tires and wheels Tires for 13" wheels

[speyguy]

Thanks David............I just looked and you're right, they are still available. I had hoped to find something better than a touring tire and I don't think I want to go that small. How do you like them? Would you happen to have a pic of them on the car?

[speyguy]

@ Toby.........

That's what it sounds like and that's what I'm leaning toward putting on right now. The car is no longer a daily driver and so for occasional, mostly dry summer driving it sounds like they might work out alright. Are you running them on the street?

When I did a web search I found a guy in CA that said he runs them year round on the street. Says he puts on a fresh set in the fall for winter (So CA) winter with the occasional rain and by spring they are shaved (worn) down enough for good summer driving.

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[TobyB]

yeah, having raced on them in torrential downpours

they're no worse than any other 'summer' tire.

In some ways, a lot more predictable.

And I do like them on the street- they're tough for what they are.

I think the only real down side is that after 2 or 3 years,

they start to get hard.

Which, if you don't mind new tires every 2 or 3 , no biggie.

Oh, and if you don't drive the car for more than a month,

jack it up- they DO flat- spot something special...

t

[kbmb02]

the RA1 is a darned nice tire if you don't drive in the cold.

It's fine in the wet.

I'm a fan of the TOYO RA-1 as well (on the track, no experience on the street) - shaved to 3/32" works well in the dry.

We try to order several sets at once, these guys give us a discount:

http://www.aimtire.com/

*might get in touch, perhaps we can arrange a semi-group buy...

-KB

[speyguy]

I think the only real down side is that after 2 or 3 years,

they start to get hard.

Which, if you don't mind new tires every 2 or 3 , no biggie.

Oh, and if you don't drive the car for more than a month,

jack it up- they DO flat- spot something special...

t

I wouldn't mind so much buying tires every 3 years, but the flat spotting thing sounds like a pain in the ass. I read that on some other forums as well and about the 2-3 year life span of them before the rubber starts to break down. One guy had mentioned the flat spotting and that once he drove on them and they started to warm up and get pliable the they smothed back out.

We try to order several sets at once, these guys give us a discount:

http://www.aimtire.com/

*might get in touch, perhaps we can arrange a semi-group buy...

-KB

That's not a bad price. I found them available at http://tirecrawler.com/ for $133 and it came in a under $600 shipped for a set of 4. Still considering buying some new wheels.

[73tiiDavidPA]

No, no photos, the car is actually still at the shop. I'm picking it up this week and taking it to my first track event at Summit Point. Before the Sumo HTR T4 I had on Sumo HTR 200 (175/70/13 - wrong size I know - just barely off at about 3 % speedo error) which were "Summer" high performance tires. I liked the HTR 200s, so when they were not available I figured to try the T4s. I changed the HTR 200s not because of mileage (probably less the 112k) but because they were 8 years old and figured using 8 year old tires at a track event wasn't the wisest thing. I can let you know how they run next weekend if you would like - though I'm not looking to set any lap records, just have fun and learn a little.