Tire Jackpot... but theres a catch.
 

Indian Tyres | Tyre market | Global Tyre companies



Bridgestone Potenza "sporty" 205/60 R13 87H :icon_tup:

BUT they are made by Bridgestone INDIA. :icon_tdow

So, I'm going to india to pick up some tires. :lol:




Are there any other countries that sell new 205/60 r13 tires? Or is the American DOT telling us what we should drive?

Interesting. Won't happen this week, but I'm going to stop by the Indian market and ask the guy if he gets things shipped direct from acquaintances.

The second one. I've got a buddy into Fiats and Opels who travels overseas and says there are plenty of 13" tires in Germany from big, well known brands. They're not DOT approved so they aren't sold here.

I've seen an old Mini at a car show with modern looking Yokohamas that are on 12" wheels.

I've had nothing but bad luck with Bridgestone and Firestone tires (same company).

One of the Wilderness tires on our 92 Jeep Rangler delaminated at highway speed and very nearly caused a roll over, along with several hundred dollars of damage to the wheel well. Firestone was really obnoxious about it and denied any responsibility, since it was not specifically one of the Wilderness tires on their recall list. No compensation for the tires or the damage to the Jeep. Firestone, never again.

Then a set of Bridgestone Potenza tires came with the new 2012 Mazda3 I bought in May 2012. They road fine for the first 15,000 miles, but when I had the scheduled rotation done, rear wheels to the front and swapped, as in the manual, the car pulled to the left and the steering wheel vibrated, as if the tires were out of balance (but they had just been balanced). The tire guy told me that at least one of the tires was way out of round, which I verified by jacking up the front wheel and putting it in gear. Sure enough, about a quarter inch wobble in that "new" tire. So I took it to a Firestone/Bridgestone dealer who looked at the tire and said the out of round condition was normal and within tolerances -"all tires are like that", he said.

So now I just do the tire rotations myself and swap them around until I minimize the the steering pull and bumpiness, usually takes a couple of times of trial and error to get it so it's not really bad, although the pull and vibration still persists.

I'm looking forward to the day I get enough tread wear out of those Potenza's and can replace them with a decent tire. Bridgestone, never again.

And Bridgestone/Firestone tires shipped from India? You've got to be kidding.

Two words...

Ford Explorer.

You can find the size in the UK as well Search Results: 205/60 R13 H Summer tyres - mytyres.co.uk

Here is a link to the tire:
205 60 13 Federal 595 CAR Tyres | eBay

Federal 595. This is the tire they use on the legends race cars. I use them on my 7. For some reason if you go to the legends site they say "NOT DOT LEGAL" but when you buy the tires they day DOT right on them, but i'm not sure that means they are road legal in the USA.

Here is a link to the legends car site talking about the tires:
U.S. Legend Cars International | Federal Tire Named Official Tire for Asphalt Legend Cars Racing

These tires are cheap for a performance tire at about $100 a pop US. They are super soft and I've had no issues with them over thousands of mile (on my second set now). That second link if you look around has a section to locate US legend car dealers. I bought mine through one of the people on there and he said he'd hook me up next time I need them. Just thought I'd share.

Also, they sell federal 595 tires in other sizes in the US all over the place, just not in the 205-50/13 size. They're SUPER grippy and SUPER soft. You can squeeze the tread lugs with your fingers pretty good. That said, the life of the tire is low compared to other non performance street tires.

I contacted the Legends dealer at Columbus Motor Speedway and he would agree to sell me a set but did not know if it is what I was lookig for. He said the one's they get say "Super Star" on the side wall and when I see them forsale on the overseas site it says "Super Steel". Do you know if these are the same tire?

What other options are there available in this country?

185 /55VR13

Michelin TB15 - 16/53-13

I take acception to that sir.



BUT I agree. BS India is a 100% seperate company. We aren't hardly associated with them. Other than name.

Both sets I've ran said super steel. When I picked mine up the guy had two legends cars there with the same tires and they said Super Steel too. I did a google search for federal 595 super star and found nothing. I'm not positive but I'd guess that the guy just thought they said super star.

Here is the load ratings and stuff:

205/60R13 87H load/speed rating 576OD (in mm) 5.5- 7.5 rim width 545kg/1201lbs

205/60 federal from tires-easy.com
Federal FORMOZA FD1 205/60R13 87H BSW BSW - tires-easy.com

This afternoon on twitter, bugging tire companies again, I got this. Which is nothing, but more than ever before.

Attachment 540399



Attachment 540400

Hope springs eternal.

Anybody tried Federal tires? I'm seeing the Formoza FD1, 595 and another style available in 205-60-13. Reasonable price at $60-70/tire. Federal is a Taiwan manufacturer, which doesn't bother me much, as opposed to mainland China, of which I would be very hesitant to buy rubber from.

lol now that was great

@ask41 - Federal is being used in the drift scene and is liked there. The Formoza FD1 looks promising. After some quick looking around I've yet to see anyone actually carrying it in stock in the US though.

Federal
 

After seeing Federal tires on several websites and calling to confirm they really have them, I come to the same conclusion - the 205/60-13 size isn't available. I've tried the FD1 and the 595 with no luck, even though it shows up on more than one website when Googling.
Options in this size seem to be limited to Vredstein (almost $200/ea) or Toyo race tires (~$180/ea).
I'm shifting my focus to replacing the stock waffles with 15" wheels, which will open up a variety of tires in 195 or 205/50. It's only money, right?

Federal SS 595 in 14" are all backordered as well, I'm using LE wheels.

I'm trying out a set of BFGoodrich Super Sport A/S in 195/60-14.

I'll let yall know how the Potenza's do... I'm getting my set in 3 months :D :D :D