RE: Oversized tires for Spider

["Ev Micou" <mdg36@domain.elided>]

JAY--ck out the 91 spider on ebay....interesting non OEM wheels. I asked the
seller what make and size and if there are any clearance problems. Response:
"17 inch rims, i think. TSN manuf. Don't know tire size." Well, I am more
than a little skeptical that these are 17 inchers! Anybody else see this
car? Any thoughts on the wheels? They look pretty nice on the spider.
Ev
94 Spider CE

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-alfa@domain.elided [mailto:owner-alfa@domain.elided]On Behalf Of
Jay Negrin
Sent: Monday, February 18, 2002 10:37 PM
To: warrenwood@domain.elided; AR Digest Submissions
Subject: re: Oversized tires for Spider


From: "Howard and Pat Warren"

<<As I'm putting my Spider back into reliable running condition, the
time has come to look at my baby's shoes.  The PO put Continental 205/60
tires on her.  Nothing is rubbing, and I've already calibrated my head
for the speedo difference.  However, steering is sloppy, both at slow
speed and highway.  I've tentatively put that down to old tie rod ends
and plan to replace them.

My question to the experts: could this wider tire be part of the
problem?  I can still get Pirellis in the stock size.  Should I switch
back to the narrower tire?>>

My guess, without confirmation, is that you are running wheels which are
too narrow for that particular tire.  I ran 205/60 x 14 on my Alfetta
for a number of years, with excellent results, other than the speedo
thing.  I was running 6" wide wheels, though.  I understand that Spiders
that came with 14" wheels had 5 1/2" wide wheels standard.  If you are
running wheels "that" narrow, that may explain the squirm.  The tires
would not be stable enough on the wheel.  The lower the profile tire,
the more nearly you want the body of tire to be as wide as the wheel.
The taller the profile, the more the wheel width can approximate the
tread width.

I'm not necessarily an expert, the above is my two cents and experience
only.

Ciao

Jay Negrin
ARO So Cal
76 Alfetta GT - now running around with 205/55 x 15 on 15 x 7 wide
wheels. (now *that's* a handful)

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