145 X 10 Marshall Kr11 Vs Blockley Tyres Review

My van came with almost new Marshall KR11 tyres.  They were predicatably terrible - not a lot of grip in the dry and dangerous in the wet (even though they are completely legal).  Similar to my experience of a lot of 145 x 10s from thirty years ago when I drove Minis a lot.  Back then I settled on Firestone tyres as I found them to be good value (£20 each I think) with better wet grip than a lot of others but unfortunately these seem to be long gone.

 

 

I was going to stick with these Marshalls as they had plenty of life in them with a view to eventually getting something better.  Change was brought forward as I had fitted Cooper S discs which increased the track width but worse, I had a nasty tyre failure where the tyre sort of expanded and sent the wheel way out of balance.

 

I don't know if the tyre was damaged by the vehicle not moving for months while I did an engine rebuild but I now didn't trust the other three.  A quick call to Blockely and the next day (beats Minispares delivery!) I had five new tyres and inner tubes and a trip to Minispares provided five Cooper S type wheels.

 

Now if you're looking for ultimate dry grip you won't find it with these tyres but then you likely need more than 145s if that's the case anyway.  They have sufficient grip but it's the way they let go which is impressive.  There is no sudden loss of grip but instead it is very progressive which provides loads of feedback.  Very easy to feel and control understeer and oversteer.  Wet grip is vastly improved and confidence has been restored when driving in the rain.  Tyres have shown no signs of aquaplanning but undoubtedly will with enough speed and water.  Time will tell what the wear rate is like but I don't do massive mileage so it doesn't matter too much to me.

 

Now there's Dunlop Aquajets too but at quite a premium over the Blockleys - £120 for the Aquajets and £75 for the Blockelys.  The Blockleys represent good value for money and are an excellent choice if you're looking for tyres in the 145 x 10 size which aren't dangerous.  Highly recommended.

a decent chunky tread pattern on there too !

 

what do make of the minispares repro S rims ?  

 

i recall seeing some reviews previously where the wheels weren't very well finished, but from the pictures posted yours look OK

Nice looking set of tyres and rims, personally would have gone for the OEW version but still lovely.

I deliberately went for worse grip by retro fitting my Miniminor with Camac 520x10 Crossplies. They give the correct look on a standard Mk1. The handling is frankly comical, you can get it to 4 wheel drift round a corner at anything above 40, or 20 in the wet! But its predictably bad and as my 850 never sees much more than 55 and is rarely out in bad weather they suit me.

Edited by surfblue, 19 November 2020 - 06:28 PM.

I have been using the Marshall KR11`s for about three years now on my daily and I have to say the dry grip is spot on for a 145, yes they howl a bit but stick like glue. As for the wet grip, yep they`re lethal but still not as bad as the falken`s

How old were the Marshalls ?

I`ve been through two sets of Aquajets and although they start off a bit squirmy they do settle in and grip well and the wet grip is spot on.

I`m considering the Blockley`s for next time but also 165 yoko`s which is my preferred tire but running archless they may not be an option. 

 

I`m also interested in how straight the S rims are as i`ve had a few from two suppliers and only one out of twelve was within spec. 

a decent chunky tread pattern on there too !

 

what do make of the minispares repro S rims ?  

 

i recall seeing some reviews previously where the wheels weren't very well finished, but from the pictures posted yours look OK

There was welding spatter in the seams between the rim and the centre disc.  It's hardly noticeable but why didn't they just knock it off before painting over it?

 

Nice looking set of tyres and rims, personally would have gone for the OEW version but still lovely.

I deliberately went for worse grip by retro fitting my Miniminor with Camac 520x10 Crossplies. They give the correct look on a standard Mk1. The handling is frankly comical, you can get it to 4 wheel drift round a corner at anything above 40, or 20 in the wet! But its predictably bad and as my 850 never sees much more than 55 and is rarely out in bad weather they suit me.

I've only had crossplies on an old Land Rover which made for some interesing opposite locking off of slippery roundabouts at comically low speed!  Went for radials after that.

 

I have been using the Marshall KR11`s for about three years now on my daily and I have to say the dry grip is spot on for a 145, yes they howl a bit but stick like glue. As for the wet grip, yep they`re lethal but still not as bad as the falken`s

How old were the Marshalls ?

I`ve been through two sets of Aquajets and although they start off a bit squirmy they do settle in and grip well and the wet grip is spot on.

I`m considering the Blockley`s for next time but also 165 yoko`s which is my preferred tire but running archless they may not be an option. 

 

I`m also interested in how straight the S rims are as i`ve had a few from two suppliers and only one out of twelve was within spec. 

Falkens must be bad then, how are these thing legal?  I think the Marshal's were four or five years old - can't remember exactly now but I've used far older tyres before without problems.  I suppose you could describe the Blockley's as squirmy too. 

 

The S wheels appear well made and painted - apart from the spatter mentioned above.  They balanced up a lot easier than my old 3.5 x 10 wheels, one of which was quite buckled and had weights half way round the rim - not the one the tyre failed on though! 

 

I have three KR11s you can have for a small consideration if you're ever over my way.
 

I’ve run 145 blockleys for about 18 months on my mk1. I find them very good. The wear rate is far better than Aquajets which I could kill in 2000 miles, maybe less.

I know Steve Entwistle ran 165 blockleys on 6 EMO which he won the 2019 Rally of the Tests last year and he found them very good also.

I’ve run 145 blockleys for about 18 months on my mk1. I find them very good. The wear rate is far better than Aquajets which I could kill in 2000 miles, maybe less.

I know Steve Entwistle ran 165 blockleys on 6 EMO which he won the 2019 Rally of the Tests last year and he found them very good also.

Good to hear the wear rate is good.

The tyre tread pattern on the Blockley tyres remind me of the Kelly (Springfield) KR-1 pattern of the 60/70's. I think Kelly were a subsidiary of Goodyear. That tread pattern worked well as the loss of grip was progressive unlike Michelins of the day that just went whoops! no grip.

The tread pattern and, so I was told by them at Race-Retro, the compound, are as near as is possible to the Dunlop SP3. This was the 'demon' tyre of the early 1960's and not only on Minis. I had them on my first Cortina GT in 1966.

Initially they were very hard to find on normal sale and I used to get mine through Dunlop Comps. Dep't. In a 145/80 x 10 size on a 4.5" rim on a Cooper 'S' they were very good, especially in the wet. The 165/70 x 10 should be even better.

Modern low-profile tyres do not necessarily perform well on old classic cars like ours. I think that for a true 'retro' feel those Blockley's should be great.

The price is reasonable too, although the Blockley 10" SP44 'Weathermasters' are very expensive, even though they are just about the only forest tyre now available for a Mini.

The price is reasonable too, although the Blockley 10" SP44 'Weathermasters' are very expensive, even though they are just about the only forest tyre now available for a Mini.

Where did you find the Blockley Weathermasters - I cannot find them in their online shop. Or did you actually mean the Dunlop WM?

Edited by MiNiKiN, 24 November 2020 - 10:18 AM.

Great to read another positive review, I am looking to fit a set to my Inno. I just can't decide if I should go 145 or 165 on mine. I will be running 4.5" Firsat steels (disc brakes, no arch extensions), what are yours Unburntfuelinthemorning? I see those MiniSpares wheels come in both 3.5 and 4.5".

My wheels are 4.5".  I like the way 145 tyres sit on 4.5" wheels.