Thirteen inch tires

[Bud & Donna Elliott]

Are there any real options out there for thirteen inch performance tires? All TireRack lists in a 205X60 is the Sumitomo HTR200.

[phil]

I’ve also been looking for 13″ tires. Kumho has the ECSTA V700 performance tire with 3 sizes in the 13 inch range: 175/60R13, 215/50R13 & 235/45R13.
Here is a link for more info: http://www.kumhotireusa.com/Products/PtnDetails.asp?mainCatID=1&PtnID=V70A

Phil

[Bud & Donna Elliott]

Interesting that they jump from 175/60 to 215/50. The 215/50 would translate to a ton of RPMs at 70mph with a stock trans.

[v6-jose]

quote pdq67:

Interesting that they jump from 175/60 to 215/50. The 215/50 would translate to a ton of RPMs at 70mph with a stock trans.

There is another very important point when choosing the tires. If they go in sizes, the way you posted, each tire will have a certain width rim it should be put on. I doubt that these two different size tires, will fit safely on the same rim.

Most tire manufacturers recommend not going more than 1/2″ either way from what it was designed for, ie, if the tire width is 6.5″ wide, it shouldn’t use a rim any wider than 7″, or narrower than 6″. The tire will not perform up to what it was designed for and could even be if dangerous.

Jose 🙂

[Bud & Donna Elliott]

You are correct. I have seen some very wide tires on very narrow rims. Not exactly the recipe for success in Auto-X. For a while, I ran 205/60s on LAT 70 rims on my MKII. They actually preformed quite well but again, my biggest complaint was the RPMs I had to turn at highway speeds. Of course, this was in the day when it was my daily driver. I could probably live with it now for the trips to the various events I hope to attend but I could not live with a 50 series tire on a 13″ wheel. Still, you would think that some tire maker out there would offer some options. There isn’t much of a choice in 14s but it is a little better. One of the young guys at work told me I need some 22s. Not.

[Phil Ashmore]

I have the sumitomo’s on my MK II and they work well, I’m quite happy with them….cheers

[Roger Sternfeld]

I am using 185/70/13 Cooper Cobra Radials on my ’66 MK1a. Wasn’t my first choice, but since I have LAT-9 wheels, there wasn’t much choice.

[anonymous]

I have Yokohama Avid T-4 13″ radials. Don’t remember the profile, too lazy to go look.

Not high performance, but good all around tires for street use.

Fred Baum

[Author]

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