185/70/13 Tyres on a standard Elan S4?

[terryp]

I ordered some tyres for my +2 and then decided to sell the car
So the question is, if I get some nice 5 inch Minilites to replace rusty steel wheels, will the 185/70/13's fit with the standard S4 wheel arches?
Thanks
Terry

[Jas]

Hi Terry

I could not even make 175/70R13 fit in the wheel arches, so I dout that you can make 185 fit with out flaring the arches. I did use 5X13 Minilites.

[terryp]

Thanks Jas, looks like I will have to sell with the +2

Terry

[collins_dan]

Toyo RA1 185/60/r13 using plus 2 steel wheels and narrow springs fit fine on my S4. I've had other 185/60/R13s on over the years and they all fit quite differently. The Toyo's seem significantly lower and wider than some of the others. You may want to check the dimensions of the particular brand you have and post that information as they may fit. I falsely assumed that all tires of the same "size" are actually the same size. As to the wheels to use, the plus 2 steel wheels fit with room to spare. My understand is that the 5" minilites are much thicker than the pressed steel, which can present clearance problems with the suspension. I'm thinking about going the route that Brian did, with 14" x 5.5" minilites. If you go this route, the backspace needs to 115mm. Good Luck, Dan

[alan.barker]

Hi Terry,
o.k., let's have some photos of your S4 !!!!!!!
Is it on it's way to France
Alan B

[terryp]

Patience patience patience Alan!

Dan, I'll measure the tyres and report back.

Terry

[msd1107]

I fitted 185/70-13 tires years ago on my early S4 with +2 wheels. From memory, the rear spring collars need to be flattened or use small diameter rear springs. The inside of the rear wheel arch probably needs to be relieved. The fiberglass can get pretty thin.

At the front, be careful going over a bump with appreciable wheel lock.

Other than that, no problems, but your car may be slightly different.

185/70-13 has almost the same rev/mile figure as 165-13, gives a slight reduction in cruising revs. You need a different gearbox to speedometer drive gear to obtain optimum speedometer/odometer accuracy. If you go to a 3.55 CWP, you get the highest gearing possible unless you fit a 5-speed.

David
1968 36/7988

[terryp]

I think all this may be a little too much trial and error and grinding for me so I think I may keep standard and sell my new Yoko A021 tyres
Anyone in France interested in 4 x Yoko A021 185x70x13?

Thanks to all

Terry

[tonycharente]

Hello Terry,
I think you'll find that unless your S4 has flaired wheel arches you will have a problem with 185's. Mine (the one you've seen a couple of times) touched the inner edge of the wheel arches even with 165's, so I'm now on 155's !!! Having said that, there does seem to be some variation between individual cars.

There is also a danger (I found out the hard way) that even with tyres that don't normally touch you can damage a front wheel arch by going over a big bump on full lock. Apparently 'They all do that, Sir'. I am now VERY careful when on full lock.

Finally, I think that unless you are going for a boy-racer style Elan, it will look wrong on 185's. (I expect this comment will bring a few protests !!!)

Amiti?s
Tony

[terryp]

Tony
Worry not, we are going to keep it completely standard, I will just have to find somewhere to have the wheels shotblasted , Is there anywhere near us?

All the best
Terry

[tonycharente]

Hello Terry,
I've never had any shotblasting done since we moved to France, but I just googled "grenaillage Saintes" for you and came up with these people:-

http://www.bm-polissage.com/index.php

Never heard of them, but they sound like the kind of people you want. And if they're not I'm sure they'll know someone who is.

By the way I do have a "stock" of Elan wheels that I've been keeping for a rainy day should any of your wheels actually turn out to be damaged...

Hope this helps, and apologies to our readers stuck in England...
Cheers
Tony

[alan.barker]

hi terry,
the word is "sablage" (sandblast, shotblast or more correctly bead blast) but i think that will only be a detail with alll the work you will have to do mon ami
A+ Alan B

[terryp]

Thanks chaps, I thought we would be taking the rusty / dirty parts back to the UK

Terry