Tuning Another Tire question

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Tuning Another Tire question

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Apr 13, 2021
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Location
Ontario, Canada
Hey folks,
I know tire questions have been ran thru the ringer here many times. But with the availability of Michelin and Pirelli recreating the vintage type tires. I though i would bounce a few ideals off of ya folks.

So at first i was set on getting the vulcanized whitewalls for my 500, but due to the limited availability here in North America (future proofing if i need a single replacement), as well as the outlandish price anywhere in the world, for now i have settled on getting a standard set and slapping on those whitewall "addons". I do plan to drive this car spiritedly and will be putting some miles and fun on the tires.

So Michelin and Pirelli have recently released their vintage tires. Michelin with their XZX and Pirelli with their CN54's.

In the US, I have found the Michelin in a slightly wider 145/70/12 series, and the Pirelli's come in the factory 125/70/12.

I would prefer to lean towards the 145's as i will be adding more power to the car now, and alot more in the future. But concerned there might be fitment issues with the slight lowering of the car that i plan to do. I have a brand new set of original style rims on their way.

Thru out my travels i also picked up a set of 3 CMR rims that i will keep if i ever find a 4th if i travel to europe. And as a avid car guy, you can never have too many special rims :D
The car right now has a set of the Original first generation 500 rims, i believe they are for the original D/N model?. And from what i hear as far as their rarity, i would prefer not to use them, a fresh set would just be easier right now then restoring these rims.



Just looking to see if folks have any insight, i would like to go towards the Michelin 145's if they wont have any rubbing issues with factory rims, but just the spirit of Pirelli's belonging on an Italian car is somewhat convincing. lol
Anyone running any of the 145's now?
 
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Hey folks,
.................................................
Thru out my travels i also picked up a set of 3 CMR rims that i will keep if i ever find a 4th if i travel to europe. And as a avid car guy, you can never have too many special rims :D
....................................................

agree you can nver have too many rims...
which CMRs do you have... have a very early set of 5@4" which my Italian friends keep trying to buy off me and a later set of 4@ 4 1/5 "

I also have a set of Cosmic wheels but they are 98PCD

Fat Tyres don't interest me.. I have an Original set of Michelins (Yes Original and really not advisable to be used on the road and would love to find a set of cross plys)
I don't think will ever have an engine powerful enough to make tyre size important...


I am sure people run 145s without a problem....

If you can't upload a pic of your rims pm me and you can email me...

Ohh the ultimate has to be a set of Borani wires!!
 
agree you can nver have too many rims...
which CMRs do you have... have a very early set of 5@4" which my Italian friends keep trying to buy off me and a later set of 4@ 4 1/5 "

I also have a set of Cosmic wheels but they are 98PCD

Fat Tyres don't interest me.. I have an Original set of Michelins (Yes Original and really not advisable to be used on the road and would love to find a set of cross plys)
I don't think will ever have an engine powerful enough to make tyre size important...


I am sure people run 145s without a problem....

If you can't upload a pic of your rims pm me and you can email me...

Ohh the ultimate has to be a set of Borani wires!!

One of my "local" parts contact had these in his shop, i thought i would grab the set, 2021 has been the year of fiat part hunting and it wasnt going to hurt to keep them on the back shelf.

They are a older style 4.00x12. I see that CMR rims are available still nowadays, but the hole pattern is slightly different. I would like to make up a set of 4 one day and use these if i ever plan to take the car to a local autocross and not beat up my nice new "classic style" rims/tires.

Axel Gerstl has a really slick set of hubcap "wire basket look" inserts that i think look awesome on the 500 with stock style rims, there's this red 500 in Australia that keeps on popping up on Instagram and i think the car looks Fantastic with them. Hopefully the get back in stock soon. Im leaning towards the ideal that the stock 125's might look the best and be the best overall choice for now.

These CMR's have 145's on them now. But on a wider then stock rim if im not mistaken.
 

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One more tip. I have add on white walls with Michelin’s. I installed them the day I bought the new tires and with in a couple months the white walls discolored mainly at the edges. My theory is the brand new tires have chemicals that permeate the white wall. I have a replacement set I am about to replace the discolored ones . Been about a year and hope the new tires have aged enough to keep the knew ones bright white.

Would have loved to buy the tires with white walls but just can’t accept 300$ for a 12 inch tire. ! !!
 
4 x12, with a 190pcd wheel-bolt pattern were the size used on the Mk1 (594cc) '126' cars. If you are only lowering the car 'a bit', you should be able to use the '145' tyres, but they MAY catch on the inside of the wheelarch on full lock.
 
So a little update. Incase folks are not following my main build thread.

I ended up buying a bunch of the original Pirelli CN54’s. In 125 profile. I also bought some of the portawalls to add some style.

The crazy price to actually have “true” whitewalls in my hands in my country were insane. Last thing i need is a super proprietary tire that would be nearly impossible to quickly re-accquire incase i get a flat or blowout or such, to swap back the spare.

So far i think what i chose was the best bang for the buck setup. They are relatively quickly available in NA if stock is still in existence.


One more tip. I have add on white walls with Michelin’s. I installed them the day I bought the new tires and with in a couple months the white walls discolored mainly at the edges. My theory is the brand new tires have chemicals that permeate the white wall. I have a replacement set I am about to replace the discolored ones . Been about a year and hope the new tires have aged enough to keep the knew ones bright white.

Funny you mention that. Because i had the same issue.. I had stacked one tire just touching the other in such a way that a day or 2 passed and it left a yellowed Pirelli logo on it. I have spare inserts, but it sucks anyways.

Would have loved to buy the tires with white walls but just can’t accept 300$ for a 12 inch tire. ! !!
Same here, for me a single "white wall" was going to cost me about 600$ cad after exchange and shipping.. No way in hell i was going to let a 12" tire literally be one of the most expensive tires in my fleet.
Ive purchased premium Pirelli P-zeros, Michelin PS2's for the benz, or even 37" Toyo MT's tires for my H1, and they were no were near that expensive.. A single darn tire for the hummer has more rubber then all the 500 tires combined.
 

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