Is anyone using 205/60/13s squared?

Hasbro

Hasbro

True Classic
I have several different sized sets of 13" wheels and have been playing with different tire sizes for different scenarios. There are a couple of tires available but was thinking about 205/60/13 BFG Radial TAs for the street on 13x7s. I have coilovers and would use a very mild drop. Any concerns re. turning radius etc? Any pics? Thanks.
 
IMG_1089[2].JPG


205/60/13 Comp TAs on 13X8" rims to fill in the flares. 8" wide are really a tad too wide, 7" would be much better. I never had them on an unflared X so can't speak about clearance on a stock body. Rears would be no problem, front lips would probably need some work.
 
Sweet. Ok, Carl, I can work with that. What do you think of the BFGs in general? Dampers or coils?This is the same red X you take out to get some thrills, right? What does it weigh now, approximately? Thanks, Carl.
 
The offset of the wheels is very important when using the 205/60-13 on the front. Likely to have a little interference at the limits of turning radius. I've been using 205/60-13 on this car for many years.
74X191 (2).jpg
 
Yes, this is the Fatrat I bomb around in locally. It has Vic coilovers. As I recall, the wheel center is equal distant from the front and back of the lip of the rim. The tires are fine but admittedly I don't turn the local country roads into hillclimb stages. The local recycle center weighed the car at 1,960 pounds with me in it so figure 1,820 pounds without me and if I removed the Autopower rollbar I would have it in the upper 1,700s.
 
Carl,
My Autopower roll bar is out of the car. It's in a place where I often have to move it. I'm usually no good at evaluating weight, but my guess is it shouldn't be much more than 30 to 40 pounds. I could easily move it with one hand.

I think we moved a thread about tire sizes to weight of our cars...Sorry. ;)
 
Last edited:
"I think we moved a thread about tire sizes to wight of our cars...Sorry. ;)"

That's ok, it fits in the mix. The BFGs are heavy at 21lbs. but the wheels are 8 lbs. and the higher gearing would be helpful.

1700s is my goal. The turbo will add 40lbs. but it will lose weight elsewhere. Getting it to 1900lbs. has totally changed the dynamics, another 150lbs. would be terrific.
 
I did nothing exotic. Gutted the interior but still two aftermarket seats. No headlight assemblies. Handmade wiring harness. Header with a turbo muffler. That's 90% of my weight reduction. Rollbar is a vanity item. My top is one of the lighter factory tops. Getting rid of the rain tray on the engine cover gets rid of weight. I drive my car on the street so I can't remove the door glass.

In my mind 205/60/13 tires look too big on a stock body at the front. They look fine under my flares.
 
Just for general information. The most common places for tire clearance issues on the X - either with wider wheels/tires and/or lowering the car - is at the front fenders' lower corners. Especially the front lower corner (toward the front spoiler direction). The design of the front suspension locates the front wheels forward of the center of the fenders (i.e. not centered). That puts the tires closer to the front lower corners.

Also the wheel offset plays a roll. Not in the width, but in the arc that the wheel swings when turning. The further from the hub that the wheel sits, the more it swings outward when turning. That will bring the ties closer to the lower corners of the fenders.
 
Dr.Jeff said:
Just for general information. The most common places for tire clearance issues on the X - either with wider wheels/tires and/or lowering the car - is at the front fenders' lower corners. Especially the front lower corner (toward the front spoiler direction). The design of the front suspension locates the front wheels forward of the center of the fenders (i.e. not centered). That puts the tires closer to the front lower corners.

Also the wheel offset plays a roll. Not in the width, but in the arc that the wheel swings when turning. The further from the hub that the wheel sits, the more it swings outward when turning. That will bring the ties closer to the lower corners of the fenders.
Click to expand...
Don't ask me how I know... :rolleyes:
 
"Also the wheel offset plays a roll. Not in the width, but in the arc that the wheel swings when turning. The further from the hub that the wheel sits, the more it swings outward when turning. That will bring the ties closer to the lower corners of the fenders."

I did look into this a year or so ago and it doesn't seem that the BFGs should impair normal street driving - unless Daniel's "Don't ask me how I know" is a message of doom. Daniel, would you use them again?
 
Hasbro said:
"Also the wheel offset plays a roll. Not in the width, but in the arc that the wheel swings when turning. The further from the hub that the wheel sits, the more it swings outward when turning. That will bring the ties closer to the lower corners of the fenders."

I did look into this a year or so ago and it doesn't seem that the BFGs should impair normal street driving - unless Daniel's "Don't ask me how I know" is a message of doom. Daniel, would you use them again?
Click to expand...
I wasn't referring to the tire size as much as the wheel offset. A wheel that sits further out from the center of the steering pivot point will have a larger radius, making a greater size arc as it travels through the range of steering. That puts everything further out and closer to the fenders, particularly at the corners when at full lock. So the offset can affect fender clearance, independent of tire size.
 
Understood, preliminary testing looks good but I need to do more testing. I haven't been able to do any physical work for 5 months (hence my forum silence) but I'm getting better and have been sliding wheels and tires around a little bit and very carefully.

(Fwiw, I had 17 of 24 vertabrea out ranging up to severe plus a couple of other impairments)
 
Dr.Jeff said:
Just for general information. The most common places for tire clearance issues on the X - either with wider wheels/tires and/or lowering the car - is at the front fenders' lower corners. Especially the front lower corner (toward the front spoiler direction). The design of the front suspension locates the front wheels forward of the center of the fenders (i.e. not centered). That puts the tires closer to the front lower corners.

Also the wheel offset plays a roll. Not in the width, but in the arc that the wheel swings when turning. The further from the hub that the wheel sits, the more it swings outward when turning. That will bring the ties closer to the lower corners of the fenders.
Click to expand...
I ran into that issue in 1975 when I put 185/70-13 tires (60 series not out yet) on mine. I ended up folding the lower front sheet metal a little to get clearance. Also needed to fold up the wheel well lips front and rear.
 
I had different parameters, the main one being my suspension was lowered. In the past, with the wrong offset, I had the tires touching inside the wheelwell, the wall shared with the frunk. But with my lowered suspension, even with 185/60-13 on 13x6 wheels and rolled fender lips, I was touching at the front edges.

Unless having fender flares, I wouldn't even think about running 205/60-13. But that's me. I like my suspension hard and low, even on the street.

Also, too wide tires in the front makes the steering hard at low speed. (Not that I'm going often at a low speed...)

And I'm also having some vertebrae problems. I wonder if it's related :rolleyes:

On my street car (before my son blew the head gasket) I was running 13x6 wheels with old Proxes Ra1, 185/60-13 in front and 205/60-13 in the back and I liked that set-up.
 
205/60s are just to large in diameter for the front.
You will end up hacking up your car in all sort of ways - and for what?
185/60 on 7“ is the ideal combination for the X.

If you want wider, consider the Michelin 195/55.
 
The 205/60/13 TAs do not make the steering noticeably harder on my car. I had to trim a lot of the lip of my front flares to stop tire rubbing. As noted, the degree to which your wheels push the tires out will have an affect on tire interference on turning especially if you hit a bump.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top