If you are on a budget what is wrong with these ? £59 each Inc UK delivery 185 80 16 . 130mph enough for you ? Any one tried them ?
Michelin X diameter is 707mm (27.83") overall diameter inflated, Dunlop RS5 is 709cm (27.9") and Avon Turbospeed is 710mm (27.95"). Dunlop Racing is 708mm. These are pretty negligible differences. Info from Longstone Tyres’ website.
Chris
Another consideration is whether a tire carries DOT certification as roadworthy. A lot of classic tires do not have DOT and have not gone through certifying they meet Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards in the U.S., which means you might inquire if the new tire is legal and safe for use on public roads.
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i personally do not care for skinny 16 inch radials. too much money for me too so here is my big sacriligous confession - i run 8 inch wide 15 inch with 205 /70 15s goodrich t/a or/and standard wheels with 16 avon tourists to make me feelike a tourist ( i have driven them lots over 100 but not over 125, never had any trouble even when worn to the canvas. big hydraulic konis work well with both. on stiff radials you can push it around a bit and it forgives. some would hate the ride - not very soft at all with beefed up leafs. i can barely wait to scare myself some more. in canada we use everyones terminolagy!
I guess the concern here would be that your speedo would be inaccurate , but as my speedo does not currently work that’s not a concern for me at the moment, found a good android app that provides speed via satellite data although it’s a bit out of place in a 140, I hide the phone and peek at it discreetly if concerned…
When I adopted the car my dad pointed out that the speedo did not work, but that was ok by him as he just drove by the tach… sorry dad, the tach doesn’t work either, it stops at 2500… I think I’ll just drive by the grins…
speedos are chronic liars mine allays says 85. good to have mechanical tach.
Did that with my E, for years.
Continuing the tradition with Margaret…
I ressurected this, ol thread…cuz I am still interested to know the dimension specs, tread width, section width, aspect, diameter, of the original Dunlop bias tires fitted as new to the XK., and also to update on what I found for available tires : there are bias types available, I did not list…that you need for Concours as well as that if wire wheels for concours must be the 54 spoke. If not concours, then you can use the 60 spoke or 72…and SHOULD if installing radials which have far more lateral grip than bias. Pirelli Cinturato CA67 about $345 are 185VR-16, OD 27.76.section width 7.01: Pirella Stella Blanca $265 6.00-16 Vrated, OD 28.3 sect width 6.4: Michelin Pilote X 600-16 ® $356 27.8 OD, 7.1 section width, speed W, These are all for 5 in rim…which is what most…but not all of the 16 in appropriate for XK wheels are, some of the 60 spoke/72 can be 5.5 or 6in. ., The Vred SUMMER classic OD is 27.50, sect width 5.75 in a 185HR-16. There are a few other brands, Blockley, Avon, Lester etc…(look carefully at some 600-16 for old truck tires etc. )Find em on Coker or Lucas, or Longstone UK, . Note tube choices if needed…select tubes that likely will provide flats for around $25 or tubes that likely don’t for about $53. Have to look up the originally fitted Dunlop tire OD…back with that later. Happy to have ya’all add any new update comments added to the “what tire thread”…as this topic comes up often…and it’d be nice to find the revs/mile numbers. Nick
I found this on old threads:
(with) 35 p.s.i. in one of the Dunlop RoadSpeed 6,00x16 that came with my car and did some measuring.
This tyre has 3/32 tread depth left on it, and I don’t know how deep it was
when new.
The diameter of an unloaded tyre was 28� in. The width, by the way was 7
and 3/32. This (672229) is an April/May 1952 car, and I am not sure what
the rim width is.
Using data from “Motor’s” first road test of an XK120 OTS in 1949, which
states that: " - with a 3.64:1 axle ratio the vehicle speed at 1000 engine
r.p.m. was 22.1 m.p.h."
This I calculated to be 27.04" effective rolling tyre diameter.
Using data from the 1955 “Katalog Nummer der Automobil Revue” for an XK140,
which gives a 36.4 km per hour at 1000 r.p.m. with a3.54:1 axle, I got a
loaded rolling diameter of 26.91".
also if you have spats on your car…some of the above listed tires won’t fit.
won’t fit in the boot either without deflating the spare.
had Michelin pilote X (radial) and replaced now with Pirelli Stella Bianca ( bias ply)
everything is better with the Stella Bianca
finally…soon I think…I will get new 16 in wire wheels…probably 60 spoke chrome, and…new tires…so in the decisions process. My spline hubs do not have many miles since I replaced them…so should be fine. Can you post a photo of your car with kinda close of the Stella Blanca? Nick
Nice…the specs for it listed diam as OD 28.3 in…Can you verify? and I see the DOT and letters and numbers that follow the DOT, …but hard to be sure…can you verify those please…thanks…Nick
Re-resurrecting this thread to confirm tire size before ordering - at over $300 a pop I don’t want to make a mistake.
Vredestein Sprint Classics 185VR16 for 5" rims … correct?
Nick,
Absolutely correct. See the Vredestein 185VR16 93V on my standard 5" Wire Wheels. It’s was a rational choice for me. There will be better tires but I won’t be driving 100 mph with this car.
Note: I ordered them in 2020 and at that moment there was here in Europe a batch with DOT 2018 in the market that Vredestein apparently wanted to get rid off: I paid € 500 for all 5 tires. So always try comparing various sites before you decide
Bob K.
Thanks, Bob! Much appreciated.