Need tires 700 x 19". Firestone? Excelsior?

Happy New Year to all my fellow Classic owners !

I need a new set of tires for my 1932 902 Victoria Coupe. A set of Bedfords from the previous owner are on now but they are highly out of round, both side to side and up and down. (Rims are OK). They look great but are not good for driving.

Coker offers Firestone in 700 x 19" as well as Excelsior in 700 x 19". Firestones are $143. The Excelsiors are $386 !! Of course the Excelsiors look alot better, but are they worth the extra money? Are they a better tire?

For instance, I have Lesters on my 1926 236 Phaeton (700 x 21). They look awful but more importantly, they wore out uniformly and completely in about 12,000 miles. Others have reported similarly poor wear on Lesters. I won't buy them again.

If the Excelsiors will last least twice as long as the Firestones, they are worth the price.

I also need the tires to be high quality, ie: ROUND !!

Thanks for the advice.

--Scott

Talk to the Coker folks in Tennessee. I find them honest & informative. They tell me the Excelsior tires are racing tires - they are stickier and have a better grip - which means they do not get as good wear as their other tires. I've been running their Goodrich 6.00 X 20s and get about 15 to 16k miles out of them. I remember pre-radial days and believe that is about all we can expect. I just bought a set of Firestones to replace the Goodrich tires - the Firestones have a wider tread - I'm hoping to avoid some of the wandering as I follow tire tracks down the pavement.

Mark

I am also looking at tires for a car and another member recommended Denman tires which he has successfully used. Aesthetically I think the tread pattern looks a bit more period. But don?t know anyone else who has used them and I am most interested in how they are on the road. I believe Universal carries them. Personally I have had two bad dealings with Coker, so I will likely not go back to them again. We have noticed that the Lesters tend to flatten a little if that car is not driven for a while, but after a few miles they feel better. I have been satisfied with the Goodrich tires on another car. I have not used the Excelsior, but agree they really are more of a track tire. I?m glad you asked the question, and I would be curious to know if anyone knows of any recent articles published on the topic. Carl

I previously owned a 1930 Studebaker President 8 Victoria and used Denman 6:50x20 tires on it about 20 years. They rode much quieter than other tread designs, handled well in the rain and in a hard stop they would pull the vehicle down in speed very well equally on all four. See the attached photo for appearance. Stude8

I've been very happy with the Firestone flavor. They feel a little stiff in the sidewall so I started running them a little softer, say 26F 28R rather than 32 F&R. no more wandering and my current set has about 8K on them and very little perceptable wear. (3800 lb sedan) Your driving style affects the tire wear more than you would think.

Scott,

Which way did you go and were you happy with your choice?