Last year I replaced my very old radials with a set of repro bias belt redlines...awful! I plan to go to Tirerack and get the wheel/tire combo (I'm a Torque Thrust wheel fan). The question is what tire to get. It is a driver so want a good tire and stock size (215/70-15).

Thanks for your help.

 

What year? White walls, raised letters, or blackwalls? I have Cooper Cobras raised white letter on my 68, 71, and 82 but 255/60 R15. Don't drive them much but happy with them.

 

Just put BF Goodrich T/A radials on my 72. 225/70-15 Love em.

 

Mine is a '68 all stock. Hopefully I can get them thru Tirerack and get the tire/wheel combo. I want a blackball which was stock for that year.

Thanks for your suggestions.

 

What's a tire/wheel combo?

 

If you’re a Torque Thrust fan consider 18x8” wheels. The TT’s look so classically classic, they look great on an all-stock street car. You get a very noticeable improvement in handling, but still enough rubber to have a nice ride quality. And, a much wider selection of available tires. Look thru the 18” only tire thread.
Charlie

 

Tire/wheel combo is available at Tirerack. You choose tires and wheels, and they mount and balance for free. Plus free shipping.

 

You can put up to 235 width tires on the front without a problem on early year C3's. The '68's came with 7" wide rims, I believe; so not sure I would go more than 225 width. If you want them the same all-around, my suggestion is 225R60-15's.

 

You would want 225/70R15. 60 series will be way too short with a 225 width.

 

Now is the time to consider 18" rims and tires! If you are not going to keep the OEM 15 in rims, without question, you should consider changing! if you want to retain the 15 inch rims and stock look, either the Cooper or BFG's offer similar attributes. I would go for the better price.

Contrary to the uninformed on tire technology, there is a HUGH difference in tires which are not just all black, round, and providing similar ride and handling.

Frankly, there are virtually no high performance tires available today for the OEM 15 inch rims. The Coopers and BFG Radial TA, for example, are, at best, mass market non performance tires, with raised white lettering for a "performance" look. The BFG tires are S rated (speed rating to 112 MPH) and the Cooper Cobras are slightly better with a T rating (118 MPH). You would be hard pressed to find any late model car delivered from the factory with S/T rated tires. The speed rating and Traction/Temp ratings indicate the strength of the tire carcass under duress, quality of the rubber for dry and wet traction, along with the temperature the tires will run at speed. All these factors effect the ride, dry/wet traction, steering response, and treadwear, which usually for our C3's, is not that relevant since the cars are not driven much. I could speak to tires alone for pages but will limit it to this summary unless interested to hear more information.

I switched to SLP 17 inch C4 ZR1 rims (no longer available) 20 years ago with ultra High Performance summer only tires 255/45/17 ( treadwear 300, Speed Rating W 168 mph), wet traction AA, temperature A-Pretty much the best ratings except Y rated tires are 186 MPH rated). The difference in IMPROVED ride, steering response, handling, and wet/Dry traction was stunning versus the old 15 inch BFG Radial TA's 255/60/15-Zero comparison-NONE!

 

225 -70 15