Tires

[uhhair]

Okay, so our car is definitely riding on borrowed time as far as our tires are concerned, so we need to invest in a new set of tires as soon as we find a suitable set.

Can anyone give me recommendations for tires CURRENTLY BEING MANUFACTURED for the front and rear? If they match, even better. If they don't, has anyone found a good combination that has a similar tread pattern or something like that?

Please, I know you can ask around and try to find the Cobras and such that might be in stock somewhere, but I really want to focus on buying a tire I'm not going to have to literally hunt down to find. The car doesn't get driven in rain or during the winter so I'm not concerned about it being all-weather or anything like that, nor do I drive it enough per year for tread life to be a concern at all. Price isn't a concern either, I'd pay almost any price for the perfect tires for the car.

[DMCMW Dave]

Best - Michelin Pilot Exalto 195-60-14 front 225-60-15 rear
OK, a bit cheaper - Falken Ziex 512 195-60-14 front 225-60-15 rear

I keep hearing about off-brands in the correct size (Hercules? etc.) but I have not seen them and a strongly suspect they are rebranded Coopers and going away when out of stock anyway.

[uhhair]

I see that the speed rating for the Exalto's is H, while the back is V. Do they not make a V rated front tire?

[dmc6960]

Do they not make a V rated front tire?

Unless you have a turbo or Stage II, combined with incredible nerves, there is no need for anything over H.

[uhhair]

Yeah, I seriously doubt I'd personally even need an H rated one the way I drive my delorean, but I didn't know if the different speed ratings made the tires not an exact pair or not.

[content22207]

The back tires are 3 inches taller and 1.5 inches wider than the front ones -- they'll never be an exact pair no matter what brand/model you buy.

I've never understood DeLorean owners' obsession with matching tread patterns. The front axle steers, the back one doesn't. That is why in the trucking world front and rear tread patterns rarely match. It's not as if you'll be rotating your DeLorean tires front to rear....

Both 195-60/14's and 235-60/15's are plentiful at most online tire retailers. Even WalMart/Sam's sells both. Finding a set of original size DeLorean tires is not difficult.

Bill Robertson
#5939

[uhhair]

The back tires are 3 inches taller and 1.5 inches wider than the front ones -- they'll never be an exact pair no matter what brand/model you buy.

I've never understood DeLorean owners' obsession with matching tread patterns. The front axle steers, the back one doesn't. That is why in the trucking world front and rear tread patterns rarely match. It's not as if you'll be rotating your DeLorean tires front to rear....

Both 195-60/14's and 235-60/15's are plentiful at most online tire retailers. Even WalMart/Sam's sells both. Finding a set of original size DeLorean tires is not difficult.

Bill Robertson
#5939

Bill, I'd like the brand to match partly because I intend on painting the lettering white, so I think it would look a bit ridiculous if I had two totally different tires if you could see the brands and they looked different. I'd also like a high-quality tire, which is why I stay away from off-brands and generic stuff.

[louielouie2000]

The back tires are 3 inches taller and 1.5 inches wider than the front ones -- they'll never be an exact pair no matter what brand/model you buy.

I've never understood DeLorean owners' obsession with matching tread patterns. The front axle steers, the back one doesn't. That is why in the trucking world front and rear tread patterns rarely match. It's not as if you'll be rotating your DeLorean tires front to rear....

Both 195-60/14's and 235-60/15's are plentiful at most online tire retailers. Even WalMart/Sam's sells both. Finding a set of original size DeLorean tires is not difficult.

Bill Robertson
#5939

Agreed. I'd much rather have mis matched tire brands and keep the original tire sizes than use incorrectly sized tires for the sake of keeping the same brand front & back. I think the smaller rear tires on DeLoreans just don't good at all. Not to mention, Lotus put that extra rubber on the back of DeLoreans to keep them from oversteering. We already know the DeLorean is under-engineered in the first place... why make a link in the chain even weaker?

[TEXSIX]

If you run an H rated tire in the front use the same H rating in the rear. It gives you an equal feeling for handling. I mixed tire ratings on the Buick with poor handling results, and had to change them out.

[Michael]

I got a set of Cooper Cobras in matching sizes a few months ago. I got them from an online tire retailer, however white letter only on one end and black wall on the other end....easily fixed by putting the insode out( which has a nice design on it too boot).

Be warned, those tires were hard to balance, on fact I had to take it to my mechanic to break one of the rear ones back off and reposition it as it took too much weight to get it balanced. I suspect these are older factory rejects, but I got lucky and mine ride very smooth.

