Hi,

I have been reading and researching for hours and need some sane advice on tires. I want a good quality performance tire - street use only however

I have a 1974 2.0 with Fuchs and need new tires. Based own my research and Tire Rack etc, Looks like the two best options are:

Pirelli P6000 185/70 R15 or multiple brands available in 195/65 HR15

Two questions:

1) Are folks using the P6000 185/70?
2) If not, what s a nice 195/65 brand?

Thanks!

My comments from an old thread:

I just went through this with my car. Had my195/65/15 Pirelli P6000 High Performance Summer tires slashed at the beginning of the summer. I replaced them with 195/65/15 Bridgestone ER960AS Ultra High Performance All Season tires. These were the highest rated tire in this size on Tire Rack. I hated them right out of the gate. They felt like I was driving on marsh mellows. Looked like they should be on a Taurus.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?ti...S+Pole+Position

I decided against the P6000s since there were so many terrible reviews plus over double the price. However, going back I noticed that most of the Porsche guys liked the tire a lot. The big heavy AUDI's were having lots of problems with them. It is also a Porsche spec tire. Light weight at 18lbs. These tires were much stiffer with almost no lean on my car. Ride was jerky over any bumps, but it was all smiles with a go-kart feel around corners.

After tons of searching on the net looking for the ultimate combo of light weight tire and wheels I purchased a set of Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Specs in 195/55/15. This tire is about 1.5" shorter, but not the 2" shorter that a 205/50/15 provides. I bought 4 of the last available at a lower load/weight rating of 18lbs. Now they only have the 19lb version for sale. They feel a bit softer than the P6000s, but there is more grip available. This may improve as the tread wears down from full depth. (My Pirelli's were probably about half gone.) The ride is more comfortable. There is more acceleration, since it is a smaller diameter tire. The car sit about 5/8" lower than before. RPMs while freeway cruising are up 200-300 rpms. I'm rarely on the freeway, so this is working out fine for me. The car looks great sitting lower, but I am scraping on my driveway where I was not before.

Depends... Folks run anything from a 165-15 to a 205-50-15 on the same 5.5x15 fuchs.

If keeping something close to OE, then a 165 or 185 would be a good choice. you could locate some Vredesteins, or Michelins or Pirellis in that size I think.

If you want to pep up the acceleration and noise, dropping to a 60 or 50 series tire will do that.

I thought the 195/60 was a nice compromise tire back in the Nineties, but I am not sure if folks still make that size.

If ultimate grip isn't a concern, I am pretty sure that even todays performance all season tires will provide better performance than what was available new.

I'm running 195 65 15s on Yokohamas and they are just fine. Looks fine, drives fine, seems close on the speedo.

Oops wrong thread.

Unfortunately tire selection in the 195-65-15 and the 205-60-15 continue to diminish. My car has KYB shocks on it which I have read is not the best ride. Different shocks with the P6000s might give better results? I miss the rail like turning the car had with the Pirelli's. Better highway cruising with lower rpms. Less shifting, but slower hole shot with the larger ~25" stock diameter. Let us know what you decide on.

I have 2 sets of wheels 205/50 for summer and 205/60 for everything else.
Both are Falken, summers are RT615K and all seasons are Ziex912.

RT615's are a good autocross and dry tire. The 912's are ok in most weather but not predictable at the limits.

Personally I wouldn't put anything over 60 series because I like the limits...

oops looks like ZE912 is NLA in 205/60/15

comparison of 60 vs 50 series: both in 205, not really fair comparison though cause most competition tires 'cheat' one way or another in terms of dimensions.

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You will feel a massive improvement in ride quality with better shocks.

I can't comment on the P6000, but the OP's size of 185/70-15 is a perfect size to replace the old 165R-15. The 165R is something like a 165/82-15 and the 185/70 is a damn close to the exact same size with a wider tread.

Just my opinion, but I hate the look of lower than stock OD tires, IMHO I think they look totally stupid.
To me if you want a lower profile tire you should get bigger rims. For my taste the 185/70-15, 195/65/-15 and the 205/60-15 fit the wheel well and look proper, after that you are into 16" and 17" rims and a tire that is 24" tall.
The problem with the 205 is you will have to roll the fenders and they start to look fat on the 6" rim.


My car had the 185/70-15 when I got it and it filled up the wheel well nicely, didn't look "fat", absolutely zero fitment issues and a dead on speedo reading.

I have spent many hours (and $$) on this very question. I too don't like the look of a lower profile tire on my 914. At one time I thought a 185/65-15 was an appropriate tire and there are some decent Michelin tires to be had in this size.

