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This winter I am getting a heavier duty rearend narrowed for my Austin. I crushed the old narrowed mid-70's Vega rearend once when I had a passenger on board and hooked up. Right now the fattest tires I can run (without a lot out of the fenderwell) are 185-70R13s and I currently have Michelins. They are not very sticky, with me only on board I don't get much traction at all. By now you're probably wondering what the hell kind of car is this. See http://ntahc.org/modifiedhealeys/Pho...157Hammond.htm
and in particular the 5th photo down.
So while I'm at it, I'm having the guy who is doing the narrowing for me also tub the fenderwells just a little so I can run something wider in the rear without any hangout past the fenderwell. After a lot of online searching, I figure I'm going to go to 14" wheels and I want to run 185-60R14s in the front and 225-50R14s in the back. They are almost exactly the same overall height and about the same as the 185-70R13s I have now. I can't go more than 1/4" or so shorter in total height, I already scrape my headers on speed bumps, dips and dead cats in the road as it is.
Thing is, these are odd sizes nowadays. Tons of selection for 16 - 20" wheels, not much for 14s. But it's what I need. I haven't been able to find a tire set that has both sizes in one model of tire. The major makers have one size or the other. I've searched web sites for Goodrich, Continental, Dunlop, Falken, General, Goodyear, Hankook, Kuhmo, Michelin, Nitto, Toyo, and Yoko.
Anybody got any other suggestions on who to try? As another alternative, has anybody ever run a mismatched set of tires, one brand on front, other on rear? I know I shouldn't run sets that are really different, but if both pairs were "high performance" and for really similar intended use, would it likely to be a problem? Think it would look all that noticeable if the front and rear tread patters didn't match?
Thanks for any suggestions. I really want to get this bitch to hook up so I can go draggin' this summer.
Chow.
and in particular the 5th photo down.
So while I'm at it, I'm having the guy who is doing the narrowing for me also tub the fenderwells just a little so I can run something wider in the rear without any hangout past the fenderwell. After a lot of online searching, I figure I'm going to go to 14" wheels and I want to run 185-60R14s in the front and 225-50R14s in the back. They are almost exactly the same overall height and about the same as the 185-70R13s I have now. I can't go more than 1/4" or so shorter in total height, I already scrape my headers on speed bumps, dips and dead cats in the road as it is.
Thing is, these are odd sizes nowadays. Tons of selection for 16 - 20" wheels, not much for 14s. But it's what I need. I haven't been able to find a tire set that has both sizes in one model of tire. The major makers have one size or the other. I've searched web sites for Goodrich, Continental, Dunlop, Falken, General, Goodyear, Hankook, Kuhmo, Michelin, Nitto, Toyo, and Yoko.
Anybody got any other suggestions on who to try? As another alternative, has anybody ever run a mismatched set of tires, one brand on front, other on rear? I know I shouldn't run sets that are really different, but if both pairs were "high performance" and for really similar intended use, would it likely to be a problem? Think it would look all that noticeable if the front and rear tread patters didn't match?
Thanks for any suggestions. I really want to get this bitch to hook up so I can go draggin' this summer.
Chow.