Quote:
Originally Posted by Squiggle Dog
Luckily, the roads aren't salted here and usually it doesn't snow in the winter. I think my 1967 230S has new 185/80R13 tires on it, so I will probably put those on for now because the tires on the car, while being nice Michelin X Radials with more than 90% tread left, are dry rotted. I wanted to go with 14" W108 wheels because they are bigger in diameter and so the first gear won't be so low and it will have lower RPMs on the freeway.
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I you do switch to W108 rims, a 185/70R14 should have about the same OD as a 185/80R13, so don't expect much reduction in highway revs.
You may have to go to a 185/75R14 for that. If you do, check for any clearance issues. And be prepared for some speedometer error - perhaps about 5% slow.
Something else to watch out for - given a specific tire size, not all makes and models of tire marked with that number may actually be the exact same size.
My recently purchased '82 240D came with a set of old 205/70R14 Firestones on Bundt-rims. They seemed very tall. It made the car look a bit like it was a 4WD SUV.
So I compared one of them with a spare 205/70R14 Michelin I had mounted on the same type of Bundt rim, and the Firestone diameter was nearly 2" taller, while the Firestone tread was about an inch narrower!
Happy Motoring, Mark