Federal vs Achilles 185/60 r13 Tire Comparison

Colltech

Colltech

'85 and '83
SInce 13" tires is always a topic of conversation, I thought I'd post my experience today in switching from Federals to Achilles tires.

I bought a set of Federal 185/60 r13's online two years ago and had them mounted and balance locally. While they were on the balancing machine, the tech called me over to show how they were gyrating up and down as they turned. He said they were clearly out of round!

WIth no other immediate option, I mounted them on my 85 X and have used them for the past two years (probably no more than 1,500 to 2,000 miles or so). My hope was that they would "round themselves out" over time. Well guess what? They don't!

Last year, I ordered a set of Achilles to mount on my restored 83 X. I loved them so I ordered another set to swap onto the 85 in place of the Feds.

I just left the installers (Discount Tires - $10 a wheel mounted and balanced - pretty cheap I thought). The drive there and the drive back were DAY and NIGHT. I went from a considerable vibration at speeds over 55 mph to a quiet, smooth ride at 80 mph. I'm lucky those damn Federals didn't shale something loose.

Moral of the story....don't buy Federal tires.

Ed
 
I put a set of Achilles on my 124

I put a set of Achilles on my 124. I did the mounting and balancing in my garage with precision HF tire tools. ;) They seem to run straight and true at all speeds and I have been happy with them.

Achilles_for_124_1.jpg
 
Tire models?

The size of both tires was stated as 185/60/R13, but which Achilles tire model is being recommended? And which Federal tire model is not being recommended? :confuse2:
 
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Models

The Achilles I have is the 122 in 185/60/13. I don't have the Federals, but I believe it is the ss-595.
 
I have a set of the Federal ss-595's I bought a couple years ago to put on - I was going to put them on my American Racing wheels when I sell them (since I'm going to 15's with the Dallara body) to replace the old Sumitomo's - doesn't sound like it's worth the bother installing them....
 
my achilles still vibrate :(

sorry to piss in the pool, but, I'm still getting minor vibes from my tires....I have centering spacers, had tire balanced - twice, by 2 different shops. next step is to try dynamic balancing. If that doesn't work, I'm going old school....I found a place here in town that does tire shaving. Guy actually still has his Dad's machine, they shave the high spots off your tires
I would really like to drive on the highway every once in a while, and I just won't do it with vibration like that, it's annoying.....
 
Same experience here...

I hate the Federals! They are junk. I got a set of the Achillies and they are very good.
 
5 different 185/60/13 in stock

This is unusual. Tires-Direct has 5 different 185/60/13 tire brands in stock. I am tempted to order a set every time I see them in stock. Fortunately, I can usually control myself.

The Toyo and Hoosier prices are not too good, but this is one of the few sites you can usually find the cheaper tires in stock. Not usually all at once though. :)
 
Anyone have an opinion contrasting the Nexen CP641 versus the Achilles 122?

I need acquire new tires as the 165/70 13 originals from 1985 are way past their use date (and they are totally worn out). These will end up being used on my X and my 850 Sport Coupe this year as I hope to have two Fiats registered and driving.

Many thanks for any opinions. Thanks!

Karl
 
I've been running Federal SS 595's on my 124 Spider in a 195 60 14 and a 185 60 13 on my '86 Bertone for about a year and a half for the Spider and a year for the X. I haven't had any issues with them and they grip like glue. My only real complaint is that the sidewall is a bit rounded in the 13's. I've heard quite a lot of bad reviews for the Federals, but I've put 10k miles on the X, and 40k miles on the Spider last year without any issues.

For the money and the type of tire they're great, so long as you get a set that's round.
 
So far so good...

I recently purchased a 1986 Bertone X1/9 and the previous owner just installed a set of new Federal SS 595 tires on the car. I haven't put too many miles on the car yet, but so far the tires are very good. I had the car up to 100 MPH and even at that speed the tires were running true without any vibrations or other issues at all. I only hope that the set I have on this car continue to perform as good as they do now. I also really like the look of the tread profile on these tires.

Just thought I would throw in my experience with the Federals since they seem to have gotten a bad rap by most people commenting so far. I hope that other people will comment on their experience with these Federal tires. Seems like two people so far have had good luck with them. Anybody else have a good experience with these Federal tires?
 
Could be Federal "fixed" something

gwbfiat said:
...

Just thought I would throw in my experience with the Federals since they seem to have gotten a bad rap by most people commenting so far. I hope that other people will comment on their experience with these Federal tires. Seems like two people so far have had good luck with them. Anybody else have a good experience with these Federal tires?
Click to expand...

Could be Federal "fixed" something. I hope that is the case, but I won't be buying a set to find out at this point. ;)
 
Maybe they fixed something. Maybe that just had a a couple of bad production runs because a line worker had a hangover - who knows?

I'd guess the worldwide demand for 186/60 r13 tired is pretty low - it could take them years to sell off the bad tires from a single production run.

What I DO know is that the Achilles are roughly the same price, perform (IMHO) better and have no known problems. THe only area where I think the Fed's win is in the Beauty Contest category - they have a more aggressive look and tread pattern.

Ed
 
Achilles Tires made my car way too noisy

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[FONT=&quot]Recently had one of my tires delaminate and had to have new tires. I found a set of Achilles 185/60 r13 on Amazon for $45.16 each with free two day shipping. Even if you don't have Amazon prime, this one purchase goes a long way to having it for a year. No problem having them balanced and installed locally, but the best I could find here was $20.00 per tire.
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[FONT=&quot]Now the Achilles 185/60 r13 are not rated as particularly quiet tires, but compared to what was on my car before, it's the difference between night and day. The problem is that I can now hear every squeak, grind, and groan that was masked before. The drive is the difference between night and day and the car seems much more stable. Granted my old tires were Rocky Mt. 175/60 r13 and I was told by Tony, they have some tread on them but they just look old.
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[FONT=&quot]So in closing, very happy and one problem down, 45 more to go.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Drive well[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Vincent dba enzo mac[/FONT]
 
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