Is it just me or are others upset that short tires are no longer avaliable?

I like lowering my 1200's down so they look like belly sliders! Now there is only one manufacturer making 185/60 13 tires and they look like they are going away soon. It looks like I'm going to have to use 195/50 15's to ensure that I'll be able to puchase tires in the future without having to change my suspension. With the 23.5" tall tires one can hardly lower the car at all without having the front fenders get intimate with the tires in hard turns.

I long for the 20.5" tall tires... Or if you wanted to really get crazy Pirelli offered the P7 in a 175/50 13 that was barely 19" tall.

Gary

yes gary i too feel your pain. i have been looking for low profile 13inch tyres for a while and the best bet is what you call the 19inch variety, or the 50 series. they would set your gearing and speedo out by heaps but they are freely available due to the use on mini minors all the way up until 2002 in the uk.
falken and someone else also make them, the only thing stopping me is the $$$. they aint cheap.

I doubt mini tyres would be much good. Not sure what width were on the final ones but I doubt theyd be anywhere near wide enough. Try putting 100hp (or more :P)through 155's. Can you say wheel spin ;)

Dunno maybe the later ones had alot wider tyres but the tyres on my old 1275GT were only 145's. Even with around 85 flywheel hp it was impossible to get any traction

BF Goodridge still list a 215/50/13
check out www.tirerack.com for the autoritative source on tyre sizings. Its great browsing...

Seems like the only tires/rims for sale in the US are 17"-20"! I'll prob never find some cool 12" or 13" rims. Can you say "buggy whip"?.............found 145/12SR & 155/12SR...........good to know that my155/12 46T tires are good to 118MPH!!!

Hy , I also like the small 13 inch tires, they are good on Datsuns, the older 70's Datsuns, because the wheel well area and the vehicle size and profile is made for that kind of tire. I disagree with Bullit who says there is no traction with 13 inch tires. That is the prefered set up for competition with a small Datsun or small car, not a 145 tire, that will not work, but a 215/50/13 is an excelent tire, available today from Sumitomo and BF Goodrich in the US. In NZ, they have the Bridgestone "300", which is one I am buying for my cars,(working on transport) 235/50/13, excelent with a 13X9 or 13X10 wheel. Need overfender flares with this ones, but it is worth it. Also depends on the car, a 235 does not need overfender flares on a 610 if the wheel has the proper offset. The 215/50/13 do not need overfender flares in a 120Y, work "taylor made" inside the wheel tub in the rear, and need only a 1/2 to 3/4 inch front stock fender massage with a baseball bat to cover the tire. I was at Shasta Datsun Meet in Northern Cal a few weeks ago, and saw plenty of 510's with big wheels(looked like mosquitoes)17/18, etc, too big for the cars, even 240's and 280's, which can and do accomodate large diameter wheels because the car is made to fit those larger diameters(different case than 1200, 120y, etc small older japanese cars), and it was a 510 with 225/45/13 tires that took the best time in the slalom competition. There is still 13 inch tires, in US, Sumitomo and BF Goodrich both make 215/50/13 and 175/50/13. Racing tires have all the good sizes(245/45/13, 225/45/13, 235/50/13 etc), I wish they made those sizes for street cars. I am sure the small tires will come back, like music or other tastes, soon people will realize and go back to small diameters,you will see, time will tell.
Jaime.
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Im sorry you obviously mis-interprited my post.

I have no objection to 13" wheels, I agree with everyone else here that its the best size for 70s datsuns.

The reason I was meantioning traction was due to the width of them, I was meaning I doubt tyres that fit on a mini will be wide enough.

Sorry

Cheers
Paul

After crusing around on the tirerack web page and checking out the Sumitomo offerings I'm thinking that I might go with the 13's after all. Now to find the right rims...

Thanks for the input!

Gary

Dunlop still do a few useful size 13' tyres. They have a SP9000 195 45 13 which is popular on Minis and the like. I have Hankook Z2000s 185 60 13s on my coupe, they are a race tyre but come in at least 3 maybe 4 duros or hardnesses, and work well on the street.

i have a 120y with the 13" rims on it and is great but even better now that i know that i have the option for the lower profile thats great and i do agree with the 18" whells on the 70's cars way over kill