GT40 tyre sizes

[StuartB]

Yep, sorry, it`s that old question again, I`ve run the searches and cant find them, can someone please post the tyre profiles, hight in inches please, front and rear, need to get the origional look but have to go with 17" rims. Thanks.

[JP]

You won't be original with 17's. 16's look more original and there are some decent tyres available too.

Front try: 225/50/R16
Rear try 255/50/R16

Regards,

J.P

P.S These are 16 inch. Jongbloeds.

[norman falkiner]

These are a really nice looking set of wheels. I know wheels are a personal thing but I saw a Cobra a few days ago with highly chromed 20inch wheels bearing no resemblance to a normal style. I just wish I'd had a camera with me.He was running normal sized brakes and they looked like they were off a shopping trolley. Be careful out there. Regards

[Bill Bayard]

JP,

Who manufactured those tires(make/model)? I am looking for options.
Thanks!

Bill

[JP]

Bill,

This first set of tyres are Kumho - These were an absolute bargain. I think the 255/50 size ,ZR rated, was £95 each. They were recently tested against Michelin Pilot Sports, the Kumhos came out on top. That is impressive

At this price they have to tried - if only to practice tire burnouts!

I am having another set of Jongbloeds made which will carry Hoosier DOT radials.

Regards,

J.P

P.S Here is a shot of the tread pattern.

[Bill Bayard]

JP,

I have done some extensive searching for 16" tires in 225 &

255ZR16, and haven't found too many with a tread pattern

that I like. The Kumho tires sound impressive in tests,

pricing, and don't look too bad either! Thanks!

I have Falken Ziex 502's, which have been discontinued.

Decent tires, great price(<$100ea), very good grip.

BTW, VERY NICE RIMS!

Bill

[Kevin M]

Stuart,

It doesn’t look like you will get a direct answer to your question, but I can refer you to a source where you can find the answers.

Go to www.tirerack.com , click on “search your tire size” under “Shop for Tires”. Enter any reasonable tire size and highlight “Max Performance Summer” and “Competition”.

When the list of tires come up click on “Specs” next to whatever tires you are interested in. It will give you a complete list of all sizes that they make that tire in along with the dimensions of all of the tires.

Good Luck,

Kevin

[Mark Worthington]

You will find that 16-inch tires are becoming the red-headed stepchild of the tire world...very little selection and nothing wider than a 255 in a street tire. My decision to fit Gulf flares onto my car necessitated exchanging my 16" wheels for 17".

[Jools]

I am currently running Hoosier DOT Radials on 15" rims,without Gulf flairs, 245 at front 275 at rear. Not a great deal of tread on them but so far a small price to pay for the increase in performance! Should be much cheaper in US than over here in the UK.

[StuartB]

I`ve already got the 17" wheels (8s and 10s), they were a total bargin at 600 quid for the set, with spinners, brand new still in the boxes, I had to have them. If I did my sums right, I came up with 225/45/17 to give the right height at the front but I can`t remember the rears. I think they were somewhere in the region of 27" tall overall, the calculations I can do, just can`t remember the exact figure, although I seem to recall thinking along the lines of 295/40/17 .... I don`t want to end up with uneven gaps around the wheel arches or the whole car on the piss. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Gary Gibbs]

CAV's with 17" wheels are usually setup to run 235 - 245 45/17 front and 315 - 335 35/17 rears.

[Canuk40]

Hi Gary, his is another topic that brings out the authentic vs whats available question. I can see (reluctantly) that I will be equipping CAV GT40s with 17" wheels.

It's just that the 15's look and are right. We've been running Dunlop's 225/50 fr and 295/50 rr. They work great in all directions, wet or dry and don't mind the od blast well past their speed rating (oops I didn't say that).

I suppose 15" wheels aren't glamourous enough but then the GT40 is a low car. Getting the car to work and look right shouldn't be influenced by glam, however I wish we could get a Z speed rated set of skins for our favourite 15" BRM wheels!

[JP]

I think the most important thing to remember is to make absolutely sure you have the right insets and offsets.

There is no point just buying a set of wheels for your 40. Buy your wheels for your car, measure up properly and ensure they will fit just inside the wheel arches. The difference this can make if profound. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Otherwise you might end up looking like a Gimp! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Regards,

J.P

[Kevin M]

A couple of combinations to look at would be:

225/45-17 Front & 315/35-17 Rear
wheels would be: 8" front & 11" or 12" rear
-or-
245/40-17 Front & 335/35-17 Rear
wheels would be: 9" front & 12" or 13" rear

These both have the front tire about 1” to 1.3” smaller in diameter than the rear, which helps keep the car looking somewhat right.

The original tires were larger in diameter than this, especially at the rear, but these tires (at about 26” dia.) are about the largest you can get in modern high performance rubber.

One other trick to consider if you want to run 15” wheels for an authentic look, is that racing tires are still available in the correct 15” sizes. They are not “legal” for street use, but if you use rain tires or hand cut slicks so that there is some tread showing, it is unlikely that any policeman would ever actually bend over and check the sidewall of the tire.

Kevin

[Kevin M]

I was asking Jim (J-6) about something, and he was nice enough to give me the diameters of the tires that were run on J6 when it was racing. These numbers are for a Mk4 (which had wider rear tires than a Mk1) but maybe they will be some help in getting a rough idea.

Front: 25.10”

Rear: 27.35”

Unfortunately, most modern 17” tires seem to top out at about 26” diameter.

You could try asking Jim what kind of tire he is running on J6. He drives it on the street with 15" wheels, so obviously he has something figured out. (He may be using treaded racing tires.)

[Ron Earp]

Or he might just be using racing tires! Nobody checks where I live and I used to drive to the track with slicks when rain was sure not to happen. Just sort of throws lots of small stones around so one must be careful.

R

[40 Bud]

Running sticky race rubber on the street leaves you vulnerable to flat tires due to punctures from little sharp objects found all over our streets. The race track is usually reasonably clean.