tires and wheels 13 Inch Revelation

[drspeedy]

Just installed my restored FPS 13" bottlecap alloys with 165R13 Vredesteins.  What a revelation, compared to the previous E30 bottlecaps with 195/60 14's.  The steering is lighter and has gone from heavy and dead to light and communicative.  The car rides great, and handling around town seems better.  Granted, the 14's gave better ultimate grip, but I feel that I am finally experiencing the car as BMW intended.  I recommend the "upgrade" to anyone considering it!

 

['76mintgrün'02]

nice.  Is that a stock diameter steering wheel as well?

I have 185-70-13s and an aftermarket smaller steering wheel.

It would be fun to drive one with the stock set up for comparison.

[Conserv]

Amen!

Enjoy.

Steve

[drspeedy]

It is the sport steering wheel from a E21 320is, which has a much smaller diameter than stock.  With the smaller steering wheel and the 195 tires, I found low speed steering to be very heavy, even with new strut-top bearings.

[gaius]

where did you get the 165R 13's

they are hard to find

[drspeedy]

Purchased through Summit Racing, because they offered more affordable shipping than Coker Tire.  The Vredesteins aren't cheap ($96 ea), but they are the only halfway reasonable option I could find besides the questionable Chinese brands (i.e. Nankang, Westlake, Sunny, Joyroad, etc), which received terrible reviews.  The Vredesteins are quiet and seem to have good grip considering how narrow they are.  The sidewalls also have a vintage appearance.

[TobyB]

 

which has a slightly smaller diameter than stock

 

Fixed that for ya...

 

t

[Conserv]

...Purchased through Summit Racing, because they offered more affordable shipping than Coker Tire....

I'm still trying to figure out this relationship. I've bought 165HR13 XAs tires from Summit, off eBay, because their eBay price equals the Coker price, but includes shipping. The tires arrive in Atlanta within a day, and are shipped to me by Coker in Chattanooga! Huh?

Steve

[drspeedy]

Thanks Toby - you are correct!  Original is 16" diameter vs. 15" for the E21.  Thicker rim and spokes create a nice optical illusion.  Honestly, I love the skinny look and would run an original wheel if the 74+ wheel looked as cool as the 68-73. Apologies to whomever these pics may belong. . .

[Chamonix72]

I'm still trying to figure out this relationship. I've bought 165HR13 XAs tires from Summit, off eBay, because their eBay price equals the Coker price, but includes shipping. The tires arrive in Atlanta within a day, and are shipped to me by Coker in Chattanooga! Huh?

Steve

Summit often drop-ships from manufacturers, especially when the items are large. My Magnaflow mufflers always drop-ship direct, not through Summit's warehouse.

[Conserv]

Summit often drop-ships from manufacturers, especially when the items are large. My Magnaflow mufflers always drop-ship direct, not through Summit's warehouse.

Understood, but why doesn't Coker at least match Summit's pricing -- i.e.,free shipping? Coker is clearly selling the tires to Summit at a wholesale price sufficiently low to allow Summit to offer free shipping whereas Coker could be retailing the tires directly if they offered free shipping.

Regards,

Steve

Edited August 11, 2014 by Conserv

[jb]

Coker does include shipping if you purchase via ebay.  There is a place in Dayton, OH, too  Tires Unlimited, that supplies them.  Unfortunately, buying local for me means paying state tax, otherwise it would be similar to Coker's price.  Same goes for Summit, so I'm likely to go through Coker via ebay.    Long live 165R13!

 

 

jb

[B-Merry]

Just installed my restored FPS 13" bottlecap alloys with 165R13 Vredesteins. What a revelation, compared to the previous E30 bottlecaps with 195/60 14's. The steering is lighter and has gone from heavy and dead to light and communicative. The car rides great, and handling around town seems better. Granted, the 14's gave better ultimate grip, but I feel that I am finally experiencing the car as BMW intended. I recommend the "upgrade" to anyone considering it!

A larger diameter rim of the same design will have a significantly larger moment of inertia, due to more mass that is positioned further from the axis of rotation ( in exchange for less rubber in the sidewall). Your acceleration should also be better with the 13s.

Modern sports car buyers seem to like the low profile tires, but that's not what you see on F1 race cars...

FWIW,

Jim

Edited August 11, 2014 by B-Merry

[saaron]

The tire / wheel combo does make a big difference in how the car feels when you drive it.   To the point where if you were blindfolded*, and you drove an 02 with 13s, and one with 15s, you might not know they were both 02s.  

 

The 13s have always looked and felt right to me. 

 

Scott

 

*I do not, and never have, recommended or sanctioned driving blindfolded.  

[John_in_VA]

Modern sports car buyers seem to like the low profile tires, but that's not what you see on F1 race cars...

... yet.  What's next - front wheel drive?!

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2014/7/16070.html