Tires: 185/60-13

Is the Summitomo HTR200 my only real choice w/out going to some $100+ R-Compound tire?

Need new shoes for the X1/9

I think so, but the RA1 is a pretty decent daily driver R-compound.

I would suggest finding a set of 4x100 15" rims and a set of "wobbly" of variable PCD wheel bolts and a set of 195/45 15 tires. Going to 15's will allow some better selections for tires and if you find the right style of wheels it will look pretty good too.

15" wheels on an X1/9 makes them look like a clown should be stepping out of it. Even 14's look wrong. It wasn't designed with wheels that tall in mind. But I do agree that the world is desperately lacking in 13" tire choices.

This topic has been beat to death over at the X1/9 forum. Nice 13" tires are still common in Japan and Europe, which are still found on the smaller cars. If you can find someone overseas to deal with, and stomach the shipping costs, then that's one option.

Can't stomach shipping costs. I guess Summitomos it is.

Those tires are not bad, they're just very average in this day and age. I've got a fresh set on my X. I look at them as a cheap ($37) commuter tire that is capable of some spirited driving when the need arises.

and what was the point of your post there Dave? I appreciate your opinion, but ultimately it is the solution that many will have to resort to as decent 13" tires dry up. Hopefully the interest in economy cars may spike interest in smaller wheels/tires again. Like I said, if you find a decent set of wheels you can minimize the clown car effect and keep your nice collector 13" wheels for slicks, racing or car shows.

You do remember the thread from two weeks ago about the guy selling the 13" Yokohama's on ebay, right? He's still got several at $79 each.

minis have this issue as well. There are some toyo ra-1's in that size range that would work. Also a few mini sites import yoko a032rs and a048r, in the 175/50 13 size, but you'll pay a premium.

foxtrapper wrote: You do remember the thread from two weeks ago about the guy selling the 13" Yokohama's on ebay, right? He's still got several at $79 each.

I bought two of them when he had them on E-bay for $49.

They're last years Spec-Racer tires.....perfect for my ~Race Spridget~.

I would have bought four, but I'd just bought a new set of Toyo R888s (and I got several good, used RA-1s for free a while back as well).

Now I'm set for the rest for the year.

I've got a set of Nexen N2000 in 175-60-13. They were cheap, and I'm actually pretty impressed with them. They were pretty squirmy when new, but now that about 40% of the tread is gone, they are quite nice. I've even autocrossed on them for a fun run test day. Very good in the wet too. I believe they also have a 185-60-13 in this model.