New Rims

[wattiefan]

I recently purchased a set of 4 rims for my gt. They are not stock gt rims but the cross style rims that you pop in the center cap. I think for a manta or kadett. My gt has 14 inch VW rims on it right now so i know that the 13 inch rims will work. For all you people that have 13 inch rims what brand of tires do you use? Is there a better brand lets say for colder months versus warmer months?Or is there a year round all types of driving tire i should go with? I plan on driving my gt year round if the weather conditions are good Thanx for you suggestions.
Nick

[wrench459]

The tread depth is very important.
All weather tires need to pump out water.
Now for great handling you'll want the most meat on the road.
Theres a trade off involved here and I don't care whos name is on the tire!!!

[Yekim]

Hey what is the bolt pattern and offset for a GT? I was looking for a new set of rims myself?

[Gordy]

I was just at Sears and bought a set of P175R 70x13 Contiental made tires for my 1975 Manta. My car will not be driven in the rain and will definately never see the snow so I was looking mainly for handling (a soft tire). I didn't care about long life (a hard tire) because they will dry rot before the thread ever even begins to wear. They were showing me a BF Goodrich tire which was a MS (mud and snow tire rating) which also tends to be a softer tire for good gripping qualities.
On my GT I was looking for raised white letter 13 inchers which are hard to find. I bought Coopers for that and they look great and seem to perform pretty well. They had to be ordered and took a bit to come in.

[Gordy]

One other thing you might consider being up north where the snow really flies is (especially if your rims are in nice shape or you plan to paint them and want them to stay nice) is use the good rims with handling and rain type tires and have a set of old stock GT rims (found anywhere and cheap) with actual snow tires mounted on them and switch off tires and rims in the winter. The snow and salt will kill your nice rims.
I had my days of driving my GT in the snow years ago and you need every advantage you can get!

[manta a]

I'm with Gordy. All-season tires stay more flexible than summer-only performance tires, but aren't ideal for the lowest temps and snow that you have in MN. New winter tire technology is amazing.

About size, I recently called Tire Rack about correct sizes. I'm looking for a set of ATS rims for my Manta, and was considering 13 x 7. Tire rack said there are no longer any 13" sizes made that would fit and be close to the correct height. I think he said that Hoosier made a race tire that would fit, but it would last at most 1000 miles, be unusable in rain, and make the speedo absurdly inaccurate.

I also wanted to confirm what is the best size to replace the original 165-13 tire with. The 165-13 is no longer available. I was told they recommend 185/70 13, and they also suggested that I stick to a 6" rim.

[opelbits]

For stock Opel wheels, use the 185/70/13 All season Kumhos from Tirerack. Right about $45 a tire. I have a set and they work very well. I haven't driven on them in the winter yet, going by the survey results, I have never been disappointed with the Kumhos performance.

[Bill Hoffmann]

I also wanted to confirm what is the best size to replace the original 165-13 tire with. The 165-13 is no longer available. I was told they recommend 185/70 13, and they also suggested that I stick to a 6" rim.

Maybe they don't sell a P165/80R13 but I don't think we're quite to the point that no tire is made in this size anymore. The replacement size they recommended, P185/70R13 is closest to the correct diameter and will work O.K. on a 5" rim.

Bill