My '83 gsl has stock alloys (look like crosses) and some bland stock sized tires. The car appears to sit a bit lower than factory, but I suspect that is due to sagging, rather than aftermarket springs. I want to see what options are available for changing tires for looks and performance. Any pics of stock rims with tires that are not stock in size? Lower profile, wider, white letters would be interesting to see and helpful in deciding what to get.

 

Take a look thru the 1st Gen pics section, you'll see some different ones. I just got my set of Sumitomo HTR 200 205/60/13's from brown today. They look great in person. Can't wait to get them mounted. Although mine are going on 13x8 wheels alot of guys run this size on stock wheels and it looks great. Some even use 215/50/13 but I think the sidewall looks way too short. Ray Green has a set of 175/50/13's on his silver RX right now and they just look too small(not his choice)

 

im running sumitomo htr 200 215/50/13 on the stock waffle rim. i have to disagree with people who say the sidewall looks too small. with a drop this would be perfect IMHO

 

Sumi 215/50/13. These replaced Sumi 205/60/13. No fitment issues, and a decent tire for the price.

The 215s are a slightly smaller diameter, so the spedometer will be off a bit, and they do make the wheels look a little small for the car unless it has been lowered. On the upside, the slight reduction in gear ratio makes the car feel a bit more lively and lowers the center of gravity just a bit.


.

 

The only RWL tire you can find in a 13 inch rim is the COOPER COBRA Radial GT. I just got set of those mounted on my refurbed waffles for the look. The tires are ok, but definitely not performance tires and they have a bouncy feel to them. I'll post some pics up this week in my waffle refurb thread.

I'll probably get some Toyo Proxies or used Hoosiers for my old set of waffles for play days.

 

Thanks for the replies, and reference to the pics section, I didn't realize it was there. Also thanks for cluing me in on the "waffle" nickname. Dave

 

the 175/50 will have a really short sidewall compaired to the 215/50. in this case, the sidewall is 50%(aspect ratio) of the tread width. so the 215/50 would look alot better on 13s. i just put on those htr 200 in 205/60. too cheap on tirerack.com to pass up.

 

t_g_farrel-

Been thinking about putting Cooper Cobras on my 80 Rx-7 to keep the RWL original look. Would very much appreciate seeing pics of yours mounted when you get a chance.

 

205/60/13 Sumitomo HTR-200 on Stock rim

 

Ok pics are up in my other thread of the Copper tires. Run on over there and enjoy em. Next meet I'll get someone with a good camera to get a full car shot.

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...91#post8441391

 

damn nice tim. u to stu. wish i had a camera i'd get a pic of those same sumi's on the widened rx4 rims. i just hope those damn dots wash off. the serial # supposed to be on the inside.

 

thats not bad. i checked a couple years ago, and bridgestone, the original mfr still made a tire in the stock size. i think it was rwl too. they were like $150 a tire though...

 

Thanks for the tread shot Stu! You too Tim! Appreciate the pictures. I think I'm gonna pick up a set of Cobras and Sumitomos for a couple of different wheel sets.

 

Yeah, the other factory tire was the bfgoodrich Radial T/A. They just stopped producing those for 13 inch rims, you can still get them in 14 and 15 inches via normal retail. Also if you know someone that races in the legends race car series they supply the RWL tires, so you might be able to picked some used ones up. I just didn't want to have used tires. I also checked with Coker but they didn't carry them yet, plus they would have cost an arm and a leg.

We should all send bfgoodrich an email asking for them back on the retail list. Obviously they still make em.

 

I had the sumitomo htr 200's that Jeezus is running on my stock wheels, i highly recommend them. Their great tires for a dirt cheap price.

 

"Form over function?" OR "Function over form?"

It seems to me the Sumitomo HTR200 is the best performance 13'' tire (outside the super soft and expensive performance Toyo Proxies), but I do love the raised white lettering look of the original Bridgestone Steel Belted 70's that shipped from the factory on my 80 LS.

Does anyone have a good take on how the 13" BFG Radial T/A compares performance wise with the 13" Cooper Cobra GT, since these tires are the only RWL forms available?

I buy into Tim's call to action. How about a letter writing campaign or petition to Bridgestone, Goodyear, BFG etc for performance 13" tires?

 

The Cooper tires are not performance tires. They're labeled as all season or M&S. They're kind of bouncy but do smooth the ride a bit better cause of the softer side walls. They feel squishy on hard cornering and you can't feel the road like with a performance tire. In this case it is form over function because I wanted the RWL look.

I have my old tires still (Bridgestone RE-71) which are old and hard but not dry rotted. They are the equivalent of an R type tire today. Hard side walls, grippy with a very good road feel and predictable break away at the edge. They are also 205/60 R13 but they are about 1/2" wider and not quite as tall as the new Coopers (accounting for lost tread over the years). Just goes to show you how tires with the same size marked on them can differ.

 

This is all interesting for me, as the day is going to come where I have to replace the more-than-10-year-old Riken blackwalls that are on the car now...

 

Bump.. since after searching this seems like the right thread, I have a few questions. I believe it's called, the sidewell? Is it possible to get tires that clear up the gap to the left and right of the actual wheel inside the well? Or is it just simply get bigger rims? Also, it seems that with my Falken 205 50R15's all around, once I threw on some RB springs (not cut) when i'm riding it seems that the tires are being cut into from the inner sharp part of the fender... My buddy said he had the SAME problem and fixed it by getting 195 50R15's instead. Any comments on that?

 

Considering this thread was for stock sized tires, your really just thread jacking

You need to roll your fenders or get wheels with a better offset. I know theres 15" wheels out there with 205/50s that don't rub because I've seen posts about it. Your buddy solved the problem by getting slight shorter and less wide tries (195/50) so it wouldn't rub. Thats another way to do it.

 

Haha you might be right but to justify the thread does say "Tire Recommendations and pics" not "Stock FB Tire Sizes" but I get what you're saying I couldn't find another thread to throw my post in so this will do. I can try giving the whole fender roll a process and see how that goes.