Tires for 13-inch wheels

[ohgodno]

Man has COVID supply chain issues messed up getting tires for my project or what?

 

I've been looking for 205/60/13 tires for my project for months now. Choices seem to be muscle car tires, questionable Chinese brand tires or waaaay overkill track tires. 

 

Anyone have any experience finding reasonable all-seasons in this post COVID world?

[Oldtimerfahrer]

Just curious, but why an all-season? Do you really take the 02 out in the snow?

[Mike Self]

1 hour ago, Oldtimerfahrer said:

Just curious, but why an all-season? Do you really take the 02 out in the snow?

Probably a good reason (at least from my most recent search, about a year ago) is that's about all you can find in that size unless you want track tires.  I had the same problem searching for 185/70 x 13s, and I suspect 205/60s are even harder to find.  Where are those Phoenix Stahlflexes when we need 'em!  Heck, I'd be overjoyed with a Yokohama Y351...

 

mike

[ohgodno]

2 hours ago, Oldtimerfahrer said:

Just curious, but why an all-season? Do you really take the 02 out in the snow?

 

Doesn't have to be. But they're usually more reasonable in price than summer tires. 

 

52 minutes ago, Mike Self said:

Probably a good reason (at least from my most recent search, about a year ago) is that's about all you can find in that size unless you want track tires.  I had the same problem searching for 185/70 x 13s, and I suspect 205/60s are even harder to find.  Where are those Phoenix Stahlflexes when we need 'em!  Heck, I'd be overjoyed with a Yokohama Y351...

 

mike

 

Exactly. I have 8" wide wheels - I could stretch 185s but that's not really ideal.

 

Nor is buying $189 each 888s those are waaaay overkill for a 90hp car. 

 

Whatever happened to those Federal 595s that were $75 each. Nowhere to be found. 

[Bassie81]

Bought these about a year ago…

 

they work fine, plenty of grip…

 

 

[Oldtimerfahrer]

1 hour ago, ohgodno said:

But they're usually more reasonable in price than summer tires. 

But they are also pretty lousy on both dry and snow, so you have a car with a great suspension on disappointing tires. I understand that not everyone wants to spend megabucks on tires but saving 40 bucks (price difference summer vs. all season) seems like false economy to me...unless you lived somewhere where it rained all the time. Maxxis and Nankang have summer tires in that size, never tried them though. In 185/70-13 there are a lot of low budget choices...

[02Les]

4 hours ago, ohgodno said:

 

Doesn't have to be. But they're usually more reasonable in price than summer tires. 

 

 

Exactly. I have 8" wide wheels - I could stretch 185s but that's not really ideal.

 

Nor is buying $189 each 888s those are waaaay overkill for a 90hp car. 

 

Whatever happened to those Federal 595s that were $75 each. Nowhere to be found. 

 

you have 8" x 13" wheels? I understand your problem.

[ohgodno]

17 minutes ago, 02Les said:

 

you have 8" x 13" wheels? I understand your problem.

 

Yep, 8 x 13 - 205/60/13 look amazing - I have no clue what stretching 185s would look like. Although, I found this image on the internet:



175 doesn't look terrible I guess… so 185 would look better.

 

[SydneyTii]

Tyre stretching….. quickest route to a ditch??

[2002iii]

Walmart usually has the Federal 595's in 205/60r13 but they are all out of stock everywhere right now. The Bfg radial TA's might be your best option.

 

The demand for 13" tires is very low, so they only make them in small batches and not very often. 14" tires are a little more common but getting harder to find them too. Most tire shops only stock 16" or bigger tires and only in the most commonly used sizes.

[SydneyTii]

Pirelli CN36?

[its55]

Nothing at Tire Rack??

[Conserv]

Lots of good options in 185/70 — Pirelli, Michelin, Vredestein — but I fear that even a 205/60 is stretched on a nominal 8” rim.

 

Are the rims custom, three-piece, something else? Are they nominal 8” rims, which would be about 9” wide overall? Or are they nominal 7” rims, which would be about 8” wide overall? 7 x 13’s were a lot more common than 8 x 13’s, back in the day. Heck, even BWA’s offered a 7 x 13 model.

 

And, echoing Andrew’s point, why would you want big fat juicy tires in an “all-season” style? Park that baby when it snows!

Regards,

 

Steve

 

 

 

 

[johnny02]

1 hour ago, its55 said:

Nothing at Tire Rack??

They've got Toyo "DOT" track tires (which is likely the way I'm going.  Overkill is better than under with tires for me), and that's about it in that size.  I don't think it's COVID; the landsacape for 13" tires has looked this way for some time as far as I can tell. 

[johnny02]

Summit Racing appears to be able to get Vredestein Sprint Classics in 205/60r13.  Edit: They ship in June. Edit again: They have BFG's, too. 

Edited February 22, 2022 by johnny02