Anyone tried Otani tires?

[DavidL]

Here's the deal, after finally solving my very long-running clutch problem on my 1990 Caterham, I decided that I, and the car, deserve new tires to replace the not worn, but now very hard Bridgetones on the car.  So, I figured I'd just order some Toyo Proxes R1Rs and be done.    Looking at TireRack (and lots of other places), no one has them in 195/50/15 (for street driving, on Prisoner wheels).  Not only are there no Toyos, TR is out of anything else in the same category (~200 wear rating).  Roger Krauss has the Avon ZZS, but all in, 4 tires is going to be about $1270, a lot for street tires.

 

OK, so I was wandering the internet, and I came across PriorityTire.com.... zillions of tires, and all brands I've never heard of, but all kinda cheap.  They carry something called an Otani BM2000, at $85 each, with free shipping!  It has a wear rating of 200, and aggressive tread.  From what I can tell, Otani is from Thailand, and is one of the larger tire producers in Asia.  I actually found a favorable review, but hard to really tell.  A second tire is a Zestino Gredge 07RS, wear rating of 140, for $117.

 

Does anyone know anything about these?  I'm kinda tempted to try the Otanis as an experiment, but I figured I'd ask the collective.  

 

Cheers,  -David 

(1990 Caterham SuperSprint 1700, De Dion)

 

 

[Rooster18221]

Hi David,

I have started searching for new tires as well, for the first time in about 40 years.  But, I'm not really looking for a really high performance tire such as the Avon ZZR or ZZS street slicks.  Both tires are very good, sticky, and handle well, but not much tread life.  Plus, they are very expensive for a street car.  I'm not a racer so I don't need near as much grip with my tires.  My 84 Caterham came equipped with 185/70/13 tires on 13x6 wheels. I use my Seven for cruising and chilling, not for racing.  Tires for this size are limited and out of stock on the Avons as well.  So, I was looking on eBay and found several sets of tires in your size, 195/50/15, some well known brands, for fairly cheap money, all new tires and available right away.  You could pick up a new set of your size tires for 300-400 bucks to use until you could find what you are really seeking.  I found a set of 205/60/13 that I'm considering for about 4 bills; new and available now with free shipping.  You don't have to wait for the cargo ship or the cargo airplane.  So, take a look; you might be surprised.  Or, try a slightly different profile 15 inch tire that has a circumference that is nearly or close to the same as your 195/50/15 installation.  What is the width of the Prisoners wheels?  R.

[IamScotticus]

Interested as well...same situation.

 

Due to limited (reasonable) variety of 13" I am wanting to try 14" wheels for a better rubber selection, and maybe better looking wheels, but not wanting 15".

 

Since I am stuck with a Morris Ital 3.75" PCD, My options are fairly limited.

I did find one thing,  VTO wheels in Phoenix, AZ.  They have a surprisingly generous selection of styles in stock and custom drillings.

 

An example, this one in 14" +22mm offset althought 5.5 wide, is available in my PCD as a custom drilling.

 

https://www.vtowheels.com/Retro-4-14-x-55-Custom-Drilled-22mm_p_110.html

 

A Minilite style is available in 6".

 

As for buying a set of unknown brand name, and questionable quality, I wouldn't be too concerned about it, they should be adequate in a 1,200 pound car. Just keep the pressures at 20psi and don't push the road holding limits into under/over steer.

Edited February 4, 2023 by IamScotticus

[DavidL]

Thanks for everyone's thoughts.  I've also found Nitto NT05 tires in a 205/50/15, which is a tad bigger, but may be fine.  Interstingly, Nitto is owned by Toyo.  I'll make a final decision soon!

-David

[DavidL]

update: I ordered the Nittos... $125 each on Amazon.  They were slightly cheaper on TireBuyer.com, but they have so many bad reviews, I stuck to Amazon.

 

[DavidL]

Update:  The nittos are working great as a street tire.  The car no longer slides with a lane change!  I have not tried autocross on them, but may later this summer.

 

[pethier]

On 2/3/2023 at 8:09 PM, Rooster18221 said:

Hi David,

I have started searching for new tires as well, for the first time in about 40 years.  But, I'm not really looking for a really high performance tire such as the Avon ZZR or ZZS street slicks.  Both tires are very good, sticky, and handle well, but not much tread life.  Plus, they are very expensive for a street car.  I'm not a racer so I don't need near as much grip with my tires.  My 84 Caterham came equipped with 185/70/13 tires on 13x6 wheels. I use my Seven for cruising and chilling, not for racing.  Tires for this size are limited and out of stock on the Avons as well.  So, I was looking on eBay and found several sets of tires in your size, 195/50/15, some well known brands, for fairly cheap money, all new tires and available right away.  You could pick up a new set of your size tires for 300-400 bucks to use until you could find what you are really seeking.  I found a set of 205/60/13 that I'm considering for about 4 bills; new and available now with free shipping.  You don't have to wait for the cargo ship or the cargo airplane.  So, take a look; you might be surprised.  Or, try a slightly different profile 15 inch tire that has a circumference that is nearly or close to the same as your 195/50/15 installation.  What is the width of the Prisoners wheels?  R.

Yokohama 052.  Prisoner wheels are 6.5 x 15.   At least mine are.