79 sedan tyre recommendations

[sudsy]

So the chassis et al on my 2 litre sedan is all pretty tick tock.

I'll be needing some tyres soon on the rear and perhaps, if persuaded, the front as well.

I say this 'cos the tyres on the back have a BC date stamp, and very little traction, and the newbies on the front are lack lustre for this car.

Not lowered but with new shocks all around and mystery yellow springs on the rear..

Not interested in messing or delving into modification with this unit, so keen to know what is a good tyre for a standard 79 Alfetta..
Happy to go slightly lower profile, but not stray too much from the original specification.

Not needing long wear, but looking for as much steering responsiveness and back end grip for this non modified chassis/setup

Thank for any input..

[poohbah]

Hi sudsy,

Are your rims 14" or 15"?

About a year ago I replaced all four tyres on my '81 GTV - though I've got 15" x 6" Simmons rims on my car so fitted Kumho Ecsta 4X II in 205/55/R15 size.

That's obviously not standard profile or width, but they're a mainstream tyre and I've been happy with their performance. They are a mid-range tyre cost wise, with good asymetric tread pattern, decent grip and not too noisy.

If I recall correctly, the factory 15" rims I've got in the shed had 195/60/R15s on them which I am pretty sure you can get in the Kumhos (though that size may actually be a cheaper and lower spec range).

If you've got 14" rims I can't really help.

[sudsy]

Hey Poohbah

I'm running 14" wheels with Old school alloys..

I think by all accounts the wheels have a wider than standard offset.
They came off my GTV as they scraped on it but are perfect on the sedan.

Looking for something nice and grippy and responsive,,,

here's a pic

[poohbah]

Nice!

I think standard rims are 14" X 5.5".

If you're running little 14s you might want go for standard 70 profile tyres just to fill out the wheel arches (and live with the more "compliant" ride/handling).

I had a look online and there is a Kumho Solus kw21 tyre in 195/70/R14 size that looks like it has fairly similar tread to mine but I'd be guessing how they go. I previously had Goodyear eagles that were a real sport tyre, but they are no longer available, and have Continental MC6s on my 156 which are excellent.  So I don't know how much use that is of to you - other than a broad comment that I am happy with the Kumho and Contintental brands in general.  As always, comes down to budget.

[sudsy]

Thanks for the info Poohbah..

I'll take it into consideration when I' m buying...
I've had good experiences with Brigestone Potenzas, but not sure if they would suit the 116 chassis so its good to get any opinion.

[GTVeloce]

The Potenza RE003's are excellent on the Alfetta platform but not sure you will get them in 14in. I had them in 205/55/15 but have had trouble in the past getting anything decent in 14in. I once had Yoko C drives in 14in but they weren't anything special and one track day cooked them.

[sudsy]

Bridgestones not available for 14's..

I found a "performance tyre" Dunlop Le Mans 704 185/70/14

Anyone had experience/exposure to this black doughnut?

[sudsy]

The Kumho Solus kw21 tyre  195/70/R14 rates as high milage/touring..
I'm looking for performance..

Thinking they'd be much the same as the BFGoodrich's currently on the front..being a bit slushy.

All this said, I'm reacclimatising to a 40 year old car as my daily, and as such still have higher expectation vis a vis steering response.

It's hard to revisit non power steering, non fuel injected cars but that is what I'm doing..
That said, I want to be realistic in my expectations, but also want to maximise the potential of  a 40 year old original Alfa..

[poohbah]

Fair enough. If you want to improve performance but stay "factory" you might want to shell out an extra couple of hundred for a set of factory 15" alloys. I know there is a guy here in Perth who always seems to have a few sets around the $200 mark. Then you can drop tyre profile to 60 or 55.

[poohbah]

Speak of the devil! (though Bonno is in Sydney not Perth)

www.alfaclubvic.org.au/forum/index.php?topic=19942.msg113299;topicseen#msg113299

[sudsy]

Ah yes Bonno!!

Well I'm in Canberra ..so that technically would work out better for me..no point shipping wheels from Perth!

A 15 certainly would fill the wheel arches better, not a fan of that particular alloy design however..

Funnily enough, old rear tyres aside, the BF Goodriches on the front seem to come alive once you start driving in a more, let us say, spirited manner. The dead, woolly steering and feedback make way for balance, excellent steering feedback and grip..

I think I forgot that the Alfetta is not a good slow car..Coming home from the theatre tonight, I got to actually enjoy Canberra's roads and roundabouts without any stop start, nor traffic dawdle.

I also forgot just how good the throttle off tuck in /steering is   

[hammer]

Sudsy,

I recently replaced my 84 Giulietta's stock 14s with Alfetta 15 x 6 rims, which allowed me to fit the Bridgestone RE003 tyres. I've run the RE003 on a 156 and on my Ford G6E Turbo. Excellent tyre, and they're proving to work well on the old Giulietta.

Cheers,

Brent

[bonno]

Hi Sudsy
I suppose it depends on your taste, but with a little imagination I see the AR campanatura mags could also look similar to the options on the attached images which are similar in design, it is just a matter of cost.

[poohbah]

Yep, definitely always comes down to personal taste (Bonno, my eyes, my eyes ... )

Personally I think the 15" factory Campanaturas , and the pepper-pot styles that came on some GTV6s are the best looking factory rims for the Alfetta. (I spotted a set of the pepperpots online for sale yesterday, in the UK  I think)

Update - can't find the used ones I spotted, but you can by new recreations of the Ronal style pepperpots (but they are very expensive +€700 ...https://cetecone.altervista.org/en/alfa-romeo/313-4-pcs-alfa-romeo-ronal-a1-style-alloy-wheels-7jx15-et25-4x98.html

[rowan_bris]

I would get the factory BWA wheels pictured above if you can get straight ones.  Being able to use 15s is the only way to go to get a decent tyre