Anyone use Retro tyres?

A few folks have. Citroen Classics seem to say these are not as good as a Michelin, but better than the other offerings, including Vredestein Sprint Classics. They even sell them on their site, and they tend to be picky about what they sell to be fair.

Nankang offered them out around 7 years ago under their own branding, and then created the 'retro' brand you see now.

Are they going to be as good as a fresh Michelin or Pirelli Cinturato? Probably not, as one user here would say. But it's going to have the look and be better than most things out there I'd imagine and for the cost too.

MyTyres used to sell them under the 'Retro Classic' banner, and when they were Nankangs, but that was some time ago. I suppose if there are Minimum Order Quantities etc. to be adhered to, so as to get the cost right, it may not have worked out for MyTyres to sell them.

TBH, I'm "normally" quite fussy on tyres but if it was a cheap and reasonable retro with some shot tyres on it, I'd give them a shot.

Here's the link if anyone is interetsed....

www.mytyres.co.uk/Vintage-tyres.html


Seem to do a few.

This is interesting.

I take the 'branded' tyres are made by a company either beginning with a V or an L? I was under the impression they were 'uprated' tyres since they used modern materials. I'm aware that just because both come out of the same factory, the tyres themselves may differ, working in manufacturing myself.

It's even more interesting about the Nankang aspect. According to Citroen Classics, they are both one of the same. They normally tend to get facts right, but I suppose they are probably buying their tyres via a third party, which may be where the confusion comes in, unless they and a few others have an agreement to buy them direct from Nankang.

I do know of the Nankang rep for the UK, so I may ask him the next time he pops to the local meet near me.

citroenclassics.wordpress.com/2014/06/25/new-budget-tyre-for-d-models/

shop.citroenclassics.co.uk/retro-tyre-18580r15-93h-1698-p.asp

It's interesting about the tyres however. I know of a few folks with quick Reliant SS1s, running reasonable power, courtesty of Nissan CA18DET lumps, which they compete with

One of them had Kumho V70As on there of either a medium or soft compound. A certain known retro tyre chap, apparently told him that his tyres were awful for track work, and he should instead get some Pirelli Cinturatoes. While I agree the Pirellis 'may' break away a little more progressively than the Kumhos, I'd had said the Kumhos myself were the winner for track work hands down, having tried a set on my M3, and compared them to other 'track tyres (Toyo R888s and Nankang NS-2Rs, and the Kumhos were the best out of those IMHO).

I mean, I doubt BMW would have fitted them onto the R56 GP1 cars if they thought they were awful, in track preparation spec.

Is it the whitewall bit you are struggling with?
You could probably get van tyres in that size for under 100 a corner. Our old Merc runs 215r14C, and a big Yank land yacht I could imagine weighs similar.
I can't remember what profile they are, maybe closer to 80 than 70.

Anything being sold as a repro of an older pattern like the Pirelli, they have the moulds and use the branding but are not Pirelli etc. You can buy NOS tyres from Vintage tyres quite readily but you need to accept the fact that they will be old.

Budget tyres in general are of such a superior quality now compared to 30 years ago its insane. The factories are so advanced it is a hard sell to push a Michelin over a European budget brand. Even the Chinese factories are pushing out some great tyres now. India are a very big player in recent years and are really pushing the sector.

Its quite difficult to now find a budget tyre that is dangerously poor quality.

I'd rather run a new budget tyre than an old "branded" tyre.

That position has changed markedly since I started driving, back then I would have said the opposite. I used to buy used branded tyres then. As Davey mentions, the quality seems to have changed a lot since then... But rubber still ages in sunlight...

I'm curious now as Michelin and Pirelli both seem to show classic tyres on their official websites so are you saying its not them making them?

Are they farming out the manufacturing work to someone else?

Or are there other companies making unofficial reproductions of old designs alongside the official efforts from the original brands?

This may indeed become a little boring, but it's always good to hear some perspective.

It would be interesting to hear what issues it would cause. I know the chap in question has said only the Michelins and Pirellis have a good carcass compared to the cheaper tyres, which flies in the face of what is said above. It wouldn't surprise me however if it was the case that things aren't as they seem.

I tried mid-range stuff on a load of cars in the past, when I did big miles (my dad and I used to do 10k a month, so alot of things became familiar), and bar a couple of tyres, I couldn't get on with them and sometimes even partially sold cars due to them, and even my sister, a non tyre-snob non-car person could tell the difference between Landsails and Goodyear F1 A3s, and berated my dad and I for sticking with the Landsails to 'wear' them out ; to her, it seemed mad to save a 'little' when you can make a car drive alot nicer with decent rubber, but I can hear the other side of the argument, at times.


That's not to say none have satisfied me (Kumho V70As were fantastic, and the Nexen NBlue, if the poor wear can be lived with on the latter).

But even the Premium stuff can come undone. the PS4Ss did on the M3, but that may partially have been down to me .