Michelin XWX tires on original wheels ?

[remydedez]

Hello,

as Michelin produce only the XWX tires model in size 205/70 r14 do you think we can use this size without any problem on our original wheels size 6J R14 ?

Thanks

 

[ccr2002]

I do

 

[Dick Steinkamp]

I've got that size tire on the stock 6J 14 steel wheels on my Bavaria.

With them, the speedometer is dead on accurate to my GPS

This web site recommends a 5-7" wide wheel for that tire size.

 

[remydedez]

did you installed with inner tubes ?

 

[HB Chris]

Inner tubes are not needed.

 

[Dick Steinkamp]

did you installed with inner tubes ?

All the stock wheels for an E9 or E3 were made for tubeless tires. The Michelin XWX does not require a tube...

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[Christoph]

Thanks to tyre technology progress, all tyres for E3 & E9 are now tubeless. Initially, all cars from 3 litres upwards (in Europe, at least) came with inserted tubes. Some time later, HR were tubeless, VR kept the tubes. Tubes were used because blind faith in your tyres was a bad idea, then. In the early seventies, there were several very serious accidents at high speeds on German motorways because of tyre failure. Bad press that no one wanted.

Today's tyres have very little to do with the ones from 50 years ago. An XWX still looks like one, that's all. I've spoken to a driving school instructor (for the advanced): It drove him crazy that classic cars with modern tyres hardly ever lost grip even on the skid pad. It's the same with high-speed reliability.

Although it is nicer to use 7x14" for the 205, they also fit on any 6x14" wheel. A friend has the CN 36 mounted on the sand-cast Pedrini and likes it.

Preference of tyres usually is very individual, sometimes emotional. For the ambitious driver, today there seems to be a choice of three (in Europe). All are V-coded, required in Germany for all manual E3 of 3 litres or more, probably the same for the E9.
Michelin XWX - 205/70x14 only
Pirelli CN 36 - 205/70x14 only
Dunlop SP Sport Classic - 195/70x14 or 205/70x14
Michelin and Pirelli retain their classic profiles, the Dunlop looks more modern. All are the best there ever was, according to the people who use them. Pirelli and Dunlop perform brilliantly in heavy rain, don't know about Michelin. Dunlop is priced considerably lower than the other two.

 

[Krzysztof]

I have witnessed once how the tire (with tube inside) exploded in the car we've been overtaking. It was really unexpected and by that time I was just looking on that car. Good in a bad that car was not going fast.

Over the years I have been told tubeless tires we safer because of the risk of rapid loss of air for tube type. But it was far later times than Christoph is probably mentioning about.

 

[tochi]

I’ve had several BMWs that were originally equipped with XWX’s and inner tubes. Although the tubes probably offered more protection against road hazards, they doubtlessly added unwanted unsprung weight, so I was glad to eventually replace them with tubeless versions. It has been too long to be sure, but I believe some of the tire carcass sidewalls actually specified that they be used with inner tubes. One suspects that inner tubes were somewhat necessary if the rims upon which they would be mounted were not air tight. Spoked-wire wheels spring to mind and, along those lines, one site dealing with Borrani wire wheels states as follows:

It is worth noting that back in the day when wire wheels were common place, all sports cars fitted inner tubes. And all wire wheels needed inner tubes. Our inner tube search system will offer you a high quality Michelin inner tube, often reinforced and of exceptional quality covered in a crystalline French chalk coating on the inner tube that will lubricate the tube against the inside of the carcass of your classic car.

There are wire wheels manufactured today that claim to be tubeless. However a wire wheel is designed to be fitted with inner tubes. No classic car was made with wire wheels that is suited to a tyre with a lower profile than 70%. All tyres with a profile of 70% profile (such as a 205/70R15) and taller (such as a 195/75R14 or 185R15) are perfectly suited to fitting with inner tubes, even if it says “tubeless” on the side of the tyre. That simply means it can be run without an inner tube assuming the wheel is suited to being run tubeless, which a wire wheel isn’t. We strongly suggest fitting inner tubes in wire wheels even it is described as a tubeless wire wheel. https://www.borrani.com/inner-tubes.html

FWIW, Longstone Classic Tyres offers Michelin inner tubes. Although the XWX tires they sell are identified as “tubeless,” the same site recommends Michelin 14F13 tubes. Presumably, this is for wire rims or porous rims. https://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/michelin-classic-tyres/xwx/205-70wr14-michelin-xwx.html https://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/offset-valve-michelin-tube-14f.html

Tubes can be fun in the presence of water.