and then of course, the HWY Patrol stopped writing tickets until they got better tyres than the Goodyear G800's(?)...interesting times.

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"Show me the Mini!"

But..and its a big but, thank goodness for the tyre development that pulled us out of the 1970s....although, Michelin XZX, XAS were good but hard and long wearing

[ummmm XAS could bemade to aquaplane if you tried hard enough ]

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"Show me the Mini!"

I had XAs FFs on the Fiat, they were the duck's guts whilst available.

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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.

OK picked up the last one that Central Tyre Service had in Fushwuck...3 on order form Albury/Wodonga

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"Show me the Mini!"

The best 10" tyres back in the 1970's were Pirellis - they hung on well and had a predictable break away.

Aquajets had a predictible breakaway.

Hmm! It would appear that others on this forum remember the 70's
I remember fondly, or not, different types of tyres on my Cooper S, which as a 19 year old was driven like it was meant to be.
Avon - recommended as great - what a waste of money - handled like a wet fish and only lasted about 5k miles
Aquajet - supposed to be great - well the adds said they were - handled OK for a few days nd the cr*p and lasted 3k miles, and they were not cheap.
Uniroyals - Basically OK and lasted about 10k miles
Michelin XAS - After the Aquajest I thought they were Great and lasted for about 25k miles.
Dunlop Le Mans - Not too bad and looked good.
Falken - What can I say - last reasonabley well but handling is basic, especially around Wakefield Park.

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1969 Cooper "S"
1967 Mini Deluxe
1973 Clubman Van (the fleet spare)
1978 ex 1275 LS ("Wizard" Eaton Supercharged)
2015 HSV GenF GTS(occasional drive & tow car)
2019 MINI F55 Cooper S

My Cooper S came with "John Bull" tyres when I got it in 1981.

thanks for all the pointers. I have found 5 - scattered across NSW - now I just to work out how to get them to Canberra.

With reference to the comments on Aquajets.. Having used more than a few sets (on BMWs as well as Minis) I will venture an opinion. You have to remember what they were - and that's very much a specialist wet tyre. Pushed hard on dry (hot) bitumen they gave up very quickly. On wet English B roads they were something else again. Even then I found that once they had worn half way through the little tubes at the edge of the tread they were pretty well had it.

The last set I used was in the US a couple of years ago. I don't know what their relationship was to the originals as they were touted as Dunlop "re-issues". I'm pretty sure the originals were 145s whereas the new ones are 165s.

One point I would make is that they were much more sensitive to pressure than anything else I've tried. Get them right and they're not too bad at all.

Maybe they're not the best choice for autocross but for a 10 hour trip from Virginia to Canada and back they're certainly quite serviceable.

Cheers, Ian

From what I recall, the problem with Aquajets was more one of production quality, rather than questions of wear or grip.

Having done daily trips from Adelaide to Woodside up & down the original Mount Barker Road (for those who remember it) for six months, the Aquajets I had on my Mark 1 S did a pretty good job, once you got them balanced right, and as Ian says, the pressures correct.

And for the record, my best return time from Woodside barracks to the Toll Gate was just under 20 minutes, early on a cold Sunday morning, no traffic, cops or radar. Those were the days...............

Yes...no trouble to predict that they would break away

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"Show me the Mini!"

Hey guys,

Have read this thread with interest as today I got quoted $120 ea for 165/60/12 Falkens from Tyrepower. After reading the thread I am interested to know which is better value for money out of the Falkens, Yoko's, Dunlop???

Anyone wanna share any wisdom??

you should look at the tyre sticky....

Falkens and Dunlops are about the same price, Dunlops are f*cking sticky and awesome on the road, but don't last long so are best suited to a weekend warrior, or someone like me who doesn't mind forking out for tyres cos they race it as well as use it as a daily driver. Falkens are generally said to be crap on the road, but last well

Yokos are like Dunlops, but expensive

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?

How long is not long for the Dunlops? I only drive my mini short distances such as 10kms at a time a few days a week.

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8000k's has been quoted - I'm about 1200k's into my first set, and there is noticable wear on the fronts (which reminds me, I'd better swap them around)

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?