Wheels and Tyres for Road Use and Touring

[Baggiebird]

I have had my 23 year old K Series Supersport about 2 months.  It came with 16" HPC wheels  which look nice but spoil the handling in my view, compared to my previous Sevens which had either 13" or 14" wheels.  Steering was heavy and the car liked to tramline.

Last week I noticed that Revolution Wheels were selling some 6J x 13 Classic Rally 8 spoke type wheels - look like Minilite or Superlight wheels for £60 each including carriage.  I have no connection whatsoever with them.  As luck would have it the wheels were available in 108mm pcd and ET 23 offset and so ideal for a standard narrow S3 Caterham.

At present I don't envisage track use and so looked for tyres on that basis.  I wanted to keep the ground clearance I had as near as possible (about 90mm under the sump) and I don't yet have adjustable platforms on the shock absorbers.  I therefore looked for what I hoped would be decent tyres in 185/70 x 13 size.  As the roads in Herefordshire are not great (an understatement) this tyre profile would also help compliance.  Looking in the archives there were some good reports about Uniroyal Rain Expert tyres, which are T rated.  I was OK with that as the car had 23 year old Michelin Pilots which were far from worn out, and I wanted a tyre which had some compliance and was OK in the cold and wet when necessary, though I try to use the car on dry days when possible.

I have had the tyres fitted onto the rims today and then put them on the car.  Steering feel is much improved and lighter as expected, ride quality has also improved.  I will know more when the tyres have scrubbed in of course but so far so good.  Running on 1.5 bar pressure at the moment.

[7 wonders of the world]

Revolution - great wheels and service, 

Where are you in Herefordshire BM me if you prefer

[p.mole1]

Great wheels I just purchased a set. They seem to be well made, better quality than the Caterham 14 inch Minilight replicas. They also have lots of different offsets available. I went with 6x13 front and 7x13 rear et 23. I had to file off a tiny amount from the Dedion ear. 

[Geoff Brown]

Revolution - and with a nice 15% off for members: https://www.lotus7.club/membership/special-offers-members/revolution-wheels

Always wise to check the members Special Offers Section!

[Baggiebird]

Geoff, nice reminder.  Luckily I don't feel too badly done to at £60 including carriage each in the sale!!

[Andrew Gilbert]

I have 16" HPC alloys and they were on my HPC and used for touring. I had no issues with tramlining whatever the road surface however mine had been meticulously set up for fast road and the occasional track use. tramlining is down to the tyres fitted (together with maybe a bush failing allowing movement?), and mine were matched Toyo's all round, really enjoyed it with these however for anything other it was 13" all the way, transforms the cars behavior with those fitted.

My current HPC uses 6 & 7x13 minilites and I also have a set of revolution 4s spokes for when I fancy a change!