Classic Lotus driver has some good tire choices

John Mahler

THE TIRE GUY

Q: I am hoping you can voice an educated opinion on what the ground rules for using certain types of tires might be for those of us living with vintage vehicles. The problem for some of my friends and myself are that we have some models that came with rims that were very specific to those models or were special and prized rims of the era. We do not want to upsize to bigger modern tire sizes.

One of my friends did go to some 17” rims on his car since his rims were “stock” and it just didn’t look right! ( basically looked like a low stagecoach). Trying to find any “performance” street tire today in the P205/60-13 size is pretty well left to the likes of the Cooper Cobra or some old renamed Radial T/A mold from 25 years ago under several different banners. Our cars are performance oriented and the joy of drive is significantly lost when using conventional tires.

A friend was kind enough to give me a set of his Sumitomos when he took the leap to track day tires. They were barely scuffed in and as nice as it was to be able to drive the car that summer they were not as good as my 17 year old Comp T/A’s. Yes I know, but I bagged them every winter in my basement to try to keep them as fresh as possible. I know it can’t stop the curing but what do you do when you put a thousand miles on per summer—if you’re lucky.

On one of my cars I’m running Toyo RA1s, the other car will probably need tires next year so that’s why the Email! These are D.O.T. approved, but driving in the rain (even on normal type tires ) has always been done with care as the cars are in the 1200 to 1500 Lbs. range. OOne car is mid-engined and the other front engine with rear drive.

What can you tell me about the legalities and best options for using these types of tires on the street, or do you know of any in the higher performance world that are available in that size that might not be so temperamental? The vehicles I have are both old Lotus cars and the mags I have are Minilights on one and Lotus “Wobbleys” on the other so changing rims is not an option.

A: How lucky you are to have these two Lotus cars. They must be a real joy to drive.

For tires there are a few options: the Sumitomo with a rating of 380, A, A (US$56); the Toyo RA1, 100, AA, A (US$175); the Toyo Proxes R-888, 100, AA, A (US$189), the Kumho Solus KR21, 640, A B, (US$85) and finally the Hoosier R6, 40, C, A, (US$172).

The number after the tire is the tread wear rating, lower wears faster, and has higher grip values. The RA1, the R-888 and the Hoosier are all track R-compound tires with DOT ratings, so they are street legal. The other tires mentioned are really street tires. So depending on where and how you want to drive, you can choose street or track.

With the track R-compounds, you will experience great dry grip with any of them, the highest grip will be the Hoosier, it is a thinly disguised race tire. The Hoosier’s rain groove is very shallow, it is just there for show to make the tire street legal. It will be gone within a few days of spirited driving, leaving a slick. Driving that in the rain is a very bad idea.

The two Toyos have better rain characteristics. The RA1 again will lose its rain grooves the fastest. The R-888’s Y-shaped grooves are deeper and the tire wears less quickly than the RA1. Plus the R-888 has better grip and lasts longer and is drivable with caution in the rain. It would be my choice.

One caution, any R-compound tire must not be allowed to freeze or it is finished. It must be stored above 10 degrees C.

Q: I was changing my winter tires to summer tires (Subaru Forester) and I noticed that one tire is fitted opposite to the rotation marking on the tire. I have driven about 10,000 km (two winter seasons) like this. Is there any negative effect on the tire? I intend to ask the dealer to remount the tire properly.

A: There should not be any serious negative effects from the tire rotating the wrong way. It would have just provided a bit less grip, but the Subaru’s AWD system made up for that.

Email tire questions to John Mahler at thetireguy_1@hotmail.com. Please include vehicle’s make, model and year, tire brand and size, as well as your name, address and phone number. Due to volume, personal replies cannot be provided.

More videos from Wheels.ca and our partners