Tires

[darylfelsberg]

What brand and size tires are some of you running on your DMC12?

[sdg3205]

Hey man, run a quick search and you'll find a TON of information on tires!

[darylfelsberg]

Thanks Dave. I did, and unfortunately when you type in "tires" anytime someone mentioned "flat tire" or "the tires are dry rotted" it pulled it up and after winding through 100 or so I gave up.

I just bought a DMC12 that had sat for 10 years, so I am going through the ritualistic protocol of system replacement. And one of those is tires, but I want to get some options.

I did find a few entries about what people were running, but just curious as of more options. Thanks for your help though. I'll need a lot as resurrect this thing.

[OverlandMan]

Where in TX are you?

[darylfelsberg]

I now live in Paris, Texas. Raised in Corpus Christi. Moved around with work, but have settled outside of the metroplex in East Texas.

[Kerichbe]

I went with the Falken Ziex zx-512, as they were the only tyres I could find locally where they had front and rears that matched. For the rears I had to go a size smaller 225/60x15. So far they have handled well, and are quite a bit quieter. But then I'm comparing it to the 3 different types of tyres the PO had on her (Dunlops front, Cooper and Dayton on the rear)

[ccurzio]

I have Cooper Cobras on all four tires.

[darylfelsberg]

Hey Chris, what sizes?

[DMCMW Dave]

I have Cooper Cobras on all four tires.

No Longer Available - unless you find a few stragglers in a warehouse somewhere.

[Nicholas R]

Here is a really good thread on tires:

http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?4341-TYRES-255x60x15-for-rear-OK-215x60x14-for-front-OK&highlight=tyres

I dont believe there are any matching tires for our cars right now are there?

EDIT:
Just went to tirerack.com and if you put in DeLorean DMC-12, they actually do give the correct tire sizes for the car. Unfortunately if you click "View matching front and rear pairs," it comes back saying that no matching sets are available for those sizes.

[jerzybondov]

OEM spec is 195/60/R14 on the fronts and 235/60/R15 on the back.

[DMCMW Dave]

I dont believe there are any matching tires for our cars right now are there?

.

Not that I've been able to find. You can get BFG in the correct sizes but they are different tread patterns (this is probably true for several brands). Every once in a while someone tells me that they found the correct sizes in some off-brand but upon further investigation they turn out to be old inventory.

[Morpheus]

Primewell makes a set of tires in OE sizes, although the fronts are a different series than the rears. Tread patterns vary slightly. Primewell tires are made by Bridgestone, IIRC.

http://www.primewelltires.com/

I have a set in the correct sizes on my car and they are a decent value for the money.

[Mark D]

As Dave mentioned Cooper Cobra's are no longer available in the correct front size 195/60/14 (The rear tires 235/60/15 are still in production) I managed to snag a set of fronts about a year ago off tires-easy.com but that may have been the last of their stock. You could try them again and you may get lucky.

For a while I was seeing Cooper Cobra front tires on Ebay but it looks like that supply has dried up also. If you can find a set of fronts somewhere the rears are still readily available.

[Michael]

I got a set of matching Cooper Cobras from Tireeasy but that was a few years ago and as mentionred they are probably out of stock by now. What most DMC franchises do and suggest is moving down to a 225 rear size which opens up a whole new world of matching tires to choose from and the 10mm difference in size is pretty much invisible.

[Bill Robertson's Sock Puppet #1]

Other than cosmetics there is no compelling reason to match tread patterns front to rear, especially given DeLoreans' tire size disparity (reasonable argument can be made for matching treads side to side). Commercial trucks often have radically different treads on their steering and driving axles, especially if they are only 2 axle.

[Michael]

Other than cosmetics there is no compelling reason to match tread patterns front to rear, especially given DeLoreans' tire size disparity (reasonable argument can be made for matching treads side to side). Commercial trucks often have radically different treads on their steering and driving axles, especially if they are only 2 axle.

For most DeLorean owners, cosmetics are as important as mechanics.

[pezzonovante88]

I've got Cooper Cobras in the rear and Prodigy (something or other) in the front. I put the Cobras on in March when I got the car, but the Prodigy fronts that came on it are still there. Not sure what I'll use when it comes time to replace them.
Regarding rear tire size, I would never go with a narrower tire in the rear - wider if anything.