Desperately Seeking Tires

[JLPurcell]

Desperately seeking tires! I have decided to stick with the original 14” AR Libre wheels on my 72 restoration project. That being said there are a limited number of good tire options. I posted this on my ongoing forum post with very little response. Arne did give me some good options.

Les has suggested the possibility of the Toyo DOT race tires which I like but I am a little worried that they will not fill the wheel wells thus looking a little odd. Any one used or seen these used on a stock suspension Z?

Arne suggested that I take a look at the Hoosier Speedsters 205/65-14. They will fit the 5.5” rim width and they are close to the original overall height but I am not sure I like the look of the tire; any other suggestions out there? Anyone seen or used the Hoosier Speedsters? Feedback would be greatly appreciated. Jerry Purcell

[Casey_z]

Check it out

http://www.falkentire.com/Tires/Ziex-ZE-912-2

Casey

[cbudvet]

Hi Jerry,

I have 4 General Tires 195/70 R14 on come aluminum mags you can have if you want. They are a few years old but were only used to move the car around at the body shop. If you are interested, drop me a line and you can always come take a look.

Carl

[Arne]

Les has suggested the possibility of the Toyo DOT race tires which I like but I am a little worried that they will not fill the wheel wells thus looking a little odd.

Jerry, all things being equal, I prefer Toyos over the Hoosiers as well. But I'm with you on the appearance and fender fill. I don't think Toyo has a 14" size that's going to approach stock diameter, and on a car at stock ride height, that's going to look goofy, IMO. That's why I suggested the Hoosiers, as they are the only high-performance rubber I know of that's close to stock height. The next best size would be something in a 195/65-14 (probably in something like Kumho, Falken, etc.), but those are going to be street performance tires, most of them all-seasons, so not in the same class as the Toyos or Hoosiers.

[JLPurcell]

bump this thread

[Montezuma]

Jerry, Les showed me your wheels when I stopped by on Saturday. They look really sweet. I have not seen any of the tires your are asking about, but I do understand that you would not want a large gap in the wheel well.

[jmark]

Try this tire finder:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearchResults.jsp?tireIndex=0&autoMake=Datsun&autoYear=1972&autoModel=240Z&autoModClar=&width=195/&ratio=70&diameter=14&sortCode=34600&skipOver=true&minSpeedRating=S&minLoadRating=S&tab=All

This is for the stock tire size. You can do +1 fittings for a 15 x 7 rim for example.

Edited December 13, 2011 by jmark