Fresh batch of TRX tires!

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Lopena
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Fresh batch of TRX tires!

Post by Lopena »

As of this morning, Longstone Tyres in the UK has a fresh batch of Michelin TRX-GT tires in size 240/45-ZR415 for your M6 Coupe. Shipping is free to the USA.
BenM635i
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Re: Fresh batch of TRX tires!

Post by BenM635i »

Out of interest, what do they cost a corner?
'85 M635 #160
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Mark Shutt
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Re: Fresh batch of TRX tires!

Post by Mark Shutt »

BenM635i wrote:Out of interest, what do they cost a corner?
just shy of £350 a corner! I hope I never get a puncture that cannot be repaired!!
1988 635csi Auto Highline, Royal blue with Lotus white.
viewtopic.php?f=25&t=26461&p=189478#p189478
Lopena
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Re: Fresh batch of TRX tires!

Post by Lopena »

Actually, the price here in the USA is 289 pounds per tire, all-in.
wattsmonkey
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Re: Fresh batch of TRX tires!

Post by wattsmonkey »

Yeah, we get the joy of 20% VAT over here.

An absolute steal, otherwise.

Mind you, if it means you can rock the RS 007s...
"Most of it necessary; all of it enjoyable." LJKS
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ron
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Re: Fresh batch of TRX tires!

Post by ron »

Mark Shutt wrote:
BenM635i wrote:Out of interest, what do they cost a corner?
just shy of £350 a corner!
A lot cheaper than the previous batch which were about £440.00 inc. VAT!
They are ALWAYS rustier than you thought!!!!!!
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Snizinskas
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Re: Fresh batch of TRX tires!

Post by Snizinskas »

1988 M6
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hornhospital
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Re: Fresh batch of TRX tires!

Post by hornhospital »

I understand the purists/concours crowd wanting the TRXs, but why would you deliberately want to spend 2X to 3X as much for 30+ year-old technology tires, when there are so many more modern, better-performing and -wearing tires available that cost a fraction of the TRXs? I've driven my 635 which came with practically new TRXs, and was thoroughly unimpressed. Even the cheapest 16" replacements outperformed them.

I expect at least a reply from Peter. :wink: :lol:
Ken Kanne
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Mark Shutt
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Re: Fresh batch of TRX tires!

Post by Mark Shutt »

my car has excellent condition TRX tyres on and the only thing about the drive I find is the feel through the steering, not sure if this is tyre related but would like to try 16 or 17" wheels sometime.. can anybody add anything to this?
1988 635csi Auto Highline, Royal blue with Lotus white.
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ron
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Re: Fresh batch of TRX tires!

Post by ron »

Snizinskas wrote:Even cheaper: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=26928
Different size!
They are ALWAYS rustier than you thought!!!!!!
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Mark Shutt
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Re: Fresh batch of TRX tires!

Post by Mark Shutt »

was cleaning my car today and realised the TRX tyres on my car are actually TRX "GT" versions, they don't looks so agricultural on the car and have a more pleasing tread pattern in my opinion :lol: what are the reviews like for these versions?
1988 635csi Auto Highline, Royal blue with Lotus white.
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Lopena
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Re: Fresh batch of TRX tires!

Post by Lopena »

Mark Shutt wrote:was cleaning my car today and realised the TRX tyres on my car are actually TRX "GT" versions, they don't looks so agricultural on the car and have a more pleasing tread pattern in my opinion :lol: what are the reviews like for these versions?
My mechanic, who is very well-versed in M cars, told me that the TRX GT tires are "far superior" to the original TRX tires. I look forward to receiving my fresh batch of TRX GT tires so I can find out for myself.
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Mark Shutt
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Re: Fresh batch of TRX tires!

Post by Mark Shutt »

I quite like them, only thing like already mentioned is my steering sometimes feels a little vague, maybe that's how sixes are as I've never driven another one.. I should get my steering geometry checked out too as a matter of course.

I took it on an 84 mile trip yesterday to a local auto-jumble come car show and it's such a nice car to drive, best classic I've ever owned :D
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kos
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Re: Fresh batch of TRX tires!

