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Tire questions - Turbosteel vs. XAS

To: Healeys@autox.team.net
Subject: Tire questions - Turbosteel vs. XAS
From: Andrew K <andyslistmail@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 25 Jan 2006 12:26:15 -0700
Hello all!

I have spent more than a few days reading though all the posts from  
the last few years related to tires for the Healey! Fascinating  
stuff, but I am still left with the need to post a question related  
to my own need, so any help would be appreciated:

I have a nice BJ7 which I love, and would like to upgrade my tires to  
perform as well as possible, while staying as close to original size  
as possible and preserving the vintage look. (I don't believe in wide  
tires for various reasons concerning my personal aesthetic and ease  
of in-town driving and parking) So I have narrowed the search to the  
Avon Turbosteel or the Michelin XAS. My questions concern tire  
performance as much as size!

Can anyone shed some light on these two tires when used for spirited  
winding road driving? Grip? Breaks free progressively or all at once?  
Side-wall flex during cornering? Rain performance? Etc?

Also, there are two size possibilities for each, which I will compare  
to the original-size Dunlop 5.90 tire below:

5.90H15 Dunlop RS5              660 diam.       163 width
165HR15 Michelin XAS          646 diam.       167 width
165HR15 Avon Turbosteel     655 diam.       160 width
180HR15 Michelin XAS          680 diam.       175 width
185VR15 Avon Turbosteel     676 diam.       182 width

These are the ones I am considering, and any info from those who are  
familiar with these tires would be gratefully appreciated, as neither  
of them is cheap, I wish to make the best choice I can for my needs.

Thanks much!

-- Andrew

'63 BJ7




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