Tires for 13" wheels

Are there any tires for 13" wheels that aren't either DOT rated slicks or standard all-seasons?

Sumitomo makes some decent tires for 13"

EvanB wrote: Sumitomo makes tires for 13"

Fixed. They are round. They hold air. Calling them 'decent' is a bit of a stretch...

Ok, they aren't the best. Although IMO opinion they are better than Falken 912s that I have also used in that price range.

It getting to be a bigger problem. I'm thinking of upgrading to 15" wheels for my TR8 due to the problem of tires. My brother uses Hoosier race tires on his Lotus Europa on the street, but with a 1600 lb car he can pull it off a little easier.

TR8owner wrote: It getting to be a bigger problem. I'm thinking of upgrading to 15" wheels for my TR8 due to the problem of tires. My brother uses Hoosier race tires on his Lotus Europa on the street, but with a 1600 lb car he can pull it off a little easier.

Dunlop sells the Star Spec in a 185/60-14 size that is roughly the same as the 175/70-13 commonly used on Spitfires and TR7/8's. I just wish 14" 4x3.75 Panasports weren't so damn expensive.

I wish a company like Coker would fill this market. I would gladly pay $100+ each for a good, grippy proper 13" Summer tire for a car that only sees a 1000 miles or so a year.

I love my Sumitomo HTR 200s.

fast_eddie_72 wrote: I love my Sumitomo HTR 200s.

QFT.....

I have them on my Prelude (195/60-14) and are fine for enthusiastic street driving - just run higher pressures.

Sumi's aren't the best "performance" tires, but what the heck are people using for a comparison when they claim the tires are the sux?

I've beaten the Sumitomo "bang for the buck" drum for years. I agree they aren't the best at any catagory, but they're good. I used the HTR-Z for dozens of autox and several HPDE events. Sure, if you're in a very high HPDE run group, they're probably not good enough. But if you're in a lower group, or just want to have fun at autox, they're pretty darn good. They wore pretty well too. They weren't the best in the rain, but they were OK.

The Nissan takes 13's. I'm lucky in that there's a good place nearby that didn't laugh when I had to get a new one. I'm blank on the brand tho.

Yoko A539 175/50/13

ahutson03 wrote: Yoko A539 175/50/13

Non DOT. Not sure why though.

I'm sorry guys, I hated the HTR 200 with a passion... but I'm comparing them to current top level ST tires and I had them on a Spitfire that I was autocrossing. Pumped up to max pressure... it didn't matter. There was very little grip and what was there was unpredictable.

You could give them to me for free and I won't use them again...

I don't care about a DD-quality tire. That's not what the car is used for. These are our fair-weather fun cars. The tires will age-out long before they reach the wear bars.

because theyre not imported by Yoko, the supplier gets them from overseas... I've never had DOT tires on my Mini just because I am pretty limited on tire size with the 12's I have, but I always manage to get good tires whether Falkens or Yokos, and i've never had a problem with state safety inspections without the DOT approval.

Ian F wrote: I'm sorry guys, I hated the HTR 200 with a passion... but I'm comparing them to current top level ST tires and I had them on a Spitfire that I was autocrossing. Pumped up to max pressure... it didn't matter. There was very little grip and what was there was unpredictable. You could give them to me for free and I won't use them again... I don't care about a DD-quality tire. That's not what the car is used for. These are our fair-weather fun cars. The tires will age-out long before they reach the wear bars.

Your opinions are valid, but seem at odds with the OP's question. Perhaps both of you could have offered more specifics with your posts?

I thought my 2nd post was pretty specific? I want a Star-Spec quality tire in a 13" size.

It all depends on your expectations, but i REALLY like HTR200s as well. I had a set when i first started autocrossing bakc in like 02 or 03, and for what its worth those were the tires that carried me to my minor celebrity status racing a dodge dynasty. I think the highest i ever paxed was 13 out of ~60.

Anyway, i have some on my insight now. They are definitely a floppy tire, especially if you are getting a 65 or 70 series, but the lower profiles will become 'acceptable' if you air them up to 45 psi cold. They're rated for 52 max.

grip is pretty decent, wear is good, noise is great, rain traction is good. price is REAL good.

And i like them better than falken 912s too, have some of those as well.

I dunno. I autocross on R Comps in my MR2 and in the summer I run some pretty dang sticky BF Goodrich G-Force Sports. So I have some experience with good grip. The Sumitomos aren't as good as the G-Force by a noticeable margin, but they're not at all bad. And for $50 each they're amazing. I used to take the Capri out to the mountain roads here in Colorado and have a good old time on the Sumitomos. I ran the pressure up at, oh, 38 maybe?

I guess it's somewhat subjective. When I bought a full set of tires for $200 maybe my expectations were low so they seemed really good to me. But I'm really happy with them.

I'm with Eddie that HTR's are decent tires, especially for the money. If you need something stickier, there are full treaded DOT R compounds.

That being said, the A539's are really really awesome tires... really wish they were more readily available.

GRM did a bargain tires a few years ago and the HTR 200 did quite well. I think it may have one the competition.

I'm confused as crap. What exactly are you looking for? Slicks? Hoosier makes them in a bunch of flavors.

poopshovel wrote: I'm confused as crap. What exactly are you looking for? Slicks? Hoosier makes them in a bunch of flavors.

Something that isn't slicks.

Ian F wrote:

EvanB wrote: Sumitomo makes tires for 13"

Fixed. They are round. They hold air. Calling them 'decent' is a bit of a stretch...

That's a class of tire I refer to as "black and round".

For 13 inch street tires that are not of the all season variety, Sumitomo HTR 200s really are pretty much your only choice. IMO, they could be much worse (I've had several sets on several different cars) especially when the price is taken into consideration.

IMO, they could be much worse

but they'd have to be a LOT worse to be as bad as 90% of all other 13" street tires, which utterly fail. Htr200s only fail when compared to actual performance tires.