412 tyres

[Geoff Kingston]

Blockley Tyres do a 205/70VR15 Tyre at abound £150 ea, the car will ride a little bit lower on these as the aspect ratio of the original was 80 not 70, they are available direct off their websiteb and from one or two suppliers.
I have not tried these but a friend has some of their tyres on a vintage MG and is very pleased with them.
I am thinking about getting a set of their 16 inch radials for my 401 so would be interested as I am sure you would be if anyone can share their thoughts having fitted Blockleys to a Bristol.

[TFO412]

Hmm plenty to think about then, thanks for all replies, will look into it more after getting the thing running and sorting the brakes, the old ones are holding air for now so will do to move about the garage...
steven

[peter dowdle]

My 411 mk 2 has avon wheels off a 412. They came with 215/70/r15 FALKEN tyres with plenty of tread. The larger size has not been a problem quite happy with them. I run 215/70/r15 pirelle p4000 tyres on my Ferrari 365 gt4
they are great but I believe have just gone out of production.These tyres I was told were made to suit Jaguar XK8 .May be there is a current replacement.

NB I have a P 4000 as a spare for the 411 , it sits in the side well quite easily

[Sam410]

Originally Posted by Geoff Kingston

Blockley Tyres do a 205/70VR15 Tyre at abound £150 ea, the car will ride a little bit lower on these as the aspect ratio of the original was 80 not 70, they are available direct off their websiteb and from one or two suppliers.
I have not tried these but a friend has some of their tyres on a vintage MG and is very pleased with them.
I am thinking about getting a set of their 16 inch radials for my 401 so would be interested as I am sure you would be if anyone can share their thoughts having fitted Blockleys to a Bristol.

I have fitted Blockley 205/70VR15s to my 410. Although wider than the period 185 R15 tyres, they were actually a narrower tyre for me as my car had had 215/70 R15 Falkens fitted since I bought it. As Peter mentioned, these are NLA so I had to find something to replace them when they wore out. I considered all sorts, but went with the Blockleys, partly but not entirely because they are the cheapest of the 'classic' tyres, though still four times the price of the last set of Falkens I had. If you want a cheaper modern tyre you seem to be limited to soft-roader type tyres designed for Freelanders, CRVs etc, in that size

Compared to the 215 Falkens, the 205 Blockleys give a much softer ride (I have quite firm Konis) and have made the handling feel rather different too. I get the impression they are quite soft in the sidewall compared to the Falkens, as the car seems less precise in corners, and feels almost drifty. It took a bit of getting used to, but I'm happy with them now. I run them a bit harder than the Falkens.

Geoff, if you're ever passing along the M4 you'd be welcome to drop in and have a drive to see what you think.

[Philip]

Vredestein Sprint Classic are available in 215/70R15. Not too expensive but anecdotally seem to suffer sidewall issues.