Tyres, or tires

They planned the 2.8 poverty (non-De Luxe) version to have manual steering, but I think that was never offered, probably for good reason.
Maybe increasing toe in slightly makes it feel more stable, but it may be too much?

I’ve noticed no real difference in mine when I switched to 215/65 except that the car felt a bit “crispier” and handled slightly better in fast turns as there was less flex from the shorter sidewalls.
No tramlining whatsoever.

Light steering wheel, or the front wonders around?
Are you sure your alignment is good?
What pressure did you have on the old tyres?
Also, your old tyres might have been unevenly worn altering the geometry.

Lighter feel would indicate to me less friction.

Just light steering. I had the steering bushes replaced and a four wheel alignment done a couple of weeks ago so all good there. The old tyres were not in a good shape and I had them at 36psi but because of their condition, and while waiting for the new tyres to turn up, I tended not to drive too fast so it’s hard to compare the steering at speed. The new tyres have improved the turn in significantly, however.

I actually had reason to be on the motorway this morning so changed the pressures to 32/33 before setting out. The steering is always light on these cars, of course, but that seems to have sorted out the situation at higher speeds. I took it up to 100mph for a short burst and it felt planted and no worries at all. I think there is also an element of the new tyres being “run-in” now and so that has probably helped too.

I think I’ll experiment a bit more but the car’s ride and handling is transformed. Thanks for sharing your experience - it’s saved me a good amount of money and resulted in a better driving experience.

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Well, you altered something :smiley:

I haven’t noticed a huge difference in steering feel when changing tyre pressures. I think you may be getting used to it as well.

Maybe it’s just the fact that the new tyres have done a few miles and scrubbed in - isn’t that what the F1 drivers do :wink:

That would explain your “light” steering feel.
You took the slack of the rack, so it’s more responsive.

I strongly believe that Sir Lions wanted, and did, a power steering that you could turn the wheel with your pinky finger, even if the car was not moving.
This was before the times of adaptive or variable power steering, so it presented the problem of “twitchiness” at high speeds. To address this they designed the rack bushings with some deliberate slack.

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I heard that the Americans liked it and the British didn’t. I do like it light, it’s not as bad as some new cars are. Doesn’t get bad at speed though, not for me at least

Here in the US Costco sells the Bridgestone 215/70/R15 size, and I’ve been pleased with them.

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Not in the UK, I’m afraid but I’m very happy with the 215/65/70 so all good…