225 tyres on rear of Series 1 FHC

Curtis Bay · Post by **Curtis Bay** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 8:57 am

I know there has been much debate over the use of different tyre sizes and styles but I have a more specific question....

Has anyone got any experience of using 225 section tyres on the rear of a Series 1 FHC. I want to be certain that the tyre will clear the inner lip of the wheel arch. This differs from a drop head because the FHC is a welded lip that joins the inner and outer skin rather than a single skin.

I anticipate running without bump stops.

Any advice / feedback much appreciated.

MarkE · Post by **MarkE** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 3:28 pm

I have 205s on a 6 inch rim and there is loads of room for something bigger, but you may find it a real pain to get the wheel on and off the car.

The hub sticks out so much, and with the wheel having to be offered up at pretty much 90 degrees to the hub, with the tyre under the arch, that becomes the limiting factor. Peg drive wheels would provide the opportunity for much wider rubber without having to deflate the tyres to get them on and off. Or maybe getting the arches rolled, which may not be an option if you've just had the bodywork done!

Curtis Bay · Post by **Curtis Bay** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 4:12 pm

Your car looks great from the rear. I assume these are the 205 section tyres.

I plan on fitting 16 x 6J wheels with 225 60 series tyres which gives me the same rolling diameter as the original 185 80 15 tyres.

Do you happen to know what offset your wheels have or what make they are?

Post by **Heuer** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 5:04 pm

Good luck if you happen to get a puncture with that proposed wheel/tyre combination, especially on a wet and windy night. Getting a rear wheel off will be really difficult and the flat will probably not fit in the wheel well. I also think the ride will suffer with the lower profile, steering will be heavier and the car will not be as fun to drive. It would be a good idea to try and drive a car with that combination before pulling the trigger.

Here is a car fitted with 6.5" MWS and 15" 205/60 tyres:

Here is a car with 16" Dayton's (7" wide I believe):

More info in these threads:
http://etypeuk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=196
http://etypeuk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=273
http://etypeuk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=152

You raise a valid point on wheel offsets because I know an "E-Type" Borrani 6" wheel will not fit the S1/2 cars but will fit the S3 so don't assume you can fit anything just because the vendor says it will fit an 'E-Type'! Check the offsets or it could prove to be an expensive exercise.

vipergts · Post by **vipergts** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 5:23 pm

I've just fitted 225/60's on my S1 FHC on 6" rims.

No problem getting them off but my arches are rolled and the bump stop brackets removed

Post by **Heuer** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 5:28 pm

Removing the bump stops is a given (as long as you have put bump stop rubbers in the shocks to compensate) but rolling the arches does require body and paint work so not really feasible on a restored car. Incidentally will your 6" wheel fit in the wheel well or are you using a s 5" with 185 tyre?

Curtis Bay · Post by **Curtis Bay** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 5:35 pm

Thanks for the photos - the drop head is wearing wheels that are wider than my wheels and they are center laced, mine are exact replicas of the curly hub series one wheel - just 1" wider and 1" bigger in daimeter. It will be interesting to see how easy getting the rear wheels off will be. The overall width and diameter of a 225 60 16 tyre is virtually the same as a 225 65 15 so hopefully it won't be too bad (?). This is why I was interested to learn anyones experience with 225 tyres.

I understand your comments on ride quality, having messed around with low profile tyres on my old VW camper. This has trailing arm front suspension and it features absolutley no rubber components! It was a challenge to get it to go round corners sometimes and you sit directly above the front wheels so you feel every bump.......but it looked cool!

Post by **Heuer** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 5:48 pm

Curtis Bay wrote:.......but it looked cool!

How can you see the wheels from the driving seat and given the E-Type has been voted (many times) the most beautiful car in the world why would you want to tinker with the magic? This completely passes me by! :? Like putting a supermodel on the cat-walk wearing wellies

Curtis Bay · Post by **Curtis Bay** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 6:46 pm

Hmmm! Works for me, so long as that was all she was wearing.

Post by **Heuer** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 7:10 pm

You've got me thinking now

vipergts · Post by **vipergts** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 8:12 pm

Dont think the the 225 will fit as a spare, I'm hoping the 6" curly hub will with a 185 cos a standard wheel wont clear the front callipers.

On the subject of drivabilty....mine has an ally bonnet so reduced weight up front.

Tyres are hardly low profile so ride will not suffer.

My car will be fuel injected amongst other stuff so will have more power, I want a tyre that can cope

Post by **Heuer** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 9:00 pm

Won't clear the front calipers? Blimey, how big are they?

vipergts · Post by **vipergts** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 9:06 pm

Not that big but we have achieved "Racing tollerance"

Curtis Bay · Post by **Curtis Bay** » Fri Oct 21, 2011 9:27 am

Nice hardware - is it being built for the road or track?

What size tyres do you plan to run on the front?

vipergts · Post by **vipergts** » Fri Oct 21, 2011 10:23 am

Road....same size on the front, 225

andrewh · Post by **andrewh** » Mon Oct 24, 2011 5:46 pm

just about to have my body rebuilt, professionally, and I want to fully understand what I need to do to give me the maximum choices. I dont think I will want to go as far as a 225, but if I go somewhere between the normal and 225, do i still need to get the bump stop removed and the wheel arch smoothed off inside?

christopher storey · Post by **christopher storey** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 7:11 am

I know I bang on about this, but the easiest way to ruin an E type is to put wide wheels AND wide tyres on it , particularly at the front. It tends to make the steering very heavy ; it alters the geometry radically, ( because the offset is away to blazes) so that all the wonderful sensitivity where the car can be steered with one finger is eliminated ; and frequently the front tyres rub on the wheelarches on full lock so that the car tends to climb the wheel with hilarious , damaging, and alarming consequences . I had 205/70 on my FHC for many years, and it was a revelation when I reverted to 185s

andrewh · Post by **andrewh** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 7:45 am

I do agree with most of what you say, but remember these E s were meant to be running high profile cross plys originally. I just wanted to make sure I had options once it is restored without going all Carlos Fandango on you .....Lee?

vipergts · Post by **vipergts** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 8:45 am

Andrew, That advert has gone down in history as one of my all time greats....Haven't seen it for years but "Carlos Fandango" is a favourite phrase that my nippers know well. I will show them that clip. Nice one

On the bigger wheel/tyre issue. I don't see too many of the racing E's on skinny tyres and I know track work is different to road but I've driven many with std tyres and many with wider and I know what I prefer.

Eagle has done plenty of messing when it comes to perfomance testing and they use the wider option.

The more contact with the road the better when you have power and braking upgrades

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225 tyres on rear of Series 1 FHC

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