Hello,

Just been driving my mini in the rain today, and i am not feeling very confident at all (perhaps paranoia), it feels as if the car is not always steering exactly where i have the wheels pointing. Im not talking about hoon driving.

It's not as though i am sliding between lanes or anything, i just get the feeling occasionaly that im not 'all in control'. As i said, it could just be paranoia, but i am taking it very easy just in case.

I know there are threads on here about width of tyre and aquaplane etc, but i thought id ask for a direct response re my situation.

The tyre tread is fine, and all goes well in the dry.

Could these falkens be causing my insecurity? (the rims are 5 or 6 inch wide 10's)

Yep. Falkens bad news in the wet. I had them fitted to 5" Contessas on my S and found they aquaplaned in heavy rain. Couldn't get home soon enough......................

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1967 Cooper S - new front bearings to do.
1965 Cooper S shell - Slow progress. No time or money!
1966 Deluxe- next rustoration!
Mk 2 & XJ6 Jags. Less said the better.

Have you had a wheel allignment done recently? Made a good improvement on my other fwd car for wet weather driving.

i have them on a set of 6" and i hate driving in the wet, can get scary. I am in the process of getting quotes for A008's

Ryan

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Ryan Filippi
Minis In The Gong
[email protected]
www.minisinthegong.com.au

Falkens = Ok in the dry, cheap, last for ever.
Falkens in the wet = Disney on Ice with far more tragic results.

Falkens are beyound inadequate in the wet - they are dangerous if you are used to driving on modern tyres. There's no comparison to a decent soft compound tyre like the Yoko a008,

There's something in existence more tragic than Disney on Ice?

One prob with the 165/70-10 Falkens is their width, compared to a Yoko A008 or a Bridgestone SF226, they are WIDE.. = less pressure per square inch on the tyre footprint to squeegee water out.
I stopped using them when I got enough power in the 1310 that they broke loose in 1st and 2nd gear, in the dry!

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

I always laugh when I read these type of threads , a lot of those here who've been driving mini's for a while will agree with some of my comments too I'm sure . People don't realise just how good and competitively priced good tyres are now . I first started using Falkens around 1989 when they were a really good step up from the common wide tyre at the time (Bridgestone SF310 Turbo were all the numbers from memory?) , I bought a set of Contesta's from a mini hillclimber and it had two usable falkens on them so ran them with two new Bridgestones . With the Falkens on the back it understeered when pushed hard , with the Bridgestones on the back it oversteered when pushed hard . They were better in the wet than the Bridgestones as well . A008's were only just starting to be seen on some expensive mini's , were nearly twice the price of Falkens and other choices were very limited . Tyre technology is going ahead rapidly and what was good 10 or so years ago is superceded pretty quick , just ask someone who learnt to drive in a mini with crossplies or early radials compared to current tyres .

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In that case, what is a good wide 10" tyre, because i want to get rid of the falkens, but need something to cover 10x6

Ryan

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Ryan Filippi
Minis In The Gong
[email protected]
www.minisinthegong.com.au

Dunlop Formula R

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Definitely the Formula R (D93J).
FANTASTIC tyre, all types of weather.
And bloody awesomely priced (125 per corner)

I got under 10,000km from my last set, but this is the price you pay for sticky tyres


I'd even say that Kumho Powerstars are better than Falkens

I have Falkens on my mini and i find them acceptable actually. Nearly all of mini driving involves rural roads (sealed) and i must admit that I have other cars to take when its wet. Well I did take another car back in 2003 when it last rained.

Having said that I agree with Ian (sports850). I learned to drive on cars with crossplies and well remember hanging out the tail of my parents car with the tyres squealing madly at a relatively slow speed. The came the radials, the choice was either Michelins for long life or Pirellis for handling. The choice of radials rapidly expanded and it became a horses for courses scenario.

When I became involved with Appendix J (group N) it fascinated me that an average Appendix J car was several seconds faster around any circuit than the elite production cars of a decade and a bit earlier - Entirely due to tyre development.

I choose the Falkens because I am in the bush and the road surface although sealed, is a blue metal and bitumen compound. Its rather harsh on tyres and the soft compound super grippies would have a very short life.

The falkens arn't bad - they give plenty of warning when adhesion is getting low and they are fairly easily for our local tyre retailers to obtain. Most of the tyre retailers very much have a super cat or nothing mentality.

*looks at the piles of rubber out the front of brickworx*

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Is all of it willy's - is he that dangerous ????

Oh god..i hate Falkens!!

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