[uhhair]

Is anyone currently running 225's on their rear tires that can comment maybe on the size/look/feel difference?

[content22207]

... I'd also like a high-quality tire, which is why I stay away from off-brands and generic stuff.

Don't overlook Wally World then. Their purchasing power allows them to buy Goodyears, Bridgestones, etc cheaper than anyone else (those humongous Wranglers on my service truck, Load Range E, were $175 each, plus I got a 4 wheel $20 mount & balance special). Remember that there is no charge to special order tires into your local store.

Don't take your whole car in -- put it on jack stands and just take them the rims.

Bill Robertson
#5939

[QuadcityDMC]

DMCMW Put Falken front and back last year, I have maybe 1,000 miles on them. Much better then the 10 year old tires that were on the car. Besides all the best stuff is made in Japan! * the tires are made in Japan*

[stevedmc]

I'm running a set of Primewell (made in china) tires from Firestone. The tread patterns are different between the front and back but they match fine and I'm not having any problems. They are 100000% better than the 10 year old tires I was driving on before I replaced them. I believe I paid $375 for the set including mounting, taxes, and all the nickel and diming they could think of.

[MartyP]

I'm running FUZION HRI (made byBridgestone). I love them they stick well they are a matching tires and threads, they look somewhat sporty. and they handle great for a lot less then the Michelin's.

One imporant thing to check on tires for orur car is the load rating especially for the rear since it is heavy (65% of the weight or so).

[ebrakespin]

I'm running FUZION HRI (made byBridgestone). I love them they stick well they are a matching tires and threads, they look somewhat sporty. and they handle great for a lot less then the Michelin's.


I'm pricing out tires and looking at the FUZION HRI. I noticed they only offer the 225/60/15.


Is anyone currently running 225's on their rear tires that can comment maybe on the size/look/feel difference?

[MartyP]

The Michelin the Fuzion and the Falken are all 225 for the rear.

I'm running the Fuzion 225 rear

[uhhair]

anyone have any pictures of the 225's in the rear and what they look like?

[uhhair]

Are the Cooper Cobra's only a T-rated tire? Aren't Deloreans supposed to have an H-rated tire on them?

[content22207]

In the back of #5939 I am running a Goodyear Eagle on one side and some sort of Bridgestone on the other. Same tire size but total tread mismatch (doesn't make any difference on a non steering axle -- it was like that when you test drove my car at Justin's house).

The occasion for the above was a sliced sidewall while I was on a trip (broken pavement). I drove all over Northern Virginia on my spare looking for a 265/60-15 in stock. My spare is the same size as a front tire, so there was a significant mismatch side to side in the back. I didn't notice any difference in handling at least to 45 MPH. To be brutally honest I would have had no qualms driving all the way home that way had it been necessary.

Bill Robertson
#5939

[uhhair]

Just like to mention to anyone interested, Tires-easy.com does have Cooper Cobra's in stock in 195 and 235's for our cars. The back are white lettering, the front are black (but I bought a can of white tire paint to paint the lettering on them!). I waited till they got delivered today to confirm that they still had them though, but if anyone is still looking for a set of 4 matching tires in the OEM sizes, that is about the best you can do at this point I think.

[StainlessSteelDream]

Hey Guys,

Hunting for a set of tires and a local shop has found Delta Road Max tires in matching front and rear sizes.

Has anyone ever heard of these? Any opinions?

It sounds like Delta is a store-brand manufacturer.

Thanks
M

[Dangermouse]

Can't say I have heard of them

[Rich]

anyone have any pictures of the 225's in the rear and what they look like?

http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?3923

[Big-JO]

I've read all the previous posts about tires etc, but haven't found any current posts..

Its time to get new tires...

The ones on my 81 are 14 years old and don’t trust them other than just around town under 45 MPH

I know finding tires is a challenge and only a few options are available.

I'm a child of the 70's and like the look of RWL, I know its not the original look, but what can I say....

I can get the rear tire no problem 235/60/R15, in BF Goodrich or Cooper Cobras, but the front 195/60/R14 is the problem. Cant find anything to match....

I can get a BF Goodrich, in a 205/70/R14 its 1.2" taller and .5" wider

or a Cooper Cobra, 185/60/R14 is .4' shorter and .5 wider than the 195/60/R14.

Is anyone running with those sizes? Will the 205/70/R14 or 185/60/R14 fit in the wheel well without any problems steering?

Any advice would be appreciated.. I want to drive 88MPH again...

[Gregadeth]

Another option is you can go with the 195s and paint in the RWLs yourself if you're up for it. I think a couple people on here have done it.

