Ariel.Club Forum

I'm trying to work out if I have the original profile tyres on my car and what will fit under the current guards.

My present tyres are 195/45R15 front tyres with 225/40R16 rears.

The rears are my major concern as newer cars have 225/45R16 tyres. Ben has the later tyres but had to raise his rear guards to fit them. His guards are Atom 2 style, mounted off the uprights, where mine are not.

I've also asked the factory . Tom seems to think the Atom 1 should have been shod with 225/45R16 on the rear but can not be 100% sure.

I'd really like to make sure I get it right as I have to pay in advance (non refundable) to get some tyres bought into NZ and would prefer to get the correct ones.

So do any of you very early Atom 1 owners recall what tyres were on your cars?

To add more to this I also went from 15 to 16" wheels when I had to raise the guards so quite a big change.

Ben

Oops    missed that mod. That definitely would require some guard mods.

Even if nobody can remember the rear tyre profile of early cars, does anyone recall the brand/name of the tyres used?

I might be wrong, but I vaguely recollect my Atom 1 coming with Continental EcoContact's of some sort.  I remember Marcus at EasyTrack taking the piss out of them at a trackday, but I was still quicker than most of the other cars anyhow

I have some close-up photos of the original Atom that Bruce and I shared in 2001. I'll see if I can detect anything. Have you tried emailing Tom?

[quote="Steve Gibson"]
Have you tried emailing Tom?
[/quote]

I most certainly have. He replied "I honestly can’t remember".

After years of putting up with us lot you have to expect some brain cells to have been killed off. 

It would be great if your photos reveal some information.

Just found my poster brochure for the first Atom. It kind of brings back all that early excitement.

The options were:

15" package
Front & rear: 6J x 15 Tecnomagnesio 195/50 R15

16" package
Front: 6.5J x 15 Technomagnesio 195/45 R15
Rear: 7.5J x 16 Tecnomagnesio 225/40 R16

It also mentions 14" wheels as original kit, but I doubt you need that!

[quote="Steve Gibson"]
16" package
Front: 6.5J x 15 Technomagnesio 195/45 R15
Rear: 7.5J x 16 Tecnomagnesio 225/40 R16

[/quote]

Thank you Steve. 

That confirms I have the original profiles on my car and what are probably best suited to fit under the current the guards without doing major alterations to the mountings. Now I can go ahead and import some replacements.