Tire recommendations for a traditional hiboy

[ragtag]

I'm looking for some 15" blackwall radials that have somewhat of a bias ply look. I see Coker now has a Vredestein Sprint Classic brand as well as some Firestone and Michelin models. Do you guys have experience with the Vredestein brand? I've never heard of them or seen them on a car. What do you recommend. Thanks.

[Flipper]

It sucks, but to get the decent looking skinny radials, you need to swap to 16" (or bigger) wheels.

[ragtag]

It sucks, but to get the decent looking skinny radials, you need to swap to 16" (or bigger) wheels.

   I know the 16"s look better. I've got a set on my coupe. But I want 15"s on a roadster I'm thinking about building.

[Charlie Chops 1940]

I have to say right up front that my preference in tires is for handing and ride on the long haul therefore I prefer radials and don't really care about the non-traditional tire bulge. That said I think looking carefully at skinny and tall radials can be an exercise in futility, but there are reasonable choices. But, if you're hung up on the traditional bias ply look then only bias ply tires give you that look. Be prepared for fast wear, out of round, hard to balance, death wobble, lots of tracking in the road grooves and generally crappy handling. I'll take the verbal abuse of the bias crowd - so have at it.

I believe the Vredestein's have been a staple in the skinny tire English sports cars up through the 60's into the early 70's. I don't have any experience with them though I have looked at Coker's 16" Excelsior Stahl radials and like them although they are quite pricey.

I have also used T/A 155-80-15's on 5" rims on the front of my track roadster and they handle all right but I ended up going to 185-65-15 Traction T/A's on 6" rims and it likes the additional width. The car is a tad weight biased to the rear so it seems to work a little better with more rubber on the ground up front. On the rear I'm running T/A Trail Tour 265-75-15's on 7 or 8" rims. They are a lot more squared off than the normal T/A's and seem to be fine rain or shine.

Charlie

[ragtag]

Thanks for your thoughts Charlie. I appreciate it. I am definitely going to run 15" radials and not bias plys for the reason you listed. I'm just looking for a radial tire that comes the closest in tread and sidewall design. Thanks.

[Rochie]

Ragtag,
I used Discount Tire's "Arizonian" 165/80/15 up front and 235/80/15 i9n back.
They have a little dirt track look to them. So far so good

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