The Original Tires and Wheels

The wheels were Dunlop 15” 48 spoke center-lock wire wheels painted silver-grey secured with a two-eared chromed bronze knock-off. The car was fitted with Dunlop Roadspeed RS4 tubed black-wall bias ply tires.

Tire and Wheel Modifications

I decided to use Dayton chrome/stainless wire wheels supplied by Hendrix Wire Wheel. The selected tires were Michelin 175 x 15″ ZX. Alan Hendrix and Jerry Anderson were both very helpful with the purchase and with follow up questions.

Tires and Wheels

Fast forward to August 2015. I am way overdue to replace my Michelin ZXs. They still look great but they have surpassed their useful life by a considerable number of years! The sad news is that the ZXs are no longer available. That is a shame as I really liked the way they looked and performed. Following a fair amount of research, I have concluded that the Michelin XAS 180 HR15 is the best tire to replace my ZXs. Many Healey driver’s have switched to Vredestein Sprint Classics, but I favor the Michelin tire. The XAS has a slightly larger diameter: I believe 26.7″ versus the ZX 26.” The XAS has asymmetric treads favored for a smooth nice ride with good traction. There are a couple of downsides. Unfortunately these tires are $260 each plus another $27 for a tube for each tire. The ZXs were tubeless! My other concern is that the slightly larger tire may not fit in the boot. As a consequence, I have decided to take Allen Hendrix’s advice and go with a smaller 165 Nexen tire ($100) as a spare. This should work fine. On the off chance that I actually need the spare, it won’t be on the car for long.

So I ordered the XAS tires from Coker Tire in Chattanooga, TN and had them drop shipped to Allen Hendrix. Next week the wheels and ZXs go to Hendrix Wire Wheel to have the wheels checked, tires mounted and trued and then shipped back to me.

michelin-XAS-180HR-15

Nexen 165 for the Spare