185/65 SR14 tires on the ground. IIRC, the rolling radius of these is very close to the original bias ply tires, meaning my speedo didn't need to be recalibrated. Figuring out the spare took some trial and error, but I have a stock wheel with a 165R13 tire on it. The radius of this tire is almost exactly the same as the 14" tires, so there is no problem if I need to use it. Plus, it fits into the well in the boot, something wider tires wouldn't do.

 

[Jeb Stuart]

Okay -
Thanks all for your input.

64 beams guess at original (175/7013) tire height would be 22.6"
Gordonra spread sheet has the 185/70/13 at (rounded) 23.2"
Bill Blue pointed out the specs sheets which I did not notice - and answers most of my questions.
Jim runs 185/65/14 w/o problems.
The tire I have now on my stock 13' wheel is also 22.5 (but they are worn down some and I was wrong mine are 185/70/13 not 175).
The 185/60/14 is 22.7"
185/65/14 is 23.5"
So I think I am going w/ the 185/60/14 because my front end is lowered a little and my 185/70/13 catch a little when I back up w/ the wheel cut to the right. I'll use a 185/70/13 as a spare.

I also think I'll go w/ the Sumitomo HTR 200 which is a good deal
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Sumitomo&tireModel=HTR+200

or maybe the Yokohama AVS ES 100 (probably not because of the $)
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Sizes.jsp?make=Yokohama&model=AVS+ES100

 

[Jim E]

I like the Sumitomos a lot nice tire for the money and not hard as a rock. Have been running a set of 205 60 13 on a vintage set of Shelby minlite copies. Wheel and tire set has been on several cars both 4 cylinder and six and handle well, think the six is going to be the end of them... the one thing about the sumitomo is they require more air pressure than you would think or the side walls will walk a bit which is a odd feeling, but if you run the air pressure the maker suggest they are fine.

 

[serIIalpine]

I had the Yokohama avs tires on a BMW 323 wagon and they were great.
Very sticky and lasted well. They got a noisy when they had 25K miles on them.

I have the Sumitomos on my Alpine and while they are a really nice tire I wish I could find something as sticky as the Yokohama.

I had a earlier set of Yokos on before and thy were amazing alas they are NLA.

If you want to drive fast and you have 14 inch rims I would have to side with the Yokos.

Good luck

Eric

'62 SerII

 

[alpine_64]

If you want a good sticky 14" tyre go for a semi slick. They are not high milage tyres.. but then how many kms you doing in the alpien anyway? They are noisy, but hey.. cant have best of both worlds. Toyo, yokohama and falken all do nice 14" tyres and value for $ they are really good compared to a standard street sports tyre for a normal car.

I run the Falken Azenis on my alpine.. they arent bad in the wet either which is a surprise.

 

[fj55mike]

Michael,
What width are those Falkens you're running? They look absolutely great on a big fin 'pine!

--Mike

 

[alpine_64]

mike the falkens are 175x60, that way they dont look to fat on the rim and dont make the steering to heavy. The tyres are soft enough to make up for the comparative advantage of a wider tyre.