Several months ago I found needed a new tire on my 74 6 conversion (one of the old 165SR15’s was so cracked it was leaking air). The only used tire I could find locally was a 185/65-15. I thought, perfect. When I mounted the wheel with the 185 on the car and compare it to the 165SR15's, I found it look all wrong.

Since then I have tried a Michelin XWX 185/70HR15 and a 165HR15 Vredstein on my car (I bought 2 tires to test mount). Overall, I found the 165HR15 Vredstein to be the best looking and most correct tire. The 185/70HR15 was just too fat IMHO.

I have added 4 pictures, 2 of the Michelin (first 2) and 2 of the Vredstein below. Of course, they are an a 15x6 Fuchs rim but, due to the offset, they are only 1/4 further out towards the lip of the fender as compared to the 15x5.5 4 bolt Fuchs.

I have no input on performance regarding the Vredstein. I do know they are built by today's tire standards and are considered a high performance tire. They are fairly priced at roughly $125 each. I purchased mine from EBS Racing for $119. The Coker reproductions of the 185/70HR-15 XWX are $348 each (ouch).

Here is a link to a discussion I started in the Originality and History forum that discusses tires from a concours perspective: http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=288981

Hope this helps.

Greg

As far as brand goes, just about any modern brand name tire is going to be lightyears better hat what came on these originally.

For sizes, looks like that's been covered pretty well already.

These are 205/60 on my old 15x5.5


And the same 205/60 on my current 15x6 AND 15x7


They are OHTSU, made by Falken, and are pretty solid quality for a low price.

I am running 195/60/15 on my Fuchs but was thinking of moving up to 205/60. Would there be any interference issues with those?

I've got 205/60 R15 (Sumotomo's) on mine, no clearance issues at all

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I pretty much stick with 195/65 tires on the 'BB'. I purchased a set of Kumho Solus Xperts (195/65-15 89H) a couple years ago, installed on 5.5" ATS Classic wheels. I really like the grip, especially for a fairly inexpensive tire (approx $70. each).

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I have a set of Pirelli P6000 185s for the '71 ... haven't decided which wheels yet.

Tried Vredestein 185/70R15...period looks, nice steering response, nice ride, but not enough grip for me. Felt like an old-car tire rather than a sports-car tire. Gave them away after 2000-3000 miles.

Tried Dunlop SP5000 (?) in 195/65R15...so-so looks, nice ride, yawn. Gave them away.

Searched high and low (Tire Rack offered very little that interested me), thought about 185/70R15 Michelin XWX, but couldn't get my head around the money for what you got, and wondered if the new ones perform better than the old ones.

In the end, went with 185/70R15 Avon CR6ZZ, which is similar (but less) money to the XWX and available in three compounds and the hardest one, for tarmac rallies, is really nice. Bought them from Roger Kraus Racing. Feels like a performance tire, sidewall isn't brutal, and period looks. Street legal, and streetable. So far, so good—I think it is probably the best choice for a performance tire with period looks. Not sure how many miles I'll get out of them, but I've been timing out my tires rather than wearing them out the last few years anyway.

I also looked at BFG Comp T/A (great period look) and Yoko A048 (nice sidewall, but all-wrong tread). I really wish the Toyo RA1 could be had in 205/60R15, or that there were some other interesting options in 205/60R15.

Those Avons look great....are those deep 6 Fuchs with hearts on the valve stems I see?

So it seems at the end of the day that there is no clear view on tires. Obviously depends on many factors, preferences, Shocks, use cases and personal opinion. In the end I purchased a set of Pirelli 6000 185/70 which are being fitted to a set of Fuchs 2.0 rims

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So here are my new Rims and Tires fitted...

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Thanks! Gotta say I am liking the look of the XWXs above quite a bit...

Those are deep sixes with hearts and hard stems from Harvey, who redid them recently using his "RSR finish" for the black areas. Something different...without messing with the still-fresh anodizing.

Those look great. Let us know how they work, and pleas share more pics of them on the car, and from different angles. Those high angle shots like the gray 914 above and my shot really help people see how they fit on the car and look besides the tire ads.

Depends, some cars yes you might have to roll your fenders, some not a problem.
IIRC it's the earlier cars that they are tight on, but I could be wrong. Someone with first hand knowledge will hopefully chime in.

Not sure what early is, but I ran 205/60R15 Yoko A-008Rs on 911 15x6s on my very early 1973 914 years ago.

They were super tight—fitting under the rear fenders with very light lip-rolling but eventually wearing the undercoating away on the inside (chassis) side under heavy cornering loads. Once the undercoating was gone, I hit the spots with a bit of Rustoleum and drove on...never saw shiny metal after that.

I suspect it will depend on the 205/60s in question, as they differ quite a bit.

pete