Tires

[Rich_NYS]

I have Cooper CS4 Touring 195/60R/14 up front and Cooper CS4 Touring 225/60R/15 in the rear. It is a matching set, but it's 225 instead of the stock 235 in the rear. As previously mentioned, nobody currently sells a matching set in the stock sizes. Unless you are taking turns really hard or racing the thing, going a bit narrower in the rear won't matter much. I like things to match personally.

I'm asking about different manufacturers(Generals up front, BFG in the rear) and if that is an issue aside from aesthetics.

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[Hill Valley PD]

I'm asking about different manufacturers(Generals up front, BFG in the rear) and if that is an issue aside from aesthetics.

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It seems like a lot of people have gone that route, so I guess it is really just about aesthetics. Powerline84 said earlier he is running two different brands, so maybe he can chime in. I cannot speak from my own experience because the car had the Coopers on it when I bought it. Manufactured in 2013, so I have a few years left on them before I have to decide this issue myself.

[Josh]

the only issue is aesthetics (and traction in my case)

[David T]

It is not "best practice" to mix and match different manufacturers front and rear but if you have no choice what are you to do? Never do that on the same axle though. Keep both fronts the same and both rears the same. While there is more to it than just aesthetics, it should not be a problem. If they are all blackwalls it will not be very noticeable apart from the different tread designs. Back in the day we would routinely use snow tires in the winter in the rear on our daily drivers (not Deloreans) and they were often not the same as the front tires and it was never a problem.

[louielouie2000]

It is not "best practice" to mix and match different manufacturers front and rear but if you have no choice what are you to do? Never do that on the same axle though. Keep both fronts the same and both rears the same. While there is more to it than just aesthetics, it should not be a problem.

The virtue of having the same brand front & rear pretty much evaporates if the front & rear tires are different models & performance categories. For instance, Cooper currently only makes the "Evolution Tour" in the DeLorean's front size: 195/60/14... that's a Standard Touring tire (not really the best option for a sporty car, but probably fine for most DeLorean owners). If you want to stick with the correct rear size of 235/60/15 Cooper only offers the "Cobra Radial GT" which is classified as a Performance All Season. If you step down to the 225/60/15 size for the rear, Cooper only makes the "CS5 Ultra Touring" which is a Grand Touring tire. None of these tires are the same performance category... which means they all have different tread designs, rubber compounds, and sidewall designs. They will all wear & perform differently, too. None of these tires are even produced in the same factory or country, despite being from the same manufacturer... so I don't think you're guaranteed the same level of quality control, either. At that point, what's the purpose of staying with the same manufacturer front & rear?

Looks like the only matching tires you can still buy front & rear is the Fuzion Touring... and that's only if you step down to 225s in the rear.

The tire situation continues to become more bleak for DeLoreans. I think there will always be an option for the 235/60/15 size since many 60s/70s/80s classic vehicles run that size. It's the front tires I worry about in the not too distant future. I'd have to imagine the amount of vehicles running around on 14" wheels gets much smaller every year.

[Rich_NYS]

I was going to get BFG Radial TA's, but Wal-Mart had Cooper Cobras for $92 and I couldn't resist.

This is my second tire change on a DeLorean, and same as the first.....made a huge difference.
I think fresh tires make a bigger difference on a vintage car due to the tires not being changed as often (they get old, but tread still looks good.)

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[Ron]

+1 Louie


$.02- With the front and back being different sizes, I'd say that matching is fruitless, other than for aesthetics.
Different rim size, height, or width alone will mismatch the flex or traction....
Two of the three are drastic -- Not gonna' happen.

[David T]

Of course you are right on all of those points BUT. The car was designed that way with the different sizes with the different flexing figured in. When you "mix and match" now you are introducing different tread design, different steel belt design, different rubber compounds, etc. Does it matter, probably not under normal, sane, street driving. Add in rain, temperatures, high speed maneuvers, and such and you start to get to the edge of the envelope and who knows how the car will handle. Add in using tire sizes not specified by the manufacturer, maybe different tire pressures, and now you have no idea how the car will handle. It becomes particularly important when you consider the car does not have ABS or tire monitoring. Because the Delorean is a rear-engined car it has a very high polar moment of inertia. That means once you break the rear tires loose the front and rear want to switch places. It can happen so fast a driver may not have enough time to correct before it is past the point of correction because of the limited turning radius. When you do not use the recommended tire sizes and pressures you become the automotive engineer and must take into account all of the factors that the original designers had to. This is just a few of the reasons to try to stay with the recommend sizes and pressures to the extent possible. it is becoming harder and harder to do that so we are all going to be experimenting. Increasing tire sizes isn't a good option (clearance & traction issues) but reducing the sizes is worse (weight capacity).

[Ron]

I can agree with all of that. And to be clear, I didn't mean to promote changing sizes. I was thinking about comments on traction, for example, and that the car wasn't designed for one specific tire for the front, or for the rear. And that since the difference in one matching brand to the next would make a difference in traction between sets AND between the from and rear of a given set was OK, mixing brands today would also be ok. (Especially when used, as you put it, "under normal, sane, street driving.")
I didn't mention it, but it just doesn't make sense to me when looking at how many different types of vehicles a given tire will fit (properly) either....