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Since I had the Seven I ran 195/50 front and 225/50 rear on my 15" road rims (I use 13" for the track). Lately these were Toyo T1R as a compromise between grip and service life. Somewhat O.K. and cheap but after 5 years they got a bit hard and mostly worn. Now I find 195s are a dying breed in the high performance range short of competition tires.
I finally decided to get the more common tire width of 205/50 for front and rear and opted for the Bridgestone RE11 with a tread wear of 180, which should allow me to wear them out before they become bricks but not before the end of the next blat.
Anyway, went to the tire shop and....had to drive back home with the front wings in the passenger seat. When I fabricated my new wings stays earlier this year I made sure to have room for the additional width and clear the tubes but I forgot that the 205/50 also have a few mm bigger diameter and a slightly different edge profile. Bummer.
So, I whipped out the welder again and spent another few happy hours over the weekend cutting and extending the wing stay tubes to make it all fit. Works now but it pissed me off and I believe I have the most rebuilt/patched/welded front wing stays in the entire world.
Also, beside 3 pounds more weight, the new 205's look more bulky and massive. Don't really like that and maybe should have better gone down to 185 width (not sure if they are more available, though).
Oh well.
I finally decided to get the more common tire width of 205/50 for front and rear and opted for the Bridgestone RE11 with a tread wear of 180, which should allow me to wear them out before they become bricks but not before the end of the next blat.
Anyway, went to the tire shop and....had to drive back home with the front wings in the passenger seat. When I fabricated my new wings stays earlier this year I made sure to have room for the additional width and clear the tubes but I forgot that the 205/50 also have a few mm bigger diameter and a slightly different edge profile. Bummer.
So, I whipped out the welder again and spent another few happy hours over the weekend cutting and extending the wing stay tubes to make it all fit. Works now but it pissed me off and I believe I have the most rebuilt/patched/welded front wing stays in the entire world.
Also, beside 3 pounds more weight, the new 205's look more bulky and massive. Don't really like that and maybe should have better gone down to 185 width (not sure if they are more available, though).
Oh well.
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