Technical Uneven front tyre wear

[the hobbler]

Wow 20mm toe in!

Steering should feel a fair bit more responsive now you’ve adjusted that out. Might even gain a touch more speed without the drag if scrubbing the tyres that much.

Yes, if you can get it to "0", that would be even better, although 2mm is JUST within tolerance. I am not surprised that you got that pattern of tyre wear with 20mm of toe-in. The car should be a lot nicer to drive now.

 

[smart51]

First test drive with the adjusted steering. Top speed is now 68 rather than 65. That's a lot of horsepower scrubbing those tyres.

Steering feel is different. More weight in 30 MPH corners. No self centring within about 10 degrees of straight ahead.

 

[Dougal Cawley]

It is because you have completely the wrong tyre on your car. that is why it tracks and the steering is heavy too.

just fit the proper 125R12 Cinturato CN54

Fiat 500 Tyres

Find premium classic tyres for your Fiat 500, 500b, Nuova, Cinquecento. Prestige brands like Pirelli and Michelin. Fiat Buy online or contact our experts at 01302 711123 for help.

www.longstonetyres.co.uk

it will be 10 times nicer to drive.

 

[smart51]

It is because you have completely the wrong tyre on your car. that is why it tracks and the steering is heavy too.

just fit the proper 125R12 Cinturato CN54

Fiat 500 Tyres

Find premium classic tyres for your Fiat 500, 500b, Nuova, Cinquecento. Prestige brands like Pirelli and Michelin. Fiat Buy online or contact our experts at 01302 711123 for help.

www.longstonetyres.co.uk

it will be 10 times nicer to drive.

How so?

 

[Dougal Cawley]

lighter, faster, more precise steering.

less tramlining.

more predictable progressive hadling

sorry for got to mension - as a road car. racing is differnt. completely different surface. completely different driving style. Its like the difference between swimming and walking.

oo you'll get less rolling resistence off of a thinner tyre, increased with more pressure.

 

[Goldnrust]

I would hazard a guess Dugal works for Longstone… as he appears to post in every tyre related thread suggesting you buy tyres from them. His opinion may not be without bias…

Would the standard 125 width tyre even be right for the wider aftermarket wheels?

 

[Dougal Cawley]

Or maybe I'm right.

Maybe even Fiat knew a bit about the car they designed as well, and thats why they fitted that tyre?

Maybe some commercial entities try to do the right thing, and hope that people will be happy when they buy the right thing because it does works well. Then they tell their freinds. maybe some commercial entities use integrity as a marketing strategy.

 

[smart51]

My car came with wider wheels and 145/70 R12s instead of 125 R12s. I'd be quite happy with the narrower tyres but I don't want to pay for a new set of rims to go with them.

I'm aware of the effect of wider tyres vs narrower tyres. My previous experience suggests that tiny changes like this make little difference, except against the clock. 125s might be less prone to aquaplaning, but I don't go out in the rain if I can help it. I can't say the handling is awful and needs fixing. Certainly it is better now I've set the tracking.

I'm not sure that going from 145s to 125s would be transformative. The rolling circumference is much the same, so the side wall height is going to be the same. The section width is a little wider, so the contact patch will be wider but shorter. My limited experience suggests I'd hardly notice, which is why I was asking what the effect would be.

 

[fiat500]

I would hazard a guess Dugal works for Longstone… as he appears to post in every tyre related thread suggesting you buy tyres from them. His opinion may not be without bias…

Would the standard 125 width tyre even be right for the wider aftermarket wheels?

Your guess would be right...in fact, I think he may own the company and may also be the UK importer of Pirelli for the 500. But he is right that they are the best riding tyres for the car, and as soon as my current, generic tyres are worn out I will be getting Cinturatos.

 

[Goldnrust]

I didn’t say you weren’t right. A little transparency of your motives never hurts though.

I’m sure Fiat fitted the right tyre to meet their budget, marketing goals, understanding of tyre technology for 1965 to fit the standard wheels. If any of that has changed in the mean time, then possibly different tyres are suitable.

I have the 125 Cinturatos fitted to my 500F and I’m very happy with them.

 

[Dougal Cawley]

As well as different sizes there is the carcass structure. Pirelli also make the 145/70R12 CN54

145/70SR12 PIRELLI CINTURATO CN54

Special offer on a set of 4 classic tyres 145/70SR12 Pirelli Cinturato CN54 We also sell these tyres in: Single 145/70 R 12 PIRELLI CINTURATO CN54. Set of 5 off Pirelli 145/70 SR 12 Cinturato CN54. 145/70SR12 Tyres These Pirelli Cinturato 145/70SR12 CN54 classic tyres are ideal tyres for...

www.longstonetyres.co.uk

it has a subtly different shape to the carcass which also might help.

 

[spidermania]

My car came with wider wheels and 145/70 R12s instead of 125 R12s. I'd be quite happy with the narrower tyres.

