| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| greynivek |
Posted - 23 Apr 2018 : 22:06:23
I have a Series 5 Rapier on Minilites with 185/70x13 tyres fitted and it is very heavy in the steering (almost dangerous at times) it look's great on them, what have others fitted 165/70x13 or 175/70x13 would appreciate your thoughts. Also has anyone fitted electric power steering??? is that an option.?? Looking forward to your feedback. Kevin |
| 3 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| RapierPhil |
Posted - 29 Apr 2018 : 20:00:30
Hi There
I had a very similar dilemma on my Series 1V
When I purchased the car I found the steering very heavy,at the time I just thought this was a characteristic of the car. The Tyres on it looked in very good condition with little wear but had some sidewall cracking.
I decided to change the tyres 2 years ago. After much research and advice I settled for 165/80/R13 MAXXIS. These are mid price tyres but were not expensive at £400 all in for 5 tyres. One of the reasons I chose these are that they were available as thin wall whitewalls. These were an option on the car when new and set it off nicely. The same tyres are available cheaper without the whitewalls.
I can honestly say the new tyres transformed the handling and the steering is now a lot lighter, making the car much better to drive.
The tyre were a slightly different size from what was on but I am assured they are now correct for the car.
The tyre company also said the sidewalls of old tyres become harder with age and this also contributes to heavier steering so it could be the age of tyres fitted to your car that contributes to the heavy steering. I would avdise spending the extra few pounds on the whitewalls the car does look better.
Regards
Phil |
| bigt80 |
Posted - 24 Apr 2018 : 14:57:03
It should not be excessively heavy with a 185/70 13 on say a 5.5J rim. The 185/70 profile has v.similar rolling radius to the standard 165/80 on my H120 Fastback & so is a usually a good upgrade, but I guess on a Series V it would normally have 155/80 13's on a 4.5J rim. Still should not be that heavy except perhaps when parking: other than that steering should still feel quite normal. G
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| pruyter |
Posted - 24 Apr 2018 : 09:28:11
I have the same size of tyres on my Rapier series IV and no trouble at all with heaving steering, but.....when I collected the car from the garage which did some major work on it at the time I myself had no time to do the job I discovered some heavy steering which I did not experience before. I checked all that was possible and finally in the end I did what I should have started with which is checking the tyre pressure which was very low. After putting in 2.5 bar all was well again.
So my question is: did the heavy steering occurs suddenly or is it more a matter of gradually getting worse?
Regards,
Peter |
