My new tires will arrive on the day after Labor Day. They're XZX 165SR15. Here's a video of how they make them. I think the link is good to go.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxJ8jFZrc9E&t=1s

You’ll like those Pete. I recently mounted a new set of 165s and they are excellent.

Thanks Jeff. What tire shop did you use? I'm going to take the wheels off in my garage & have a tire shop perform the swap. I've had good luck with M&N in Danville. Is it hot enough for you? Thank God we don't like in northern Florida.

I used americas tire in Danville, had the tires delivered there. A very good experience. Great tire shop and they were careful. I removed the center caps first though as a precaution. Hot…yep. I stay inside with the A/C on.

PS I was over in your neighborhood and saw a clean chrome bumper marathon blue(?) car zip by on Saturday. Any chance that was you?

Yes. As far as I know, it's the only one in town.

Would be fun to see it sometime.

See you on the 16th at Bill's. Should I bring my thermal wire stripper? No cut strands!

That was fun, Thanks for posting.

Thanks for the link! The thing I wonder about is whether the XWX has been reformulated with better compounds and construction or is the same thing of old.

i'm running 165 XAS on my 1.8.
def not the tyre of old. in terms of the interior and construction.
softer compound most obvious "visible" aspect. (because you are not doing the miles on the cars like the everyday tyre back in the 60s and 70s, so wearing out not an issue).
very nice.
i imagine the XWX is similar.
XAS has the different assymetrical tread pattern.
until recently all the early 911 guys down here were running the XAS but have switched over the pirelli cinturato repros. even better apparently but eye wateringly expensive.

grip, outstanding (and progressive i might add).
ride - stunning. its fantastic to have my 914 back on tall boys. no jarring over bumps.

So how are the XZX tires? They have a symmetrical tread pattern. An old friend had a Pirelli explode when he was inflating it.

I have had the 165 XZX on for ~3-4 months and to me they are outstanding. They feel right, they look right.

I'm surprised @wonkipop and his mates running XAS at all, they're 50% pricier than the XZX. Pirelli's CN36 is the choice for most early 911 guys these days and while a tad expensive, do everything right. I have 185x15 on deep 6's for my '67 S and love them...
but have 185x15 XZXs on both our '68 Targa and '68 280SL. Period correct, ride/grip is terrific and wear isn't an issue: on cars that see maybe 2000 miles per year at most, they'll age out first.

I've thrown in the towel waiting for Michelin TB15s for my 6 GT build and will take delivery of Pirelli CN36s tomorrow. Same staggered setup as for 911RS on 7s and 8s. Supply issues for Michelins have been ridiculous. Maybe on a second set of 8s & 9s... next year.

And priced right, too!

First set on my '67S fitted to original skinny 4.5x15 wheels, a little scary when pushing the car hard. That's why I installed some deep 6s.

- a new repro pirelli cn36 exploded?

because i could not get XZX at the time down here in aus.
so mr. stuckey down here gave me a deal on the XAS.
was right as the lockdowns started here and he wanted to have a certified reason to come to his shop to charge his tesla. he lived up country and his off grid installation was incapable of charging his tesla. it was pretty funny.
i stood outside his shop 10 feet away from him.
this was all pre masks and was the social distancing stuff.
his shop was empty, employees had to stay at home.


even then deal was still more expensive than the XZX but no XZX in the country.
ZXZ are a pretty good deal and you are right, period correct.
but i am not complaining. XAS is blardy nice tyres.
i think what happened was some richer guy had ordered them in for his 911,
then changed his mind and got pirellis fitted. so the XAS were lying there looking for a buyer.

but you could say its over-tyred. despite being as skinny as twiggy.

they are bloody good aren't they mr. b.

We run 18570VR15 MICHELIN XWX. Good tires but not sure that they are worth the difference in price.

@Bullethead

if you happen to ever run into a bargain set of XAS get em.
you won't regret it. boy they are good.
(not much fun to a 1.8 unless you take a few corners quick because you ain't gonna get your eyeballs in the back of your skull from its awesome acceleration. )

Click to view attachment

but any tall boy makes a stock origi digi 914 look right.
ask mr. b.
and ride right. ask mr. b.

