Tyre options for 131 14" steel sports wheels

[Crazypierre]

Hello all,

I'm having a set of 14" original Supermirafiori sports steel wheels refurbished. (Like the one attached - silver with the four black painted inserts)

The tyres were really old and all different so I thought I'd replace them with a new set.  The size of the current tyres is 185 65 14

I'd like advice on what tyres to fit on them please.

I remember my brother had some of these on his Supermirafiori in the 80's and seem to recall they were quite low profile Pirellis which looked lovely.

Should I stick with the current width/profile?
Any thoughts?

Thanks
Pete

[chris131]

185/60 14 would be best.

[jasonh131]

185/60 14 would be best.

Yes  or big 195 s on the rear..

[Che]

How low profile have people gone on these wheels and them still be useable??

[simon131]

Hi Pete,

I know that tyres are an extremely personal thing and some people go as low profile as possible but I tend to stick to the sizes that the manufacturer selected for the wheel/car, so 185/60 R 14 or 185/65 R 14 would both do fine (realising that your car had 13" wheels and tyres from the factory).

As to tyre manufacturer, again a very personal thing, but all of my 131s (Abarth and two Specials) are fitted with Pirellis, which I have in the last few months renewed on the Abarth and one Special, although ironically enough, none of these are 14" 

Simon

[Crazypierre]

Thanks all for your kind replies.

So, I'd like to stick with the same profile as was on the original cars.  Would that have been 60 or 65?

Also- Simon: you mention Pirellis.  Which ones did you put on? Was it the P6000? I like the tread pattern on the P6000.  Again, I'd like to put the period tyres on but guess the model tyres from the 80's would be long gone by now.

Looking forward to getting my 4 refurbished wheels back.  Then I need to spend time painting in the four black areas on each wheel which will be a long job but I want that authentic silver and black look.

BTW, would the originals have been satin black wheel inserts? (See picture of an original one.)

I am thinking of using Hammerite satin black painted on with a brush. What does everyone else think?

Thanks
Pete 

[kev131]

Pete ....the dark inserts are not black as such....more a dark anthracite grey.

On finish they are probably a cross between Matt and satin. I'd avoid an overly shiny finish if you want to be original.

On the tyre profile I seem to remember that 65 was standard on the S2 14 inch wheels with 60 available as an option.

Hope that helps.....

[Crazypierre]

Thanks Kevin. I'll go for the 65 profile and see about the dark grey colour.
Regards
Peter

[simon131]

The Abarth had P5000 DRAGOs which had a lovely pattern but I could no longer get them new so I have P1 Cinturatos fitted now, 15"

[c.a.c131]

Black does look better then the grey

[strada]

watch which style of wheel you actually have, the mk3 used a very similar 14''wheel painted steel grey all over. they are narrower offset to combat the mk3 wider track. assuming you have the correct 132 or 131 mk2 sport wheels, the colours to use are BMW titanium silver and for the inserts ford graphite grey (availible from halfords in aerosol) which is almost black but mattalic followed by a good quality laquer and a chrome trim ring.
 
as for tyres the sport (in the uk) ran 185/60x14, whilst the mk3 super went with 185/65. i personally use 60's on the front and 65's on the rear to give that nose down stance and also to keep the gearing as high as possible for cruising. remember lowering profiles lowers gearing, not fun on 300 mile sunday rides out.

[benjack]

Hi

I've put Dunlop 185/70 R14's onto my 132.
They seem to really fit the car with the more old fashioned big tyre look.

[131DHOC]

watch which style of wheel you actually have, the mk3 used a very similar 14''wheel painted steel grey all over. they are narrower offset to combat the mk3 wider track. assuming you have the correct 132 or 131 mk2 sport wheels, the colours to use are BMW titanium silver and for the inserts ford graphite grey (availible from halfords in aerosol) which is almost black but mattalic followed by a good quality laquer and a chrome trim ring.
 
as for tyres the sport (in the uk) ran 185/60x14, whilst the mk3 super went with 185/65. i personally use 60's on the front and 65's on the rear to give that nose down stance and also to keep the gearing as high as possible for cruising. remember lowering profiles lowers gearing, not fun on 300 mile sunday rides out.

why fiat felt the need to combat a wider track? I remember seeing some MKIII supermirafiori on 132 rims and they looked super great, wider and impressive with the two tone rims. Is there any technical need to reduce offset?

[POQ 131]

My 131 has 132 14" wheels on the back. Tyres are 195/65 Bridgestones.
The offset fills the rear guards very well & takes away the look that cheese cutter 13" wheels & tyres have. That look to me of the 13''s is like that of a German shepherd dog with hip dysplasia.
Weak looking & narrow tracked.
Have a look in introductions page 4. 131 2000 TC SuperBrava Australia.
O.

[Crazypierre]

All,
Thanks so much for all your advice and tips.
So, these wheels are stamped 09 79 which I assume is the year they were made.  So, pretty sure they're for the Mark 2? Also, before I spent money on getting them refurbished, I fitted them front and back on my Fiat and they fit fine and I spun them with no problems so all good there.

So, just collected the wheel and am pretty pleased with the result. See for yourselves the result (attached). Sending them away has saved me weeks of work so worth the money.

They've been blasted to bare metal, powder coated and then sprayed silver then lacquered. OK, it's a shiner finish than the originals I know, but I think they look nice nevertheless and I'm pretty sure the quality of the finish is better than the original ones that left the factory!  So, all in all, I'm pretty pleased.

I have been toying with the idea of leaving them all silver but really like the black inserts so have decided to paint the inserts in black. It won't be easy but I will take my time.

Then I'll get some tyres fitted. Think I'll stick with the 185 65 profile.

I think the car will look stunning with these Supermirafiori wheels. I know it's a CL with the chrome bumpers but think chrome looks good on these 70's cars anyway.

what do you all think?

Pete