That's what you want if you drive in snow. My spider came with 205's and when I replaced them I tried to find 195's but in my new configuration of 205/50/17 (stock is 205/45/17) but it put me way over the 3% safety margin we operate on in the states. My new set-up only puts me at .33% off and is acceptable as the tire shop installed them. They will not install if they are to far over that 3%.

But the narrower the tire the better it is in the snow. Some of the idiots over here lower their spider and are running 225's of course they don't live in a snow state. I went from stock 5.32 inch (minimum) ground clearance to 6.14 (minimum). And what a difference it makes. I don't just do snow, I go on dirt roads over cattle guards when I go out to practice my shooting. No fear now in the spider with that ground clearance, just drive sensibly and you won't kick up to many rocks to possibly damage the bits underneath. Of course it's nice that the spider's critical components are covered underneath.

 

[smart51]

That's what you want if you drive in snow. My spider came with 205's and when I replaced them I tried to find 195's but in my new configuration of 205/50/17 (stock is 205/45/17) but it put me way over the 3% safety margin we operate on in the states. My new set-up only puts me at .33% off and is acceptable as the tire shop installed them. They will not install if they are to far over that 3%.

But the narrower the tire the better it is in the snow. Some of the idiots over here lower their spider and are running 225's of course they don't live in a snow state. I went from stock 5.32 inch (minimum) ground clearance to 6.14 (minimum). And what a difference it makes. I don't just do snow, I go on dirt roads over cattle guards when I go out to practice my shooting. No fear now in the spider with that ground clearance, just drive sensibly and you won't kick up to many rocks to possibly damage the bits underneath. Of course it's nice that the spider's critical components are covered underneath.View attachment 452532

I don't ever plan to drive my 49 year old 500 in snow. Living in the UK, it's hard to avoid driving home in the rain, even if it was dry and sunny when you set out. Snow is easy to avoid.

 

[spidermania]

Where you are at wider is better anyway because of all the pot-holes. The only decent roads you have are the motorways, the council controlled roads are a mess. To much money being spent housing and feeding all the illegals. Truly a sad state of affairs.

 

[bugsymike]

Many years ago I bought a LHD 1974 Citroen Dyanne for £40, no rust (as though on Dutch number plates it had spent all it's life in Spain),however I digress, the point I was thinking about was in the snow when everyone else had nearly given up, that car on 125 x 15 standard Michelin road tyres climbed a steep snow covered road with no problem.

 

[the hobbler]

Where you are at wider is better anyway because of all the pot-holes. The only decent roads you have are the motorways, the council controlled roads are a mess. To much money being spent housing and feeding all the illegals. Truly a sad state of affairs.

Many years ago when I was involved in the running of a M/Benz dealership, you wouldn't believe the number of times that I had customers complain that they couldn't get their Mercedesup the drive in the snow/ice, whilst "the wife" in her little VW (or similar) could with ease. I had to explain that a thin. high-profile tyre will cut through the snow much better than a low-profile tyre did. and also explain about the weight/area situation. I have heard the story that when one of the first jet airliners come into regular use it was at the same time that ladies wore "Stilleto" heels---even the light weight of a lady, when concentrated on the minute area of a Stilleto heel was enough to damage flight decks. I have driven 500s in snow so deep that the under-side of the car was leaving "an under-side shaped pattern" in the snow, and once won a pint of beer getting my 500 up snow/ice covered hill (to the pub!) when ALL my mates had failed in their modified cars which were abandoned at various places up the hill.
I don't know where you are getting your information from"Spidermania" (Mr Farage?), but I know MANY roads in the UK, other than motorways, that have a very good surface---may I suggest that we leave politics OUT of this forum!

 

[spidermania]

may I suggest that we leave politics OUT of this forum!

Quite right you are, I got carried away I suppose being old school, growing up at a time when we were taught over here that Great Britain was the envy of Europe. A beacon of Democracy that sadly now finds you jailed if you call a cross-dresser a man.
An ideology put forth by the Universities that multiculturalism makes a country better when recorded history says otherwise.

However in all fairness, America has been dead and buried since the early 1980's. That so called American dream is only while you sleep.
We now have as many bums and low-lives as we do solicitors/lawyers.

 

[bugsymike]

Quite right you are, I got carried away I suppose being old school, growing up at a time when we were taught over here that Great Britain was the envy of Europe. A beacon of Democracy that sadly now finds you jailed if you call a cross-dresser a man.
An ideology put forth by the Universities that multiculturalism makes a country better when recorded history says otherwise.

However in all fairness, America has been dead and buried since the early 1980's. That so called American dream is only while you sleep.
We now have as many bums and low-lives as we do solicitors/lawyers.

Things have certainly changed over the years and us older folk find it hard to accept.
However we are here for our love of Fiats.

 

[spidermania]

However we are here for our love of Fiats.

Enjoy it while you can as they say, combustible will be outlawed in 2030. Not here of course, we got guns.

 

[the hobbler]

Enjoy it while you can as they say, combustible will be outlawed in 2030. Not here of course, we got guns.

Let's get back to, and enjoy TOGETHER, our common interest---the Cinquecento----where about "out west" do you live Spidermania?