Hello! I'm having a terrible time trying to find tyres for my 240 estate. 185/80 R14 seems to be a very obscure size. Has anyone fitted a lower profile tyre ( perhaps one that is more commonly stocked by tyre dealers ) or has solved the same problem here in the UK. I'm in S.Kent btw......... Les -- http://www.stuffmongers.com "Homo sapiens, the first truly free species, is about to decommission natural selection, the force that made us.... Soon we must look deep within ourselves and decide what we wish to become." Edward O. Wilson Consilience, The Unity of Knowledge Remove frontal lobes to reply from a NG
Use the tyre calculator to get the same rolling diameter .Maybe a 215 x 70x 14 would help its point five of a mile out in radius.Or a 195x 75x 14 will work ok its ever so slightly smaller in radius point 3 of a mile per hour . any way check out Miata its very handy .Down to about 60 percent you will improve grip handling and such after that its expensive
Thanks for the pointer John. One thing, i'm confused about the tyres I can actaully fit on my rims. What defines the actual wheel size and what do the measurements actually mean? If i'm going to leap in and change something, I want to be sure i'm up to speed on the consequences. les -- http://www.stuffmongers.com "Homo sapiens, the first truly free species, is about to decommission natural selection, the force that made us.... Soon we must look deep within ourselves and decide what we wish to become." Edward O. Wilson Consilience, The Unity of Knowledge Remove frontal lobes to reply from a NG
Why not fit round tyres like folk do up North? Our 440 Volvo rides better on them than the square ones you folks use to ride round the M25 or up to Sheffield. Cheers
In an earlier contribution to this discussion, Taking 215/70 x14 as an example, 14 is the rim diameter in inches so you *must* fit 14" tyres. 215 is the tyre width in millimetres (perversely!) and 70 is the profile (height/width) as a percentage. This means that the height of the tyre is 70% of the width - in other words 150.5mm or 5.925". Thus the overall diameter of the wheel plus tyre (which needs to be close to the original) is 14 + 5.925 + 5.925 inches = 25.85" See http://www.trailerpartswarehouse.co.uk/data_sheets/tyres/trailer_caravan_tyres.htm for more details of tyre markings. To a certain extent, you can fit wider tyres with a lower profile and still have the correct overall diameter. However, there are two constraints on this - wider tyres may foul the wheel arches on full lock, and your rims may only be suitable for tyres up to a certain width. Plus, of course, the spare will take up more room. Whatever you fit must, of course, have suitable speed and load ratings for your car. HTH.
Just what I needed... thanks for a great answer.... ) -- http://www.stuffmongers.com "Homo sapiens, the first truly free species, is about to decommission natural selection, the force that made us.... Soon we must look deep within ourselves and decide what we wish to become." Edward O. Wilson Consilience, The Unity of Knowledge Remove frontal lobes to reply from a NG
Hi - I have no problems getting replacement tyres for my '92 240SE Estate from my local garage who can actually offer me a choice of at least three brands. Whilst not the cheapest Fulda ( Dutch manufacturer) offers the best in terms of value v. performance. Andy (in West Yorks)
I found some last night in Canterbury, 2 Firestones at £45 each..... not sure if it's a good price, i'm just releived to find some before I do another motorway run to work in torrential rain........ Les -- http://www.stuffmongers.com "Homo sapiens, the first truly free species, is about to decommission natural selection, the force that made us.... Soon we must look deep within ourselves and decide what we wish to become." Edward O. Wilson Consilience, The Unity of Knowledge Remove frontal lobes to reply from a NG
That's only slightly more than I pay for my Fuldas (£85 a pair fitted) They will have longer life than the Fuldas but possibly not as much wet-grip Andy
