|
Cars, Tires and Wheels
- - I’ve Owned
|
|
 I
invariably appear to be incorporating the leading edge of tire and wheel
technology on my vehicles. It all started in the late 1950’s with my
first car, a 1941 Ford Opera Coupe with a
'50 Olds engine, bored 1/8 inches to '55 engine specs with the equivalent of a "3/4 race cam." I utilized wide 15
inch front wheels and tires to help support the weight of the Olds.
The rear had 16 inch wheels and tires that came with the 4:11
rear end. An early implementation of unequal tire sizes front and rear!
Tire brand was determined by what the local junk yard had that looked good
enough to use! The rear tires had little traction so
nothing in the drivetrain broke despite the high torque Olds engine!
With no 1st gear (it broke soon after installing the Olds) could light the
rear tires in 2nd and the burnout only stopped when I lifted my foot! |
|
The next three cars tire source was
whatever was least expensive at Pep Boys! A ‘50 Ford V8 Two-Door, a ‘56 Chevy V8 Hardtop
and a 2 Door 61 Corvair. Tire cost was the main criteria during that
period! That's daughter on the '61. |
|
The next significant tire incident
occurred with the Uniroyal Tiger Paws that came with the first new car
purchased; a 1967 Corvair. The car had heavy duty suspension and a quick steering option offered that
year but did not
handle up to expectations. Inglewood Tire, in California, advertised a
“high performance” tire in one of the car magazines. It was available in
the 13 inch size so a set of 4 was ordered. They were a “low
profile” design with a dog bone tread pattern; although no one talked about "low profile" at that time. They were a
tremendous s improvement in dry weather. Cornering significantly improved and
the steering was precise and quick. One problem however, their performance
in the wet left a lot to be desired. Apparently it doesn’t rain in Southern California! One rainy Sunday
morning the car started hydroplaning for what seamed like an eternity.
While this was occurring a quick prayer was said promising to buy a set of
Pirelli’s if the car was unhurt! After being out of control from one
side of three highway lanes to the other, the car emerged unscathed.
Followed through and purchased 4 Pirelli C-72’s! These tires were
advertised as being great it the rain. In fact they were, but the rather
narrow Pirelli’s were no match in dry weather for the Inglewoods. |
|
 While
strolling through the New York Auto
Show the Continental booth was showing their latest design, the Continental
714. It was low profile and advertised as having excellent performance
in wet and dry. Had to have them, at least all the marketing hype said
they were what was needed to match a combination of the Ingelwoods and
Pirelli's. The only problem was the
smallest size they came in was 14 inches. So a "plus one"
approach was used (not called that at the time nor was it commonly done!)
After carefully measuring it was determined that 14 inch Chevelle wheels
would fit the Corvair so the Continental 714’s were ordered with 14 inch aluminum
wheels. This combination was the answer. They had the dry handling and
steering response of the Inglewood’s and at least matched the Pirelli’s
in wet weather. |
|
 The Continentals also had excellent wear
performance.
It fact they lasted so long that had them mounted with
 aftermarket aluminum
wheels on a new Datsun 260 Z
before it left the dealers. The wheels were similar to Minilites and the
center section had a ceramic type coating (looked something like those at
left.) Easy to keep clean. Wonder why
that is not popular today? When new tires were needed, Continental stopped
making the beloved 714’s. With the aid of a Road and Track article,
Michelin XWX’s were ordered for the Z. They worked fine. |
|
 The
next major tire encounter solved the frustration with the ride and
handling of my CJ-5 Jeep. The Jeep was ideal for the winter environment
where I was living at the time, in a small town on Lake Erie. However the
ride was terrible and the vehicle was a hazard on the highway. It was the
time of the 55 mph speed limit and I had quite a few points so I could not
pass the big trucks! The Jeep would move one half a lane when a
speeding truck passed me!
A new radial All Terrain Tire was mentioned in a magazine article as being
used in the off-road race in Baja. It was developed by B F Goodrich.
However the narrowest wheel listed as "recommended" was 9 inches as I recall
and the Renegade came with only 7 1/2 inch wide aluminum wheels. Called the
BF Goodrich engineering department to see if their smallest tire would fit
the 7 1/2 inch wide aluminum wheels that came with the Jeep.
He said “no problem” that is what we use in Baja to protect the wheels when
we hit rocks! The local tire dealer was asked to order a set of 4.
