Tire, wheel update: driving impressions

budgetzagato

budgetzagato

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So I finally have had a drive (a short jaunt into town to pick up our raw, farm fresh milk) on the new wheels and tires.

I'm happy to report I'm pretty pleased with this combination. I'm sensitive to wheel vibration and other annoyances, and the new wheels (14x6.5) and tires (195/55 Toyo AR1) are a great ride. I didn't do anything too wild, I wanted to test the "cruise" ride of them before testing their grip and "sporty" handling.

Pretty stable, and comfy too. Less "darty" than I expected with the wider setup, less so than the 13" phonedials and 185/60 Sumitomos. Could be I had a bent wheel or something, but it wasn't an obvious defect if so.

A desirable side effect of this tire size is more accurate speedo than with the "stock" 185/60 tires, and a slight raising of the car, about 5/8". This is good news for folks like me who are fond of their Corsa body kit air dam.

I'll check in after some nice dry weather and some adhesion testing. :whistle:

Looking forward to track day at Ore'10.
 
budgetzagato said:
...less so than the 13" phonedials and 185/60 Sumitomos. Could be I had a bent wheel or something, but it wasn't an obvious defect if so.
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Hey Gregory,

I hope you don't mind if I go OT from your new wheels for a second, but could you describe a bit more what was going on with your phone dials and sumitomos? I have a reason for asking...

Thanks

John O.
 
Phonedial problems?

The Sumitomo/Phonedial combo is jittery, perhaps out of round or balance. The tires are only a couple of years old, so they should be fairly good condition. I'll see if they need rebalancing.
 
budgetzagato said:
The Sumitomo/Phonedial combo is jittery, perhaps out of round or balance. The tires are only a couple of years old, so they should be fairly good condition. I'll see if they need rebalancing.
Click to expand...

Interesting. When I used to only use Yok A-509's on my CD-30's, they were smooth as glass. When those were gone, I switched to a no-name Korean tire my local tire guy found in 185-60's. They had a touch of vibration. Now that I've tried two sets of Sumitomo, I have a serious vibration which starts around (indicated) 60 mph and gets worse from there. I've replaced everything in the front end. The wheels are perfectly round and true. The only thing left are the tires. I would really like to buy a quality 185-60, but apparently no-one in NA wants my money.

John O.
 
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I wish

that Yokohama still made the street tire in "our" size. Those were by far my favorite tires on the X for the street.
 
Yes, T1Rs...

It's all greek to me. T1R yep. Still like 'em. Much smoother than the Sumitomos. Which at first were far better than the bald Yokohamas.
 
HAD A SIMILAR PROBLEM

With my STUPID Miata. The suspension tuning didn't tolerate changes in rubber compound. If you used cheaper harder sidewall tires, you would get a vibration. Change back to original Dunlops with soft sidewalls and everything was fine.

Those Biturbo wheels look nice! They fit the style of the car, AND the vintage of the car.
 
John... I've been using and...

... recommending Sumitumos for years... and if I had an issue like yours that PROVED to be the tire... I would take them/send them back.

I have indeed had issues like that and each time I found that the wheel mounting was the problem. Either slightly cocked or lugs not torqued evenly...

Usually it was my gaddam stupid-arse, no-nothing mechanic that was the problem too. I'd fire him... but then I wouldn't have a hobby...

Do jack the car and take a cursory look at the wheels as you ROTATE them... use tape and a pencil or something and check the run-out both in and out and up and down. If there is some... then try remounting the wheel and using a torque wrench... retighten the lugs to 60 pounds. Recheck runout.

(On TWO such occasions this fixed my vibration issues COMPLETELY - My car runs as smooth as glass to its limit!)

Lastly... and this cost me 100 bucks... I took my Vette and had the tires ROAD BALANCED using a Hunter super-something-or-other balancer. They not only spin the tires, but spin them at speed applying PRESSURE to deform the tires. They also check for runout in all directions also. My big old 255x60x15 BFGoodrich T/A Radials now spin nicely with about 90% less vibration to 98 mph... in third... with much more left to go before I backed off. Good enough for me to cruise at 75 - 80 on trips and be comfortable...

Hope this helps...
 
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