The 'E' Type Forum

My car has a set of Vredestein classic sprint tyres which I have since found out looking through the extensive history file were fitted in 2004 by MWS at
41000 miles , the car now has 64250 miles on the clock so these tyres have covered 23000 miles. However this makes them 12 years old .
Do I need to change them or can I rest easy ?

They are reaching the end of their life now and even if the tread is decent they will not perform as well now as they will be less supple.

You clearly drive very sensibly as I could never get 23K out of tyres on my cars

If you have any doubts at all or want to drive the car more spiritedly then change them,... what price do you put on your health and your car? :?

Hi

I get lots of different recomenndations from different manufacturers. But i feel if i wqwere pushing the age of a tyre i would rather do that with a top brand like Michelin or Pirelli rather than something cheap and nasty.

I would suggest if they are 10 years old take them off. but many tyre manufactures say when the tyre has been on a car for 5 years take it off. tyres degenerate much quicker after the first time they are driven on.

The tread compound is not working as well as it should when they are old. which is particularly bad in the wet. but you also don't know what the internal workings of a tyre are like; ie you don't know when it might fall apart. B low outs are dangerous and damaging to your car.

Sorry for that

My recomendations are on here http://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/page/jaguar-e-type

and here is a short film about series 2 E-types https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaOsUemzbTg

I would agree...12 years old is life expired what ever the tread is like. Mine had old Vreidsteins on when I bought it. Old and cracked side walls. They were junked immediately. There is a thread elsewhere about the merits of Michelins and Pirelli vs shall we say....more cost concious brands. I put Blockleys on mine. VR rated and for pootling to shows etc just fine...unless you are going to push the car towards the envelope then, IMO, so long as they are correctly rated, well fitted and balanced and correctly inflated then you will be unlikely to detect the difference between Pirelli or Michelin and Blockleys or the like for gentle drives....except of course when you see the credit card bill! Give them 6 or 7 years and then ditch for a new set....

As a novice I bought my car 5 months ago and the dealer offered to fit new tyres or knock £500 off. I have Vredestein 205/70 and it is so heavy on parking

Can anyone give a view on swapping back to 185 tyres? I am not looking to race it but interested to know what difference it would make on motorway driving and country lane cornering?

John

Mine has 185/70 VR15...great when rolling. Feels assured in country lanes.......but pretty heavy in a car park I am afraid.

Meant to say....you won't get four Pirelli's or Michelins for five hundred quid I am afraid. With fitting and tubes even blockleys were a bit over eight hundred with tubes, rim bands and balancing.

Hi John....what size wheels do you have....it should be stamped on the inside

Steve

I'm assuming I have the standard wheels. I'm not looking to change the tyres now as they are new and I have other priorities this year but looking for views.

John

John, I have Michelin 205/70's on my S2 FHC and feel the steering is heavy and guilty of tramlining, I recently got to try a set of 185s on 6" wheels and they felt much nicer. A good compromise seems to be 185's on 5.5J wheels, but I don't think anyone makes the 5.5J wheels in S2 easy clean style hubs, only the S1 curly hub. But does that matter?

Edited to add: 185/70 is not the same size as the original 185 and you get some speedometer inaccuracies. Others can add more to this comment.

Geoff

Hi John...just do a search on Tyre....there is stacks of info......my own opinion is that the lightest steering you will get will be on 185s...im on Vrederstein sprint classic 185HR15

Hi John,
I'm also running 185 x VR15 Dunlop SP Sport Radials with inner tubes and in my own opinion the lightest steering you will get will be on 185 x 15s, but they are the skinniest but allegedly the fastest

Hi Mike

I think that will be my choice when I have to change them. I don't drive like a loony (not in this car anyway!) so the skinny tyres will look better and I won't suffer from the lack of surface contact.

John

Sorry forgot to say thanks for all the comments/advice

John