Thursday 9 June 2011

Marlin Trials Tyres

The car runs 185 x 14 at the rear, the 6 covers that I have are starting to get a bit thin and one has a hole in the side wall after traversing the infamous Crackington clay-hiding-sharp rocks horror.

I have used Kingpin Pacers but the factory tells me that they are no longer made. I also enquired after the KS4, but was told they had no stock as they have no tyre cases. In any case if they are available they come in 6 or 8 ply which I think would be too stiff for trials.

Reading this month’s Restart the Matador MP300 sounded promising, but the best availability I could find was a pair of second had ones on Ebay for £83.

Googling the Nexen SB302 produced no results at all. I rang Harold’s Tyres in Penrith and they suggested a Hankook K 715, but this is only available as a 185/80/14.

Looking at the ACTC list I guess the SB302 is a typo and should be the SB802. As far as I can make out it is only available in 185/80/14 size, whereas the Kingpin Pacer is clearly marked 185x14 90P so I assume it has a 90 section. What are the implications of going from 90 to 80 section?

Most of the other tyres on the list seem to be unavailable.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

7 comments:

  1. The 90P maybe the load rating. As far as I know an 80 ratio is as high as you can get now.

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  2. A 185/80/14 is a full size tyre, the same as 185/14
    The 90P (I think) are load and speed ratings.

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  3. Thanks guys, do you know any alternative to the Nexen SB802?

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  4. The comments on sizing are correct. A standard profile tyre is 80% of the width although this varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. The 90P is the load and speed rating. A load index of 90 is 600kg per tyre - this tyre will have a pretty stiff sidewall for a comparatively light trials car. A "P" speed rating is 93mph, most modern cars have "H" 130mph or "V" 149mph ratings in comparison.
    Neil

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  5. Hi the 90 p is indeed a load and speed rating,a 185x14 is in fact an 82 series tyre,they then brought out tyres marked 185/80x14 and dropped the 185x14 marking ,the pair will run together with no issues, getting a bit hard to find unless 8ply van are used.
    Phil

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  6. Two contributions to this debate:

    I stupidly bought a pair of 185/70x14 tyres some years ago when 14" tyres were in very short supply and, predictably, they were a disaster on the back. I did think about using them on the front but prefer 165 or 175 section to help the Marlin's less-than-perfect steering.

    Matador MP300s are NOT a universal solution, as all who've used them will testify. They are great in deep mud and/or low tyre pressures but dreadful on stony surfaces or anything much above 10/12psi. With the increasing use of tyre pressure restrictions, there are very few events which I'd want to tackle with MP300s on the back.

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  7. I've been happy with the king pin pacers with plenty of weight on the back I get reasonable grip. They are also ok on stone and I've only had one puncture in three years. Mind you we rarely go less than 10 psi.

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