WoREoD Posted September 13, 2006 Share Posted September 13, 2006 Took delivery of my GRAN TURISMO 4 (the Upper Case is the branding on the PS2 box I’m afraid!) on 1st September 2005. One year and 24,000 miles later I thought some of you might be interested in my experiences and education with regard to wheels and tyres, so here goes….. At exactly 36 miles I managed to kerb both nearside wheels on one of those big kerbstones on the inside of left hand bends in main roads. What I learnt then was that the Z is wider than my Saab 93! What I should have learnt we’ll come to at 24,000 miles (below). My next learning was how easy the GT4 wheels are to clean so they’re not just nice to look at! For the record they are different to those on that Rotary thing (the GT4 wheels are more stylish) but they also look good on the Z whereas the similar wheel doesn’t seem to make the RX8 special. A couple of weeks later I learnt that that the kerbside parallel parking places in Oxford seem to be about one foot narrower than elsewhere and low profile tyres mean the wheel itself is below kerb height, but at least it was the nearside again! After a few weeks I thought I’d finally got used to the width, parking spaces, etc. so I looked for somewhere to get the wheels refinished. I was recommended to a West Oxfordshire company called WheelTech who have a mobile service, and Simon turned out and duly did the business on the two nearside wheels for the princely sum of £50 per wheel. An excellent finish but he hates doing them because the “illusion†Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neo Posted September 13, 2006 Share Posted September 13, 2006 many thanks for taking the time to type all the above out, most useful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lomoto Posted September 13, 2006 Share Posted September 13, 2006 What would you do differently with hindsite Woroed, anything different regards tyres etc.?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoREoD Posted September 13, 2006 Author Share Posted September 13, 2006 Three things: 1) If you hit the kerb whilst moving, have the wheel alignment checked asap - on a hi-tech four laser system. 2) I would have changed all four tyres at the same time. 3) Practise parking alongside kerbs! Plus, really get to know your tyre fitters - talk to them at length. JohnK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lomoto Posted September 13, 2006 Share Posted September 13, 2006 Three things: 1) If you hit the kerb whilst moving, have the wheel alignment checked asap - on a hi-tech four laser system. 2) I would have changed all four tyres at the same time. 3) Practise parking alongside kerbs! Plus, really get to know your tyre fitters - talk to them at length. JohnK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mugwump Posted September 13, 2006 Share Posted September 13, 2006 3) Practise parking alongside kerbs! Top tip from one of the instructors at Thruxton, to learn where the edges of your car are try to park it on the white line of the space when you visit the supermarket etc. You can practice both sides and it does not cause any damage when you get it wrong! Once you have learned where the edges of your tyres are *then* practice on kerbs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoREoD Posted September 20, 2006 Author Share Posted September 20, 2006 Whilst at the CAT driver training event I discovered that the Rears, fitted by my friendly fitter were pattern EX. Everyone else on Bridgestones seems to have KXs! Checked with Bridgestone and they confirmed I should really have got KXs for the Z, but that if I hadn't noticed any problems in the 5000 miles on them they would probably be ok! All that after 135mph on the banked circuit! Lesson: Get a knowledgable fitter/specialist! Someone asked for the details of the place I finally ened up at.... The aligment equipment is made by Hunter Engineering (USA) and your local equipment can be located by going to www.alignmycar.co.uk. The fitters I used were at Purley on the outskirts of Reading, and they are part of the merityre group, details www.merityre.co.uk Cheers all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.