Re-tiring my '74, 165/80 15 Options

[flipb]

Far from retiring it, I'm getting to drive my '74 2.0 a lot more lately. Engine is freshly built 2056; Evil-rebuilt trans.

The car came to me with Kumho 165/80 R15 tires -- OEM size, if I'm not mistaken. They're fine and have at least half their tread left, but I noticed a date code of 3003 -- I believe that translates to a date of manufacture of the 30th week of 2003. Primarily out of fear for what a catastrophic blowout could do to the car, I'm thinking it's time to replace them.

I'm leaning heavily toward keeping the OEM size. I love the go-kart feeling and I can pretty easily control the rear end with the torque of the 2056 and those skinny tires. It's strictly a fun road car... no racing ambition. And it's not a CW car, but I like showing the OEM tire size for Cars & Coffee.

I've come across 4 tires available in 165/80 R15. I'm interested in hearing from anyone who has experience with these or has a compelling reason for me to consider something else (e.g. fatter tires).

• "Classic" All-Season from Tire Rack (made in China, $68/ea)
• Vredenstein Sprint Classic ($104.50/ea)
• Vredenstein T-trac Summer Tire ($129.80/ea)
• Michelin XAS (expnsive)

So... anyone with experience/opinions?

[siverson]

I agree with you. For low HP cars (i.e. < 120 HP), 165 tires are surprisingly fun on these cars. They still handle really well, feel very light, and look great.

165 sized tires today and much better than 165 sized tires in the 1970s.

Alternatively, there are also lots of 185/60/15 tires out there too. I'm considering giving that a shot on my stock 914-6.

-Steve