Click to view attachment

because not only am i over tyred i am also over-shocked.
had to get billys because boges are long gone off the shelves.
so the tall boys compensate a bit for the billy stiffy-ness.
(note ship in background, ocean brick destined to burn at the hands of a cargo of EVs?).

i am a big fan of michies.
they wear out fast.
i've been running OEM pilot sports on my renault clio RS for nearly 20 years.
(and i am clinching my butt about the next time i go in the tyre shop, sorry mate NLA!).
stick like sh$t to a blanket.


Click to view attachment


i used to run michies even on my old squareback back in the 80s/early 90s.
made that brick on wheels almost go around corners.

to me tyres (tires in ameralish) are the most important thing on a car.
i'd drive a rusted out shitbox junker if i had to, so long as it kept me rolling.
but it would have good rubber and the right rubber for the car, otherwise driving is truly horrible?

Got to be one of the sweetest rides in town

Probably not... those were standard issue on Ferrari Daytona's, Maserati Bora's, etc. My 3.0CSL had a set on 7x15 Mahle BBS wheels when I bought it, since I set it up for track they were stashed.

I priced a fresh set once, came to an eye watering $2 grand and that was a decade ago. They do look the part though.

I stand corrected. This new rubber doesn't have a symmetrical tread. I don't think any "modern" tires do. The asymmetry kills the whining. It's time to feed the dogs.

I like the dog bone pattern

thanks!

Peter, I'm glad to see you are getting some new tires! If I remember correctly you told me the tires you were running were over 20 years old. That was a disaster waiting to happen. A contributing factor, and maybe the main cause, of the fatal crash that killed Paul Walker was 9 year old tires. I can't even imagine how 20+ year old tires would do in an emergency avoidance maneuver or emergency stop. Glad to see you've updated your tires.

23 years old now. The new tires are coming on Tuesday. Those old Michelins were very well made (Sears Guardsman made by Michelin). Thanks for the note. The car is still for sale, but I want too much money for it. Maybe a killer audio system would do the trick. BTDT with several cars over the years with all the work done by yours truly. BTW, I had to make an emergency stop the other day. No swerving - I love the rear anti-lock brakes in these cars. Let me know if you regain interest in a possible purchase. The asking price is negotiable, like most things in life. Are you a photographer? I did my undergraduate work in something called Image Science at RIT.

Glad to hear the tires and brakes held up well in an emergency stop. 23 year old tires scare me.... I know you have a beautiful and unique car in terms of condition and preservation. At some point the market will catch up to your expectations. Prices are a little flat right now, and we likely are in a period of price correction, but that can change. However, I'm no market expert so my take could be completely off base. I've been looking at a few other cars to replace my non-running theft damaged 1973 2.0 (currently listed for sale here), but nothing has come through yet. Negotiations are ongoing on one particular car. I always love to see other people's cars so I hope we cross paths at some point. I can't be at the breakfast that Jeff is organizing. Still not doing indoor un-masked events...

RIT is a great school, and upstate NY is beautiful. I'm sure you enjoyed your time there. I too did my training back east, in Connecticut. It is great there, but I was happy to leave and return to California!

No, not a photographer, although that was a serious hobby of mine in the days when you had to develop and print film. I no longer have a darkroom and I do not miss working with the chemicals. I'm a semi-retired physician assistant. My sub-specialty is hand surgery. I still have a regular clinic day every week, and fill in when other providers are out of the office. The practice where I ran an urgent care walk in clinic folded in the pandemic, and that seemed a good time to transition to part time work. You can't kill yourself working a high stress job forever, but I still love what I do so this has been a good compromise.

Post pictures of the new tires once you have them on your car. I, like other people, would love to see some pictures of your car with its new shoes!

It's off to America's Tire next week. And guess what, all the newbies fit in the car. Also attached is a pic of the finest actor who ever lived. He passed away from a heart attack while driving in France. He had the balls to get off the road & save his wife's life. Here's to Mr. Shaw.

That new tire fragrance is almost as good as a hot asphalt roofing kettle at 400F. Congrats.

CTTOI, the guys who designed this car probably saw the need for this in the future. There's just enough room for the stick to fully move.