Tire preference, I'm going with 195/65 - 15 but...... Options

[mmichalik]

Hi Guys,
I just got my wheel's back from Fuchs Restorations and I want to get everyone's opinions about which tire looks the best on the wheel.
I have Pirelli P4 195/65 - 15's on the '74 and they look ok but what do you guys think look the best? Continentals? Perielli? Michelin? Dunlop? Something else?
I want to stay with a modern tire and I'm flexible on the size so long as they fit within the stock fenders.
I know the question about tires has been asked many times before but, I'm looking at it from a performance AND looks standpoint.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Mike

[horizontally-opposed]

To each their own, but best looking/best performing tire in a 195/65R15 is probably the Pirelli P6000 N-spec. They are too expensive (!!!), but they may be the only summer performance tire in that size right now, the sidewall bulge is very (!) nice, and there's a factory/Euro-ish vibe to the tire despite the more modern tread pattern and sidewalls.

After that, I'd probably look at Michelin, but they'll be "normal" tires. So few choices in 195/65R15.

185/70R15 gives you access to the Avon CR6ZZ and Pirelli CN36, both of which look period correct and perform well—but if you want to fill the fenders, 195/65 is better. Or you go up in width and down a bit on OD its vintage BFG Radial T/As…and I hear very good things from a friend who runs his 912 hot rod hard and knows his 914s and 911s too.

These might also be okay. Sidewall looks pretty simple, but they're all-seasons, too...

[Superhawk996]

To each their own, but best looking/best performing tire in a 195/65R15 is probably the Pirelli P6000 N-spec. They are too expensive (!!!),

Are they?

When I used to road race motorcyles, I initally tried to save money by milking tires more than one race weekend. On a motorcycle, you quickly realize the crash damage, personal body damage, and lack of competitiveness due to not having good tires isn't worth the money saved.

It's the same in a car. It just takes longer to realize it.

Tires are what keep you alive. They are often the difference between having an accident or not. Good summer performance tire shave feet off stopping distances vs. all-season tires.

[horizontally-opposed]

To each their own, but best looking/best performing tire in a 195/65R15 is probably the Pirelli P6000 N-spec. They are too expensive (!!!),

Are they?

When I used to road race motorcyles, I initally tried to save money by milking tires more than one race weekend. On a motorcycle, you quickly realize the crash damage, personal body damage, and lack of competitiveness due to not having good tires isn't worth the money saved.

It's the same in a car. It just takes longer to realize it.

Tires are what keep you alive. They are often the difference between having an accident or not. Good summer performance tire shave feet off stopping distances vs. all-season tires.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif)

I'm actually a big fan of N-spec and OE rubber whenever available. But it wasn't long ago that the P6000s were about $100 less a tire than they are now—and they appear to be the same tire. Also, when a 195/65R15 and 215/60R15 summer tire is priced on par with 20-inch tires for, say, a 991, it does seem a bit pricey. But…volume.

We're aligned on the idea that the last place to save $400-800 is tires. I have had the driving experience in good cars greatly diminished by bad tires, and I've had so-so cars that great tires really improved. I went through a series of so-so tires on my 914 trying to find something that worked. The Vredestein Sprint Classics that several people raved about (nice steering response and ride, but not enough grip and the sidewalls were way too soft), Dunlop all-seasons (yuck), and on and on. Finally bellied up and bought Avons, which work great.

Peak 15-inch tires on a narrow 914, for me, came circa late 1990s, when the AVS Intermediate and A-008RS were still available in 185/70R15, 195/65R15, and 205/60R15, among others. Like some of the other tires in that era, they were "enough newer" that they had a major advantage over the 914's OE tires, but still within the realm of the 914's performance and looked right with simple sidewalls and tread patterns. There's just nothing available like that. With that said, even a $360 set of Sumitomo tires is probably vastly superior to the tires these cars came on new…

I went with the Avon CR6ZZ last time, which are still about the same price they were last time around—or about the same as P6000s now. No regrets. I think the Avons look great on an old car, and grip better too (in the dry, anyway). I was speaking with someone at Roger Kraus Racing this week, as I weigh out when to order a new set and which compound, and he mentioned something that got me to thinking: "They use good preservatives in these tires." He went on to say a lot of customers are extending their use from 5-6 years to 7-8 years (not that he recommends doing so). And, you know, he got me to thinking about something: Unlike the modern tires on my other cars, which seem to brown immediately, or the 3yo tires on my dad's wheelchair van, which are cracking but the tire shop says are just fine (cringe), the Avons still look like the day I bought them years later. They've never flat-spotted despite sitting for months at a time, either, despite being sometimes under-inflated.