Post by kos »

The TRX GT's are identical to the mid 90's SX GT which was standard fit on e36 M3's and alpinas

The SX GT was an excellent tyre, so if it it's the same compound on the TRX GT it's a good thing

The difference between the original TRX and the GT version is night and day
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Re: Fresh batch of TRX tires!

Post by Brucey »

Mark Shutt wrote:I quite like them, only thing like already mentioned is my steering sometimes feels a little vague, maybe that's how sixes are as I've never driven another one..
very many RHD E24 (and E28) steer rather badly because the centre tie rods are almost invariably the wrong part. To date I have seen exactly ONE correct RHD centre tie rod, ever. Some teutonic Charlie decided that (presumably because they 'look about the same') they wouldn't bother supplying two different centre tie rods, (even though there are two separate part numbers...) and that 'the LHD version would do'.

It won't. After a very short period of time the ball joint onto the steering box works loose and then the car will steer badly because the steering wheel is no longer connected to the steering properly. A casual examination might suggest that the balljoint is OK, but it is spring preloaded, and the spring is the wrong one for the steering box end, and will allow movement during even quite ordinary steering inputs.

There are plenty of other places where things can go wrong here; for example

-cracked steering box mountings (very common indeed; just a matter of time really)
- worn steering column splines
- slack in the steering box itself
- knackered upper TCA bushes
- worn ball joints
- pattern parts in the track rods that knacker the Ackerman geometry
- bad setup
- worn rear suspension
I should get my steering geometry checked out too as a matter of course.
sure, but there is no real point in doing this unless all the parts are kosher.

cheers
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Mark Shutt
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Re: Fresh batch of TRX tires!

Post by Mark Shutt »

nice informative replay, Thanks :)

so basically unless I replace everything with new OEM I've not much chance of improving things as I'll be chasing myself in circles! I wouldn't mind replacing everything but that could get expensive!
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Brucey
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Re: Fresh batch of TRX tires!

Post by Brucey »

not really; you mainly just need to inspect the parts to make sure they are OK. Chances are most of them will be, or that they are easily fixed with a little work.

The exception to this is the centre link. You can fit a new one and it'll be OK for a while but if it is a LHD one in disguise (as they mostly are) it won't be that long before it starts to move about. But at least you will have a few months where you can have 'normal steering' just to know what to shoot for.

In the last few years I've;

- fitted new upper TCA bushings (the old ones had been fitted by some knob jockey who had tightened the bolts when the arms were on full droop.... :roll: )
- fitted a couple of new rubber boots on the TCA ball joints
- replaced a couple of track rod balljoints
- regreased all ball joints
- checked all the ball joint preloads (if certain ones are set too high, the steering gets draggy)
- modified the idler arm to include a grease fitting
- modified the centre link to include a better RH balljoint
- repaired/reinforced the steering box mountings
- readjusted the steering box
- reset (equalised the length of) the track rods
- readjusted the steering column spline joint
- dropped the steering column in the car slightly (for a lower driving position)
- replaced the dog bones at the back (all the other bushings were OK)

If I'd just 'changed everything' I could have spent (at least) several hundred pounds and still not improved anything. However the net cost of all this work was about £80 in parts plus my labour, so it doesn't have to cost a fortune to sort things out. My 6er steers so much better now, like you wouldn't believe; better than it ever has before, and better than pretty much every other 6er I have ever driven.

cheers
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sharkfan
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Re: Fresh batch of TRX tires!

Post by sharkfan »

I have long since got rid of the 415 wheels but still have a nostalgic TRX driving experience as I have some Nankangs on the back of the M6 and my 635 :lol:
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Lopena
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Re: Fresh batch of TRX tires!

Post by Lopena »

image.jpeg
image.jpeg (1.21 MiB) Viewed 11297 times
My fresh set of TRX tires just arrived from Longstone Tyres UK. Production date code is April 2016. After years of driving my M6 gingerly due to rotten tires, I can't wait to get these mounted!
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Re: Fresh batch of TRX tires!

Post by Paul Humpage »

I get my 390 mm trx tyres from Longstone. The modern compound Michelin uses is very grippy so I reckon you're going to have a lot of fun with those.
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