Dunlop RS5 Tyres 6.40 x 15

[richard btype]

I tried to place an order with the usuals for a set of RS5's but unfortunately not only is there no stock but apparently the Dunlop factory which produced these has been closed and flattened to make way for a new Jaguar factory - great disappointment - I've always felt the early E types never felt better than when fitted with the original cross plies...

[budmarston@aol.com]

Hello,

I purchased a set of Dunlop Tires and tubes for my 1961 E-type in late 2014. I just sent your comment to my vendor (Universal Vintage Tire, Hershey, Pennsylvania). The following is his reply --

The Avon factory in the UK, which manufactures the Dunlop Vintage Tyre line, temporarily suspended production of the tires in August 2016. Production was ended to retool many of the molds and to further expand on production of their vintage racing tires. They are to begin production of the vintage tires again late fall or winter 2016.
- At the present time, there are no 640H15 Dunlop tires available anywhere.

[Heuer]

I had a long discussion about this with Dougal and his view was they are not suitable if you intend to drive the car any distance. They overheat when when driven at speed on a motorway and they are not safe when mixed with modern traffic. They were designed and used when UK roads were bereft of motorways and traffic moved a lot slower. Europe adopted radials in the mid 1950's becuase they did have a high speed road network: it took us until the mid 1960's to realise the benefits. Cross plies on a motorway are a nightmare as the car will be moving all over the place which is why they overheat. They will be great fun for hooing about on empty roads and roundabout's but modern traffic conditions mean you need all the braking and cornering power you can get. Imagine gracefully sliding sideways around a corner to find a SUV with a distracted mum and kids coming the other way - she will panic and who knows what will be the result.

Give Dougal a call and he will give you chapter and verse. He most certainly talked me out of fitting a set! Incidentally the 'new' RS tyres will be manufactured in India and although they will be using the original moulds all the expertise involved in ply construction and rubber compounds have been lost with the closure of the Birmingham factory. Dougal does not believe they will ever reappear at least in recognisable form.

[christopher storey]

David : I was brought up on RS4s and later RS5s , and I do not remember any of the shortcomings which Dougal mentions. I covered many thousands of miles in my Father's Mark IX and later Mark 10s ( always under his supervision I may say ) and we used to cruise M1 a great deal faster than today, in those pre-limit days , usually cruising at about 100 mph, and using the recommended higher pressures. Wander was not a problem that I recall , and there was never a single failure until I was again driving him in his last 420G just before his death in 1974, when an SP68 blew out ! The real penalty of the crossply RS tyres was that they did not last very long , perhaps 8000 - 10000 miles being the best one could hope for

I agree, however, that the ultimate levels of wet grip were very much less than radials, but correspondingly any breakaway was much less vicious than occurred with early radials such as the SP41 and SP 68

[andrewh]

I tried to place an order with the usuals for a set of RS5's but unfortunately not only is there no stock but apparently the Dunlop factory which produced these has been closed and flattened to make way for a new Jaguar factory - great disappointment - I've always felt the early E types never felt better than when fitted with the original cross plies...

If you want some, I have 5 with good tread. they are 40 years old though!

[cactusman]

You would be unwise to say the least to use 40 year old tyres. Heard a story about someone who bought a mk 2 on old (20+) tyres. Decided to drive it home up the M4. Had two tyres blow out in 20 miles. Rest of the way on a flatbed. Fortunately no damage to him or the car!!!!

[andrewh]

You would be unwise to say the least to use 40 year old tyres. Heard a story about someone who bought a mk 2 on old (20+) tyres. Decided to drive it home up the M4. Had two tyres blow out in 20 miles. Rest of the way on a flatbed. Fortunately no damage to him or the car!!!!

Eh, it was a joke!!!

[richard btype]

We will have to see what the new Indian manufactured tyres are like if and when they materialise.

I don't know whether Dougal has actual road experience of the RS5's on the E type I will have to ask him but my personal experience of them over 20k miles does not match his view on a number of counts.

When I owned my 63 OTS from 1978 to 88, the car came on a new set of Pirelli cinturatos, my father coincidentally owned a 63 FHC with a set of RS5's - possibly my purchase was a year earlier than my fathers so in other words I had plenty of experience with the Pirellis, (one of the tyres interestingly that Dougal is keen to promote - perhaps the compound has changed since the 80's?)

On one of our journeys we swapped cars and I couldn't believe how much better the car felt so much so that I thought the difference must must be in the cars. So I badgered him to let me do a wheel swap, which we did and I never went back to the Cints.

Much comment is made of the 'tramlining' but this is over exaggerated, yes one could notice this in the inside lane of a motorway but this has more to do with the lorry ruts, it was never a problem on the outside lane, the car tracked straight and smooth no steering wheel adjustment was necessary.

I'm sure in the wet, one would have to be more circumspect but one drives anyway to the feel one gets and except for being caught out it is mostly a fair weather car.

As for heating up etc. certainly in the UK, motorway driving is vastly slower these days than it was in the 80's at which time we often maintained higher speeds for many miles. In fact I recall doing the whole stretch of the A45 (from the Jaguar factory in Coventry and then joining the M1 to Hertfordshire) on a quiet Saturday late afternoon (80/100 miles?) with absolutely no issues that made one feel they were deteriorating or unsafe. I certainly drove the car at other times at 130 but not for prolonged periods as I seem to recall they were H rated which was 135?

Were I to go on a european jaunt I would have another set of wheels with radials to cover high speed cruising and where more especially being caught in poor weather might play a bigger part in that decision.

When one looks at the narrow aspect of the tread width you might ask how does it do the job it does but I don't ever remember locking up the tyres but then in those days we were not so reliant on ABS and massively wide rubber so we probably modulated our style and late braking.

It is a shame we don't have the opportunity to put a new set on and collectively arrange some back to back tests I hope one day we will because I'm sure one might be as surprised as I remember - and it was all about the feel and confidence with the 'turn in' and lighter steering at slow speeds.

Andrew

Thank you for the offer which I would gladly accept! not for use on the roads but I do have a spare set of rims which would at least allow me to enjoy the look during the winter storage months...

[timhum]

Do we know what tyres were fitted to the car Norman Dewis drove to Geneva? They seemed to do the job pretty well :D
Tim

[PeterCrespin]

Do we know what tyres were fitted to the car Norman Dewis drove to Geneva? They seemed to do the job pretty well :D
Tim

Doubtless high speed crossplies - of which there are still plenty of racing tyres today.

[Heuer]

Merely passing on what Dougal told me when I went to buy a set of five (then still available). Last time I drove a car with cross plies was some 48 years ago - a Wolseley 16/60 and a Wolseley 1300 - and that was around the local roads of Wales. Dougal is a huge crossvply fan - he races a chain gang Nash - so his experience is well worth considering.