Tire size

Maintenance advice to keep your Spider in shape.
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punes

Tire size

Post by punes »

I have a 79 Fiat Spider with 14" Cromodora aluminumn rims. I bought the car with
195/60/14 tires. The front drivers side rubbed the plastic wheel well when
turning sharply in reverse... not a huge deal

Now I replaced the rears with 2 new tires in the fall and now will replace the
old front tires which are Fulda Assuro Carat unidirectional tires.

My issue is that on some highways with the asphalt grooved from tractor
trailers, the car pulls severely to one side or the other...there is no way I
can keep it steady in the middle of the lane. Also it is kind of hard to steer
at slow speeds

My question is should the tires be narrower to eliminate the rubbing, ease of
turning, and the highway grooved pavement, handling issue. Lastly could I put
a narrower but same height size tire on the front.
azygoustoyou

Re: Tire size

Post by azygoustoyou »

I had a corvette that did the same. The tires were wide. But after i put new tires on it. It handled very well over the uneven roads. I don't know about the sizes you have for your Fiat.
User avatar
ga.spyder
Posts: 3478
Joined: Tue Nov 06, 2007 7:19 pm
Your car is a: 1982 Spider 2000
Location: Blairsville ,Ga.

Re: Tire size

Post by ga.spyder »

I think wider tires do make it a little squirelly on uneven surfaces.I have 205/50-15 on mine,have never had any tire rub.After doing a recent front end rebuild,the 'bumpsteer' has almost completely disappeared.Definitely a heavy wheel at low speeds ,but the grip going through high speed maneuvers more than compensates.It is tough to break those larger tires loose! :D
Craig
Craig Nelson

1982 Spider 2000...pride and joy
1981 Fiat X1/9..gone but not forgotten
1976 124 Spider..the self-healer
2001 BMW 328ci daily driver and track car
Fling It Around Turns !
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