Postby Hasbeen » 27 Feb 2017 05:04
Some months back on the homeward drive of a Triumph club run, we ran into one of our South East Queensland thunder storms. We probably got something over an inch of rain in about half an hour in general, but some parts would have had a couple of inches in less than an hour.
This was on a very twisty bit of our southern boarder ranges main road, the Mount Lindsay highway, with lots of up & down, with hairpins everywhere. I was in the 7, & was being followed by a Stag. Quite a bit of the really twisty stuff had very new, & pretty slippery when wet, stone mastic bitumen.
The 7 was doing more than a little tail waging, & I was having fun. I was not hurrying between corners, & the Stag was keeping up without trouble. At a coffee stop after the storm the Stag driver said he was a little surprised that although going perhaps a little slower through the corners, the Stag was not waging it's tail as much as the 7.
So while washing the thing I got down on my knees & checked the age of the Brigstones on the back. Shock horror, they are 8 years old. I know from experience these things are past their best by about 5 years, & way past their use by date at 8 years. I now know why I was having so much fun on that wet road. I also know these things will chuck me into a ditch sooner rather than later if I keep using them.
What to buy is the question. Many of our top brands as sold here are Asian manufacturer, & not what they used to be. Many no longer make anything worth fitting to 13" wheels, & I like my 7 on 13s. The big tyre bag is part of the suspension design & I don't want to change what I have now set up. Besides I can't even get the best stuff for my Honda S2000 with it's 16s.
I have Kumhos on the front, & although not quite the old Pirellis I had previously, they are not bad. However they no longer offer this particular rubber in 13" tyres.
What a long way of asking if anyone has a suggestion for 185 x 13s & 205 x 13" tyres for our cars?
Hasbeen
