2 replies to this topic

[Cawley]

Hi Team

 

Do you know what tyres the original Mini Cooper and Cooper S fitted?

 

I know in the early 60s generally Mini fitted 520-10 Crossply. 

 

I'm pretty sure that later Mini fitted 145R10 Radials. but i think the SP Sport Aquajet came out in 1968.

 

What radial tyres did the early pre 68 cars fit?

 

if you had any pictures that would be ace

 

[whistler]

Probably SP Sports.

[Cooperman]

From 1964 it was the Dunlop SP41. This was a very good tyre, but it had a high wear rate. It used to be said that SP stood for 'Same as Pirelli'.

The SP3 was very popular as a competition tyre as they were a semi-open tread design. Then came the SP44 radial Weathermaster for gravel and snow driving.

The SP Sport came later in around 1969 and the big sales pitch was its 'aquajets' for squeezing water out from the treads.

Other companies introduced 10" radials including Goodyear with the excellent G800 (very similar to the SP3), Pirelli with the Cinturato, Firestone with the F100. I did some of the testing for Firestone with the F100 on my 1964 998 Cooper and there were some initial issues with sidewall separation. That was in 1965 and the issue was soon resolved.

I always like the SP3, although on gravel & snow the later SP44 was great.

They were all a great improvement over the original 5-20 x 10 cross ply tyres.

However, before the SP41, there were some other 10" radials. Michelin had the Michelin X in 145 x 10 and Dunlop had the Dunlop Duraband RB1 (RB stood for 'Rigid Breaker' which was how the radials were described). They were good for wear and dry grip, but breakaway could be a bit 'sudden'. I first rallied a Mini on Durabands in 1961.

Edited by Cooperman, 23 September 2021 - 09:37 PM.