They were great. Running at 16 psi air pressure, the ride was
significantly improved. The stability on the highway was also much
improved. When trucks passed, the Jeep body still moved as it had
before but now with the large tires and low pressure, the body just sprang
right back! Body moved sideways but tires kept on track! Weird
feeling but much safer. |
|
Moved to Connecticut in 1979. The Jeep was not the thing for
driving on the icy Connecticut hills! Connecticut, unlike Ohio,
did not allow the use of salt on the roads. One day it went sideways
coming down an icy hill. As I had done with the Corvair, a
quick prayer was said: "I'll sell this thing if I recover." The prayer was
successful, I recovered unscathed and put it up for sale!
 A Dodge Colt was purchased to gain the
benefits of front wheel drive on hills and to deal with filling up with gas
every other day as part of the fuel shortage! Even the Colt was scary on
icy downhill drives. The answer again was found in a magazine article
about winter tires,
Scandinavian built Gilslaven Snow tires with “Hyrophonic” compound. They
performed as advertised, and gave the added security on ice and snow.
I also learned to use the console mounted emergency brake with button pushed to stop on icy down hill roads!
It was also a fun way to quickly turn corners! Liked it so much my
wife got a new Plymouth Champ (same Mitsubishi built car.)
The
Colt was so much fun, a 1984 model was purchased but for this one a turbo charger
was now available! The
magazines called it a "Pocket Rocket" and with its
 more powerful engine and 7 speed
transmission they were correct (really 8 speeds with a 4 speed and an
overdrive- but two were the same ratio!) It needed only one thing. You guessed it,
better tires. Decided a "plus 1" solution would be ideal. With careful
measurements, purchased
wider,
14 inch black aluminum wheels to replace the 13's that came with the
charcoal gray car.
Installed the widest Pirelli P-7 tires
that would fit. Some minor bending of the rear tire well lip was
all that was needed. All that power was now usable on the road!
Loved drag racing BMW's at stoplights!! |
|
 Moved
South and in 1985 decided it was time for another car. Loved the Colt
but had lived one summer without air-conditioning and that was enough!
Decided it was time for a Vette! Having a Vette will require you to
get to know your tire dealer. After about 10,000 miles,
installed a set of Dunlop’s to replace the
 original
Goodyear’s. A magazine article indicated they had better dry handling,
which they did. In fact in hot weather after a hard run these tires
were sticky to the touch. As expected, they also did not get great
mileage. |
|
 Next
was a 1993 40th Anniversary Vette. It was ordered with every option
available including the optional larger diameter wheels and tires.
Wore out the Goodyears in about 8,000 miles and purchased Firestone SZ50’s.
Much better tire. It gave
great traction in dry pavement and made the Vette as good as those large
tires could deliver. |
|
We were moving to
the "Country" and building a new house, so needed a truck. A 1994 GMC Sonoma
pick-up was purchased. It came with Uniroyals. That
was the OEM brand the '67 Corvair came with! I remembered those terrible "Tiger
Paws;" these tires were no better! Terrible in rain and would squeal when making
hard turns. The truck did not have positraction,
which it needed. An incident on a 4 lane road in town helped dictate a change. It was a 45 speed limit and i was in the left lane traveling about 50 mph. A young girl coming from the other direction attempted to turn into a gas station on my right! She was much too close and I couldn't possibly stop in time. She just stopped with the front end of her car in my lane! I made a quick turn into the left lane, the rear of the truck slide to the right and I drive into a driveway without hitting a telephone pole! I recall the incident because a fellow who saw this happen stopped with her license plate and said, "You did a great job, thought I was watching a NASCAR race!" Decided it was time for a set of aluminum wheels and the same Firestones
model tires purchased for the Vette. The Firestone SZ50
225/70-15 tires fit well. The tires were great, no squeal in turns and
much better wet weather performance. |
|
 The
very positive experience with the Firestone SZ's made them the choice for
the front of the Street Rod I was building. 225/60 x 15 fit
the 7 inch wide wheels.