[rtcraver]

Okay, so our car is definitely riding on borrowed time as far as our tires are concerned, so we need to invest in a new set of tires as soon as we find a suitable set.

Can anyone give me recommendations for tires CURRENTLY BEING MANUFACTURED for the front and rear? If they match, even better. If they don't, has anyone found a good combination that has a similar tread pattern or something like that?

Please, I know you can ask around and try to find the Cobras and such that might be in stock somewhere, but I really want to focus on buying a tire I'm not going to have to literally hunt down to find. The car doesn't get driven in rain or during the winter so I'm not concerned about it being all-weather or anything like that, nor do I drive it enough per year for tread life to be a concern at all. Price isn't a concern either, I'd pay almost any price for the perfect tires for the car.

I found Fusion tires on line... DMCH says they use the 225 rear when replacing... Fusion is inexpensive and so far so good. Totally rebuilt the entire suspension, mechanical and ran out of $$$ :-) Have approx 1 K miles on them so far and they are performing well as a daily driver....

[Morpheus]

We have been using Vredestein Sportrac 5s in the shop. Made in the Netherlands, nice tread pattern, matching set (225 in the rear), and as an added bonus they are styled by Giugiaro, much like our beloved DMC-12.

I have received no complaints on these so far.
5261952620

[ssdelorean]

I just replaced mine with Cooper CS3s in the front and CS5s (225) in the rear. I went with them to have a matching look & long tread wear. Was not concerned with RWL. I considered the Cooper Cobra's but to me they just looked weird and did not have any fronts that match. They are definitely softer (have a squishier feel) on the side walls than my previous tires - Michelin Pilot Exaltos - "the best" to quote DMCMW Dave, and I agree. Those lasted me over 60K miles and were not "squishy" (side wall flex) going around corners at speed. So far I like the Coopers and that is my only complaint so far. I have just over 1,900 miles on them.

Tires I have ran on the DeLorean (Chronological)
SigmaE (good)
Michelin Pilots (bestest)
Michelin Pilot Exaltos (best)
Cooper CS3 & CS5 (good so far)

[WHO1DMC]

+1
The *Vredestein Sportrac 5s are a good ride and grip well to the road. I also have had many compliments at shows on how well they look on the car with the wide side stripe.

Definitely no complaints here.
Dave B.

[Andrew]

I've been running Futura Super Sport 235/60R15 tires on the rear of my DeLorean for the past 5,000 miles. Thus far I have no complaints. In fact, I like them so much, I just installed a set on my Bricklin earlier this week. On the Bricklin I had the tires installed with the raised white letters out. They are a PepBoys private label tire which are made in Mexico (at least they arent made in China!). From what I've heard they are made by Cooper. For $80.99 per tire with free shipping to your front door, you certainly cant beat the price!

[DMC5276]

After looking for tires for years, and missing out on the Michelin Pilot XGT H4 and Exalto A/S, I came across the General Tire AltiMAX RT43. General is now part of Continental, and these all-season tires get good reviews. Available in H-rated 195/60R14 and 225/60R15 at very reasonable prices. There was even a rebate. Mine are manufactured in Mexico (fronts) and Romania (rears).

http://generaltire.com/tires/passenger-and-minivan/altimax-rt43

https://m.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=General&tireModel=AltiMAX+RT43+%28H-+or+V-Speed+Rated%29

Sent from my LG-H900 using Tapatalk

[mluder]

After looking for tires for years, and missing out on the Michelin Pilot XGT H4 and Exalto A/S, I came across the General Tire AltiMAX RT43. General is now part of Continental, and these all-season tires get good reviews. Available in H-rated 195/60R14 and 225/60R15 at very reasonable prices. There was even a rebate. Mine are manufactured in Mexico (fronts) and Romania (rears).

http://generaltire.com/tires/passenger-and-minivan/altimax-rt43

https://m.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=General&tireModel=AltiMAX+RT43+%28H-+or+V-Speed+Rated%29

Sent from my LG-H900 using Tapatalk

So did you go with the 235/70R-15 or 225/60R-15 in the rear then?

Cheers
Steve

[DMC5276]

So did you go with the 235/70R-15 or 225/60R-15 in the rear then?

Cheers
Steve225/60R-15

Sent from my LG-H900 using Tapatalk

[DMC-Ron]

I have the General Altimax RT43 Radial Tire - 195/60R14 86H on the front. Very quiet tire and seems to be doing well.
Ron

[TYMCHSR]

The Toyo Extensa A/S are a very good tire and matching set: 195/60R14 86H front, 225/60R15 96H Rear. Choices are slim out there, at least these have the H speed rating.