I thought I would pass on my recent experience with choice of tyres for our 1979 Lancia Beta Coupe 2 Litre, WITHOUT power steering.
After all the brake system overhaul work, I noticed the rear tyres were 24 year old Pirelli P4000 tyres (175/65 R14) which were getting down right dangerous due to age, hardening of rubber and lack of grip wise, although they had plenty of tread still.
Front tyres were 12 year old Pirelli P6 (175/65 R14) with only about 3,500 km use so tread was 90% of new.
Rear tyres were removed and one used to replace the 47 year old Australian dealer delivery ORIGINAL Australian made "Kelly" brand tyre which was probably never put on the road! Australian delivered Betas had local tyres fitted to reduce duty on the imported vehicle which was rated according to % of local content, (hence local tyres, battery and air con systems etc fitted to raise local content and reduce import duty). So spare tyre is now half its age!
Front P6 tyres moved to rear to halve rear tyre age!
New Michelin Energy XM2+ 175/65 R14 tyres fitted to front. They have transformed steering at low speeds. Car is so much lighter and more pleasant to drive now, steering wise than previous Pirelli P6 tyres even though they still had 90% of original tread. The difference is much greater in terms of lightening the steering than what was achieved by replacing worn front strut pivot bearings.
I know new tyres always lighten the steering but this transformation was FAR greater than I had expected. The local Australian Lancia Register President mentioned to me that another Beta owner had passed on to him the remarkable steering lightening benefits of a modern quality low rolling resistance silica compound tyre fitted to the front wheels, (and to avoid 185 width tyres if heavy steering is an issue), which transformed the steering lightness and driveability of his non-PAS Beta.
Michelin 175/65 R14 Energy XM2+ low rolling resistance tyres get my highest recommendation for Lancia Beta cars without power steering front tyres. They transform steering at low speeds, on non-PAS cars, give excellent tread wear as well as excellent grip and wet weather braking performance for a low rolling resistance tyre. I think Michelin are a world leader when it comes to silica compound low rolling resistance tyres. My driving enjoyment has improved immensely as a result of this tyre fitment.
I have fitted Michelin XM2 Plus tyres to my old Mazda 626 car for many years because of their all round performance but as that car has power steering fitted, I had no idea just how effective they could be at lightening the steering at low driving speeds.
Andrew
