As my project continues, I now need to get some tyres suitable for the task ahead!
Having acquired a set of 14 x 5.5 rims, what does the panel reccommend as a good all round (pun intended) tyre within a reasonable budget, and within regs?
Thanks
Richard N
Colway CMTs in seem to work really well on the rear of the Yeller Dutton - problem being the factory seems to have closed for various reasons - there are still tyres out there, but harder to get hold off. I am running wider rims that you tho - might make some difference . .. maybe . . . I'm going to try some Kingpins of the same pattern soon, simply because they are easily avavilable and cheap (moi - tight fisted . . . noooo!) Bri
ReplyDeleteI run a Skoda Estelle on 14". I have had a similar problem. Now approved (and reasonably priced) are Falken Linam R51 165 R14. We ran them on the Exeter and the Clee and found them ok. The tread pattern is very similar to the favoured Michelin MX. Hope this helps.
ReplyDeleteColway CMT are still available from the likes of Tyres Direct..acording to their site. HOWEVER...I'd suggest, if you can get hold of Colways, limiting your actual tyre 'width' to 165/80 x 14.....rather than looking at 175's. the reason is...the 165 section Colways come with the Colway CM tread pattern...which gives a less flat, wider tread spacing, 'michelin' tread pattern. These I have found, to be better at 'self-cleaning'' than the CMT tread pattern, which is the later Michelin type. although there is a trade-off regarding tyre dimensions which may well be unacceptable? [ I do prefer 'narrow' to 'wide' tyres, but I lack the mud driving experience of 99% of those posting here.....leastwise, with my own car]
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately Tyres Direct gave up answering telephone calls a lonnnng time ago - "message box full". They did used to list 175s in CM pattern - but they arrived in CMT pattern. ;-( I was going to post this earlier but got side-tracked. Yeller Dutton occasionaly runs 165 CMs on the front - depends what's blown up and not got holes in. Normally CMTs on the rear. While parked up at the top of a hill on the March Hare last year, on some damp, but not too damp, ground, waiting for the cars in the sections to get out, we noticed something interesting . . . All tyres were down to the minimum pressure. Dutton seems to have a reasonable weight distribution when loaded up, so decent amount on the front tyres too. The tread marks left in the ground were surprising - to me anyway. The CMs on the front left the expected pattern. But the CMT left wider bars of mud - the tread seemed to open up a lot more on the ground compared to the CMs. So does that mean it clears the mud better - or does it close up again as it comes off the ground, trapping the mud? No idea, but we've since compared tyres on club trials, on the same sections, and can't tell the difference. Even tried some of the allowed M&S marked tyres - still no difference. In-fact on one very wet, muddy, slimy trial, the M&S seemed worse! I tend towards the theory they do clean better - and the total length of lateral bars on the CMTs is more than the CMs - so maybe better grip? Not looked to closely at the CMs, but the CMTs also have a regular pattern of bigger gaps between the tread blocks - maybe that helps? I think a willingness to treat tyres as a disposable commodity and lower the pressures right down when required makes more of a difference than tread pattern - we couldn't be bothered with all the climbing in and out to let them down/blow then up at first . . . now we do, and it tends to climb things reasonably well now ;-) Bri
ReplyDeleteHow do the tread patterns for kingpin tyres compare to the colways? http://www.kingpin-tyres.com/english.htm I'm guessing the CMT is the same as the KMT tread, but which one compares to the CM pattern? Thanks Richard
ReplyDeleteKingpin KM7/KMT is the same as Colway CMT - not the KMT listed lower down. Kingpin KM looks to be the same as Colway CM. I do have one Kingpin KMT in the pattern listed lower down the page due to the supplier mis-describing what he had - I guess we'll see if it makes any difference ;-) My worry is the compound - we've worn one set of Colways out - no punctures, simply low tread. So I guess they might be quite soft. Kingpins might be a harder compound. Bri
ReplyDeleteBeing located in the USA, I have essentially zero practical experience in car trials. However, I have uncovered one small data point related to tires that might be relevant. My Honda Insight hybrid uses a Bridgestone RE-92 "all season M+S" tire in size 165-65R14. If you look up the specifications of this tire (on www.tirerack.com, for example), the low weight is notable compared to other nearby sizes for the "same" tire. It turns out that this particular size is a special case of an extremely low rolling resistance tire that is sort of an unadvertized special hidden amongst a bunch of generic passenger car tires. Experiements by a number of people in the hybrid car community (on www.insightcentral.net, for example) have pretty clearly shown that this particular tire provides about a 5% improvement in fuel economy compared to others in similar sizes. The trick apparently is that the casing is extremely flexible, so any flexing that does occur doesn't tend to heat up the rubber very much--thus not using fuel to generate that waste heat. In the "hypermiling" community the common approach is to pump up the tires to 50 or 60 psi (they're rated to 44 psi on the sidewall), which reduces any flexing that does occur. There are some weird tread wear characteristics that also support the idea that this is an unusual casing design. So anyway, from the viewpoint of trials, this particular tire might be worth looking at if lots of casing flexibility is desired. Note: The tread pattern is a generic street design, I have no idea if the tire is legal by the trials competition regulations, and it looks in some other discussions here that tires with strong sidewalls might be better in practical use anyway. I recall that on bikes in the 1970s, people used 2-ply competition versions of the Dunlop trials tire, and so maybe the flexible casing approach would be applicable to some car trials situations. Just wanted to pass on this small tidbit of info that might not otherwise cross between the hybrid car and the trials car communities. "Your mileage may vary" as they say... :-)
ReplyDelete