For the rears, 12 inch wide, matching model wheels and Mickey Thompson 16.5 x 31 x 15's provided excellent traction to match
the 525HP 8.2 liter engine. The 16.5 inch cross section is 419 mm if
your trying to compare with normal millimeter designations! When hot
the Mickey Thompson's are sticky and can handle a launch at 1900 rpm, under
the stall speed of the torque converter. That provides a 0 to 60 time
of under 3.5 seconds! |
|
Loved the GMC but it was time for a new one.  A 2002 Chevy S-10 was purchased with all the goodies. HD
suspension, quick steering, positraction, 5 speed standard trans and a higher HP V6
than the '94 Sonoma. However the original Goodyear tires hydroplaned
on a new stretch of highway when they had less than 20,000 miles. Ordered a
set of Firestone, Indy 500’s. What a positive difference. Heavy
rain or dry pavement, the traction was much better. |
|
 Was time for a new vehicle and the S-10 was being replaced with what Chevy named Colorado. None were available but It had the option of a higher hp 5 cylinder engine, built by Isuzu. Sounded good-turned out it was a poor high reving, no low end torque engine! Fortunatly there was also one major flaw that prevented me from ordering a truck I had not seen. I asked the salesman why I could not find a standard transmission with the 5 cylinder engine. he left the office and said I'll check with the district manager. I waited about 10 minutes, getting irritated. He came in and said, "Guess you'll have to upgrade to an automatic, there is not standard trans with the 5 cylinder engine!" I said,"You don't understand an automatic is a none issue, my daily driver will have a standard shift," and I walked out! I was mad and decided then, it was time for another Vette!
Bought a 2008 Vette
with 436 HP and Z51 handling option. The 19 inch rear, 18 inch
front Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar EMT's stick like
glue! We would see how long they lasted!
Found
out how long the Goodyear's lasted- 12,600 miles! No they were not
worn completely, still had maybe 3000 to 5000 miles left on all but one but
one. However got a nail in the same tire that had a flat repaired previously.
However the Firestone Dealer (the only one in town who had the ability to
officially fix Run Flats) saw the nail in the outer tread block.
It was about an inch in from the edge but it was the outer tread block.
Firestone rules are, "no repair of a Run Flat if the nail is in the outer
tread block!" Too close to the sidewall. Well the fellow at the
Firestone store was very knowledgeable and did SCCA racing. He said if
I wanted to repair it go to the Goodyear store around the corner. The
two fellows there said they don't do run flats! I retuned to the
Firestone store where my friend had Firestones mounted on his 2007 Vette.
Although I had lost only a few pounds of air, the car would be at the
airport for several days the following week and I did not want to return
home with a flat. Plus I thought I would get a set of 4 new tires
before winter came in 6 months. We don't often get snow but need the extra
tread for rain. This was late Friday and they did not have the
Firestone Firehawk Wide Oval RFT high performance tires in stock.
However he called a store 65 miles away and they had the matched set needed.
He sent a fellow to pick them up Saturday morning and called at 11 AM and
said bring the car in! He put his best guy on the job who kept on
apologizing for it taking so long! He was very careful jacking the car
and removing and mounting the tires. Told him to take all the time he
needed! They also gave me a price that matched Tire Rack!
Turns out the left front had an area where the tire was due to be replaced.
The rears could have probably gone the 3000 to 5000 miles more but the
thicker tread will be great for the winter. I am generally very happy with the
Firestones. However the cold weather performance may not be
as good as the Goodyears, or it was colder this year! When it gets to
40 degrees even the Vette traction control can't stop the rear from
"stepping out!" Have to be careful. In fairness all the 'Summer"
rated high performance tires say don't use below freezing! |
 The for a new vehicle and Chevy was introducing an "all new" Vette! Bought a C7 Corvette before they started production! Ordered the Z51 option that came with Michelin Pilot Sport ZP tires. They are similar to the "cup tires" used on Porsche and other race oriented cars. Realizing the problems this creates in December! They don't have much traction when it is below about 45F! In warm weather they stick like glue! They are even worse than the Firestones on my C6 Vette in cold weather but stick much better when they are warm! Probably one of the main reasons the 2014 C7 Stingray with Z51 can achieve a lateral "g' force of 1.03 with only 285 section width rear tires. The 20 inch forged wheels with a 30 series tire do look more like rubber bands! Not much side wall to help with the ride. However the car is similar in ride to the C6, good on smooth roads which is mostly what we have in our area.
|
 Current ride is a 2017 Grand Sport. The same power at my 2014 Z51 BUT with the needed wider tires! Fronts are the same width as 2014 rear, 285/19 and the rear 335-25-20 with a very low 25 profile ratio. |
MIG Welding Gas Delivery and the Small Block
Chevy Ev loved
in a Similar Way and Time!
Both had Advances and
Setbacks Before
They Were Optimized!
Click
for a PDF Report on the Similarities |
