Tires

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modshop

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I've been reading the entries about wheel size and desirable tires. I recently purchased a '73 3.0 CS that has 16" Alpinas. The tires on the car seem like new and are Bridgestone Potenza s-03 size 225/50 ZR 16.I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts about these tires. The car is currently being "sorted" in Texas.
Thanks,
Lee
 
staggered?

Hi Lee, Are the 225's in the rear or all the way around? Good tires for the coupe- almost anything is better than 40 yr. old technology but I have 205'a all around and there is no clearance problem but I think if I went wider up front they would rub. Where in Texas is it being "sorted" if I may ask?

Peter
 
Hi Peter,
I think it's the same tire all the way around, but I'll check. The mechanic is Gus Kidonakis in Houston, owner of Beverly Hill Motors. He specializes in vintage Mercedes, particularly Pagodas, but is working on this car as a favor as he had helped me locate (and subsequently worked on) a 280SL. He and Lewis Allen (a vintage BMW guy also in Houston with whom Carl Nelson once worked) were partners a long time back, but they amicably split years ago with Lewis taking the BMW part and Gus focusing on Mercedes. Gus is an absolute purist and perfectionist and worth visiting if you're in Houston.
 
the s03 is not made anymore ... but it was always considered an excellent tire. it was replaced by the s04 which is 2nd in its category (max performance) - the downside is that the only 16" tire at tirerack is 205/55-16 ... the extreme performance re-11 is 1st in its category. i think you have good tires. i hope your front fenders are rolled as 225/50-16 are a bit wide up front ... especially if the car is lowered

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Bridgestone&tireModel=Potenza+S-04+Pole+Position
 
Thanks for the info. Not sure I know what a "rolled" fender is. New to all of this, but happy as hell to be here.
Do you (or anyone?) have an opinion of the best tires for 16" Alpinas on a '73 coupe? Thanks.
 
here's a shot of the passenger front wheel.
 

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in my opinion - for the money, i would say conti extreme contact dw ... if money isn't as important, i would say the bridgestone re-11 / re-11a. they are the best tires i have ever driven - i have a set of 16's on my coupe and they are marvelous.

as far as the fenders, if the lips of your fenders are parallel to the ground (inside the wheel well), they are standard. if they are tucked up and are parallel to the inside of the fender, they are rolled.

cheers
scott
 
is there a question here about actual rim size?....16" Alpinas... but are they staggered?

Look at rim width and offset. Should be marked on the wheel. If 7" front and 8" rear and correct offset you can select different tire sizes ....say 205 / 55 16 front and 225 / 50 16 rear.

Certainly less clearance issues in the front with the narrower tire and perhaps a better tire patch balance as BMW ran them this way on the early 5 series sedans.
 
rsporsche said:
in my opinion - for the money, i would say conti extreme contact dw ... if money isn't as important, i would say the bridgestone re-11 / re-11a. they are the best tires i have ever driven - i have a set of 16's on my coupe and they are marvelous.

as far as the fenders, if the lips of your fenders are parallel to the ground (inside the wheel well), they are standard. if they are tucked up and are parallel to the inside of the fender, they are rolled.

cheers
scott
Click to expand...

+1 on the RE-11a's. extremely happy with the Bridgestone's.
 
The guy who is restoring my car is opposed, to put it mildly, to rolling the fenders to accommodate my 16" wheels. He, with good reason I think, asks why I'm putting money into careful replacement of door cards (from BMW Germany), trunk carpet (Peter at Coupeking), wood restoration (Madera Concepts in CA), headliner (Carl Nelson) but am willing to alter the fenders. He suggests that I replace my beautiful 16" Alpinas with 14" wheels/tires. He says, "it's a sports car, but it's also a classic car. If you want to alter the fenders, find someone else to do it." He mostly restores Pagodas but worked on BMW's in years past. I find this interesting as it goes back to the question that keeps coming up on this site: originality vs modified? I think the verdict is still out.
 
Just to be clear, when rolling the fenders there is no visible change in the way they look from the outside. Just squeezing the inner lip together some so there is no edge to catch or cut a tire when hitting a bump. I am going to do it on mine because on my 14" wheels with lowering springs I can (and have unfortunately) caught the tire, slicing a chunk out of it, and bending the fender lip out. To me rolling the fender is good insurance whether you have 14" or 16" wheels.
 
modshop said:
The guy who is restoring my car is opposed, to put it mildly, to rolling the fenders to accommodate my 16" wheels. He, with good reason I think, asks why I'm putting money into careful replacement of door cards (from BMW Germany), trunk carpet (Peter at Coupeking), wood restoration (Madera Concepts in CA), headliner (Carl Nelson) but am willing to alter the fenders. He suggests that I replace my beautiful 16" Alpinas with 14" wheels/tires. He says, "it's a sports car, but it's also a classic car. If you want to alter the fenders, find someone else to do it." He mostly restores Pagodas but worked on BMW's in years past. I find this interesting as it goes back to the question that keeps coming up on this site: originality vs modified? I think the verdict is still out.
Click to expand...

fair enough ... let me ask you a question or three.
1. do you have a numbers matching engine?
2. is the vin number of your car a manual gearbox car or an automatic car?
3. do you have the correct box in your car or has it been changed?

you see, my coupe has a 3.5L with FI, it has an auto vin number and has a 5 speed in it. so for my coupe - originality doesn't have a chance ... nor do i want it for this car. it is a 2800cs, but now has vented front brakes, it will have vented rears soon. it has been lowered, and has coupeking alpina 16" wheels. my car was originally baikal and the PO changed it to black. so my car is a really nice driver. i doubt that my coupe is an anomaly. i want my coupe to perform more like a more modern car. now for the advice - if you keep the 16's - roll the fenders. i caught a fender lip on mine and it took off a little paint. i cringed.
 
I would venture to guess that many coupes fitted with 205(+) tires (14"-16"), both stock and lowered, will either have cut sidewalls or worse, fender lips that have been pulled down by the contact between tires and fenders.

Your restorer probably does great work and is a nice guy, but tell him to get off his "high horse" on this issue and just roll the front fenders. This tried and true method is done all the time on many classic and newer cars. In all actuality, the "folded" fender lips are rolled roughly between the 10 and 2 O'clock positions. The original fender contours will not be altered in any shape or manner.
 
here's the question that you should ask the restorer. if you brought the car to him with rolled lips, would he have declined the commission or insisted that you change original (otherwise perfect condition) fenders for replacements?

i can assure you that after you have paid serious money for this restoration, you do NOT want to catch a tire on the lip. what about adding negative camber plates? my advice is that if all of the car is numbers matching and correct transmission, and you don't roll the fenders ... then go to 14s and sell the alpinas.
 
fair enough ... let me ask you a question or three.
1. do you have a numbers matching engine?
2. is the vin number of your car a manual gearbox car or an automatic car?
3. do you have the correct box in your car or has it been changed?

Yes, matching numbers; manual VIN; correct box.
I'll probably swap the wheels for 14's but hold onto the 16's in case I change my mind down the road. I love the way the 16's look on this car so don't want to get rid of them. If I knew a good "fender roller" here in New Orleans (Steve?), I might go ahead and take the plunge.

Thanks for all the input everyone.
 
The "good fender roller" is YOU - and a baseball bat. You put the right length of bat between the fender and tire so that bat touches, then roll the car back and forth until the lip is turned in. Move the bat for a little more contact, repeat.

That said, my car has the original 14" wheels, etc. though several other things have been changed by me. I've not attempted to roll the lips nor do I need to, particularly since the car is non-op until I finish rebuilding at least one front caliper. That's another thread here.
 
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