Lancia Beta Forum

lookin for decent tyres to fit on standard 14 inch wheels found some that have good reviews but are 195  45  14  is 45 side profile ok ???

far too low in my opinion the largest acceptable tyre on standard rim would be 195 60 14

thanks for your reply have just got my 79 coupe in the last two weeks in beautiful condition ready for shows. tyres are in good condition and look ok for shows as they are standard issue 175/70/14 look a bit old style tread pattern /winter type tyres. Thinking of keeping these for shows and maybe getting another set of wheels with more sporty or performance tyres as suggested 195/ 60/14 or 185/65 /14  want something that looks well on the car but overall performance and handling most important. Last had a coupe mid eighties good fun to drive but was a bit of a wreck & not good for my young family kids now grown & am lookin forward to driving the coupe again .Would appreciate any feedback on tyres. :)

I had 195 and 185's on my Beta Coupe 2000 without power steering - frankly it made the car a pig to drive.

The purist coming out in me now and its just an opinion!

The Beta wasn't really designed for big ol' wheels and tyres like more modern cars, the handling was based on narrower tyres being used.  Now later on in life when we decide that we want to be a little bit different and personalise our cars a bit, which I have no issue with if thats what you want to do, we throw bigger rims and tyres on and then wonder why A) its hard to move the steering wheel at low speeds and B) the car does not handle like it used to.

When I first bought my car it had 205's on it, they came off immediately because of the poor handling, I have thrown good money away going down to 195, then 185 and now I'm back to standard 175's.

I'm not saying don't do it - I'm just saying that you should prepare yourself for other things to change than "just the aesthetics" if you put on different sized wheels or tyres

thanks for the advice understand and makes sense but am i right in saying handling only affected at lower speeds ie heavier to steer park etc may well stick to standards if i go any wider 185s would be the wisest max. However would still appreciate bit of expierienced feedback on standard or wider tyres as a lot of the reviews online seem conflicting can only assume done on some sort of sales pitch would appreciate a few unbiased opinions :)

Toyo CF1 in 185/65 14 seem to work pretty well on mine, handling is fine. But Matt is right  - if I drove it all the time (or indeed at all just at the moment !) I'd be a champion arm wrestler!

with power steering up to 195 is fine however a 195 width is better on a wider rim, for instance a 7x15 wheel makes more sense the standard wheels are only just wide enough for a 195 and with a wider rim you'll get better steering resonse as well. The others are right about design of the Beta it was designed when 70 was 'low profile' and the powersteered cars ran on 185/65x14 anything below a 50 profile will be just too stiff  in my opinion and will be unpleasant anything bigger than 195 on 15 inch rims will probably cause clearance problems indeed even that may do on a spider (which exact model do you have?)

thanks my coupe is early registered 1979   2litre

assuming it is RHD so doesn't have PAS the 175 standard tyre is as good as anything steering at parking speed will be unpleasant with fatter tyres, having said that it is worth having the struts off and regreasing the strut top bearings as that helps keep steering as light as possible

thanks for advice and tip for regreasing strut top bearing

Mark,

I guess a lot depends on how frequently you use the car.  With wider tyres on a daily driver I reckon you'd soon get fed up with the heavy steering at low speed - but if the car is "high days and holidays" then maybe your willing to live with it.  All down to a personal preference as to what is acceptable.

I'm using 185/65/14's as my road and track tyres, seem to be the best compromise but then again i've got power steering anyway! Greasing the strut top bearing is always a good tip.

thanks matt will probably as you say weekends summer only and very rarely in week but usually working.steering aside want to drive this car and thought bit more rubber on road  would be safer cornering think will try 185s at the risk of told you so.    not 100% sure yet will check out some more reviews on 175s the tyre tech is more advanced  today .

Mark, not sure where your located but if you ever want to try a Coupe running modern 175's then your more than welcome to have a shot in my car.

I've never felt that the 175's have been lacking in any way, even when I've done an emergency stop!

Worth noting that you can get some decent tyres in 175/65/14 the rolling radius is about 2% smaller but the selction is better than in 175/70/14

Just to put it into perspective my 1300 Coupe handles fine on it's standard 155's - v skinny by modern standards! I'd agree with all the advice above not to go too wide/low.

I think the exaggeration on Beta speedos is already bad enough!!