Fitted Exalto 2’s to my Williams

[Ben H]

Nice tyres! I cant make any claims about the performance yet, but they look nice and are IMO the logical thing to fit to a Williams if you want to have some quality rubber from the original manufacturer. Cost me £350 fitted in the standard 185/55/15 size.

Although the garage said theyre the first set theyve fitted, it goes to show that the PE2 is not Clio 182 (Cup option) specific as Ive just bought some!

 

[Daz]

Have to see if its worth the extra money!

£350 for 4 tyres fitted is a lot.. especially when you could get 195/50/15s for what, £250? heh.

 

[dk]

Quote: Originally posted by Ben H on 27 May 2004


Nice tyres! I cant make any claims about the performance yet, but they look nice and are IMO the logical thing to fit to a Williams if you want to have some quality rubber from the original manufacturer. Cost me £350 fitted in the standard 185/55/15 size.

Although the garage said theyre the first set theyve fitted, it goes to show that the PE2 is not Clio 182 (Cup option) specific as Ive just bought some!





PE2s are not 182 specific as they are advertised in Autoexpress every week as a performance tyre with equal amounts on dry and wet grip without the expense of durability, but I believe the stiffer sidewall ones were specifically designed for the 182 Cup suspension version

 

[007]

Ben have you had 195/50/15s on your car at any point? Im only have way through my toyos but my biggest problem for my next set is the size more than the type. Planning maybe going back to 185s.

I dont see the problem in paying more for a better size (if it is) as tyres are the only point in which you car (should) touch the road - so are really the most important parts.

 

[2 live]

dont have any probs with the 195/50 exaltos on mine....hardly any tram lining or owt, good grip..wearing well so far too

 

[Ben H]

I had 195/50/15 tyres on my old Valver - it cost me £160 at the time for four Yokos, so £350 for 185s is a lot even if they are Michelin!

The thing is that all the development work for the car was done with 185/55s and they definitely have more give and comfort in them than the 195/50s of my old Valver. If I were a street racer or did all my driving on smooth motorways then I might have chosen the cheaper size.

Thing is, the Willy is meant to be a B-road weapon and in my ownership thats precisely what its used for. Grip over rough and varied surfaces isnt aided by skinnier tyres as theyre less flexible, so I was prepared to pay extra in order to keep the Willys handling intact.

I dont have any hesitation in saying that I probably spend too much on my Williams. Its having a rear arch done as we speak - the corrosion was minor, but I wanted it done even if it costs £££ including the ludicrously expensive Williams sticker. Ive also just bought a new exhaust manifold heat shield and gone to the effort of finding all sorts of original bits like a tape player, window switches etc so that its 100% perfect.

I could definitely afford to buy a shiny new 182, but Ive always wanted a Williams and think its fab. It may cost more to run than a new hot hatch, all told, but this is my hobby - not my compromise of practicalities. Maybe itll be different in five years time.

Other people dont need to look after their car as well as I do if they dont want to, but they sure as hell want to buy my cars! Ive got a queue of people waiting for when I sell this one.

 

[2 live]

most of the roads round here are b roads mate..i found the tyre wall on the pirrellis same size far to hard and bounced the car about a bit...the michys are a lot better.....and £180 all round...not bad value either

 

[MarkG]

Ive got 195/50/15s Toyo Proxies on my Williams and paid about £160 for a set, which is pretty good. But I cant wait to get back to some original size 185/55/15s next time. If the roads in this country were even half decent then I might carry on buying 195s, to save a couple of hundred quid, but alas they are pathetic. You can just feel every single sodding bump after you have worn the tyres down a little, and it starts to drive you round the bend after a while.

It is annoying why the 195s are so much cheaper though!

 

[Martin]

Im running 195/50 Toyos as well and although I have only driven the car on no name 185/55s that were on the car when I bought it before the 195s Im happy with them so far. Have only had problems over the bumpiest of roads on 195s compared to the 185s. I mainly drive A roads and fast B-roads so Im gonna stick with 195/50s I reckon, if 185/55s were the same price as 195s I might be tempted though.

 

[Ben H]

The 185/55s wont be the same price as the 195/50s as you dont get the same economies of scale with the less usual size.

I reckon the 185s are about £50-100 extra for a set of four over the same tyres in 195. Im happy to pay that if it means I can keep the handling I enjoy so much. IMO its really worth getting quality tyres too.

 

[woots]

Ive recently gone from 195/50 eagle f1s to 185/55 pilots. Old sxs at the front and exaltos at the back. A lot less wet weather grip but a lot more fun. Car is a lot more progressive and definetly more tail happy. Well recommended.

John

 

[007]

Glad to see im not the only one that notices the difference - I do prefer the 195s for long distance A roads but I miss the composure the 185s gives me on the B roads. Maybe I need 2 sets of alloys and tyres

 

[Ben H]

Woots - would it be an idea to swap the front and rear tyres around? If the old ones are on the front, surely theyd be better on the back and to let the new ones handle the FWD power?

 

[woots]

Cheers for advice but Id rather the old ones get replaced first by wearing out faster on the front.