Tamora rear tyres

Author
Discussion

mattgtd

Original Poster:

322 posts

144 months

Saturday 31st December 2016
quotequote all
Hi guys, I'm going to be replacing all 4 on the Tamora soon and have been looking at mpss as I keep reading great things about them.
The front 225 35 18 size is available all fine.
Problem is they don't do the standard 235 40 18 setup, however they do a 245 35 18 tyre.
Does anybody run this slightly wider rear setup on a tam or t350 and if so any good?
Also any reports on the mpss at all?


Cheers guys.

jev

386 posts

267 months

Saturday 31st December 2016
quotequote all
I ran 265/35 on the rear for a time. But that was on SP12s. Not sure if you will get a wider tyre on standard TVR spiders (assuming you have them) but someone more knowledgable will hopefully comment. The 265s give about the same rolling diameter.

When the time came for a change I went back to 'standard' 235/40 which I prefer. Personally I'm not convinced by wider tyres on the Tamora.


T40ORA

5,177 posts

226 months

Sunday 1st January 2017
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I have 255/40 on the rear. I've not tracked it with the new rubber (probably never will, as I'm making about 118dB), so I don't know what the effect of the bigger rubber has on traction, but the higher profile makes for a much nicer ride IMO.

They also fill the arches well, and still allow the ride height to be raised, making things a whole lot easier on the road.

crimpdoc

72 posts

234 months

Tuesday 3rd January 2017
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I've been doing the same research, just got the follow reply from Michelin

Thank you for contacting MICHELIN customer services.

The MICHELIN Pilot Super Sport is indeed still in production in the size 255/35 R18, but not in Europe. So if you would like to have these tyres they need to be imported. I think it's a better option for you to purchase our MICHELIN Pilot Sport 4. This is one of the successors of the MICHELIN Pilot Super Sport and it's also designed for high performance vehicles and a sportive driving style.

Find more information about this product: MICHELIN Pilot Sport 4

For more information on prices and availability, please don't hesitate to contact a dealer in your neighbourhood: Dealer locator


MICHELIN is happy to accompany you on every journey and would like to thank you for your confidence.

Your Michelin adviser, Johannes

mk1fan

10,651 posts

232 months

Tuesday 3rd January 2017
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I run 225/40/18 alround on the Tamora with the 18-inch Spiders. Uniroyal Rainsport 3. Tracked it with these and it was great. Haven't found it lacking in grip at all even with my poor driving technique. The general response when I first suggested using the same size all round was that the car would be undriveable and wouldn't make out of the end of the street.

The Tamora is currently wearing 205/50/16 Nankang NS-2R trackday tyres as the Rainsports were not holding up well to prolonged track time. Again, no issues with lack of grip.

The Tamora was first offered with 16-inch wheels only. These came with 225/50/16 tyres all round. The Sag comes with 255 wide tyres all round. Why does the Tamora (or T350 for that matter) have different sizes front to rear? Well one person suggested that TVR would have liked to have fitted 235 wide all round but they wouldn't fit up front so a smaller tyre was used. To me this is the most likely reason.

You may have some rubbing issues up front with 225/40/18. Mine caught one of the access covers which had been poorly fitted. It was also very low on the coil overs. After getting the tracking and suspension done by MSmith - which involved raising the height - and properly fitting the access cover the rubbing was sorted.

Unless you've got a Powers 4.5, or FFF2 fitted to increase the power output then I think 225/40/18 of a decent tyre is plenty Tyre for the Tamora.

T40ORA

5,177 posts

226 months

Wednesday 4th January 2017
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T40ORA said:
I have 255/40 on the rear. I've not tracked it with the new rubber (probably never will, as I'm making about 118dB), so I don't know what the effect of the bigger rubber has on traction, but the higher profile makes for a much nicer ride IMO.

They also fill the arches well, and still allow the ride height to be raised, making things a whole lot easier on the road.
PS I use AD08s. Love them.


beemercaf

48 posts

172 months

Thursday 5th January 2017
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Hi there,

I got my Tam 2 years ago with different rims and tyre sizes: SP 12 rims with 33 mm offset on the rear and Toyo R1R tyres 255-35/18 (great tyre!). Even after hightening the chassis these wheels rubbed a lot at the wheel arches. As I wanted 17'' wheels for some reason, I took SP12 rims in 17'' and an offset of 35 mm rear with Dunlop Sport Maxx RT in 245-45/17. Result: No rubbing any more. The problem with tyres today is, that you hardly will find any with a load index as low as 90 or even beneath if the required speed index is Y or Z. This might not be a problem in UK as there you also can go legally with speed index W indicated tyres on a Tamora. Not so over here. I picked the Dunlops (SI Y, LI 95) because I found no other which rubber is that soft and I think this works well for grip reasons. Most of the modern tyres in my oppinion are far too stiff for a light vehicle as a TVR. First of all this was the reason for me to change to 17'' wheels as there is more rubber and more compressed air between the (bumpy) road and the rim to eliminate a part of the shocks. Outcome is a smoother ride on poor roads without loosing the handling skills. So if you ask me, 245/35-18 should be fine on the rear of your car on standard spider rims with an offset of 33 mm. They are 2 mm wider each side as on my Tam which should not be a problem at all.

btw: I damaged one of the rear wheels last year. So I needed a new rim and new tyres on the rear. In the tyre dealers workshop I realized that the rear tyres only had less than 50 % of their original profile over. This after half a year of running and just some 4000 km of pure road use. I guess I picked some soft ones and despite of the wear I am more than happy with them.

Edited by beemercaf on Thursday 5th January 12:04


Edited by beemercaf on Thursday 5th January 12:17

mk1fan

10,651 posts

232 months

Thursday 5th January 2017
quotequote all
You should try the ride and handling on 16's wink

beemercaf

48 posts

172 months

Thursday 5th January 2017
quotequote all
...no matching tyres available over here for 16'' rims and with the right speedindex.
I thought about this option before purchasing the 17'' ones.

Edited by beemercaf on Thursday 5th January 15:50

BuzzBillsberry

1,306 posts

238 months

Wednesday 18th January 2017
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I run 265/35/18 R1R on the Tam rears which are a good tyre, yes I have modified the rear arches and only get a slight rub occasionally this is due to the track day tyre having a squared off shoulder unlike the standard road tyre which when used on the same size tyre I get no rubbing what so ever...


Buzz

Top Gear TVR

2,247 posts

161 months

Sunday 6th February 2022
quotequote all
beemercaf said:
...no matching tyres available over here for 16'' rims and with the right speedindex.
I thought about this option before purchasing the 17'' ones.

Edited by beemercaf on Thursday 5th January 15:50
What wheels, tyres and off sets are you using on 17”?

SonicHedgeHog

2,564 posts

189 months

Monday 7th February 2022
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Any pictures of the car on 17s? I’m running 255s on the rear (I think 35 profile) but would love the excuse the get some new alloys with more rubber. I’ve been drooling over some gold OZs for some time - reckon they’ll look perfect against chameleon green.

TA14

12,746 posts

265 months

Wednesday 9th February 2022
quotequote all
Top Gear TVR said:
beemercaf said:
...no matching tyres available over here for 16'' rims and with the right speedindex.
I thought about this option before purchasing the 17'' ones.

Edited by beemercaf on Thursday 5th January 15:50
What wheels, tyres and off sets are you using on 17”?
You may be interested to note the date and subject matter of his last post: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...