The Camaro Club (UK)

What is with this obsession with low profile tyres and huge wheels?

Honest John of the Daily Telegraph motoring section has a much more insidious explanation!

He claims that cars these days are supplied new with ludicrously low profile tyres at significant discount (to manufacturers ) as a money making exercise by the tyre suppliers who know that
1 the low profile tyres wear more quickly
2 they are more easily damaged by speed humps etc
2 they can charge more for these


and all because of the fashion for lower and lower profiles
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/car ... tyres.html

IMHO most cars are best on higher profile wheels and tyres- I have even left my original 18" MGZT-T wheels in the shed and run 15s since the tyres don't wear out and they give a far better ride on bumpy B roads- and better fuel mileage! I originally bought the "granny" 15s for my winter tyres alone

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Kind Regards
TopCat
Secretary
Classic Camaro Club
Member of The Association of American Car Clubs UK
Email :tboles@strathnoon.co.uk Websites: http://www.classiccamaroclubuk.com and:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdhLJtR_ZY4

Sorry but I like the pro touring look but only up to 18" on a pony car....
there is a 67/68 mustang out of essex with 22" custom built rears with elastic bands round them ....a bit too much for me but at the shows people are around it like flys round........

Back in the old Model T days they used to be rollin' on 20's... wooden wheels of course lol. I do find it funny seeing 20"+ wheels and thinking, have we just gone back an exact century in time on wheel size

Any wheel over 19" doesn't do it for me. I think it's dependant on the car i.e a 5th Gen Camaro / new Mustang comes with 18 / 19's? It mostly works though because it was part of the design of the car to have a larger wheel. I can't stand big wheels on older cars. I've seen Camaro's / Chevelle's etc with 24" wheels and it's an upsetting experience.

Interesting take on the low profile / quicker wear etc. I had 17's with low profiles (after upgrading from 15 stock) and didn't notice much difference, just that it was easier to hear thunk noises when going over broken up roads / drains etc and hoping each time when i got out the car that the wheel still held a circular shape. I wonder if manufacturers have also popularised the options because what's popular in the customising world tends to sneak into commercial realms. The right tyre / wheel combo can make a car look sleek on the shopfloor and i guess there's also that psychology of 'well the other manufacturer has bigger wheels so therefore i want that car because bigger must be better'.

If it looks right then i'm ok with it So long as the wheel isn't excessively large (JCB diggers don't count) or the tyres aren't too small for the width... that new extreme camber / no tyre height look that is the latest thing

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We are in the Deluge at the moment - am expecting Noah to turn up with tickets for an alternative Steampacket ferry!

Anyway another advantage of the tall tyres -over stock-is that they disperse water so much better and do not aquaplane

I should explain my MG ZT-T came with 225/45/18 as stock

I bought some 15 wheels for my Michelin Alpin Snow/winter tyres to make it at least move forward in snow and have now got a set of good quality 205/65/15 summer tyres and have put my 18s with the cool looking but bumpy and prone to aquaplaning 225/45/18s in my shed!

_________________
Kind Regards
TopCat
Secretary
Classic Camaro Club
Member of The Association of American Car Clubs UK
Email :tboles@strathnoon.co.uk Websites: http://www.classiccamaroclubuk.com and:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdhLJtR_ZY4

Top cat you may find this deeply disturbing......




I think its only a mater of time that we see a footballer driving around in these clown cars

taste bypass!
I am really feeling quite ill.................

_________________
Kind Regards
TopCat
Secretary
Classic Camaro Club
Member of The Association of American Car Clubs UK
Email :tboles@strathnoon.co.uk Websites: http://www.classiccamaroclubuk.com and:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdhLJtR_ZY4

_________________
How to post pics: When writing a message, scroll down and use the "attach file" option. Where possible, a photo sharing service can be used such as Flickr, Imgur etc. The image location (usually ending in .jpg) can be copy and pasted between the ][ brackets that appear when you click the 'Img' button (you can find this button at the top of the message box).

How to post youtube vids: Click on the 'youtubeHD' button at the top of the message box and in the middle of the ][ brackets that just appeared, copy and paste everything from the youtube web address that appears after the = sign i.e if this is the url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2cNqaPSHv0 just copy "K2cNqaPSHv0").

Those cars just look ridiculous, reminds me of those stupid looking Jap customs with the cartoon proportioned oversize wings and spoilers...

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“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”

this is my mates car....got about 600bhp but
everyone including even him ?? prefer mine

I love those RX7 FD's.. Such a classic well proportioned design. I think they're ageing remarkably well too, considering it would have ben designed in the late 80's, for release in 1990.
The rather rather fragile rotary motor would worry me though.

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“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”