Thread: Perfect Deuce

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Originally Posted by 32driver

I wonder how much the ride would suffer with the bias ply tires?

Bob called it. We've had these discussions on here before about bias vs radials, and they usually end up with no one winning because both sides have firm beliefs that aren't going to change.

Here is MY opinion..........and it isn't going to change. For the coupe you pictured only bias plies would look right. Radials might offer a slight edge on performance, but they would ruin the look of the car and turn it from a hot rod to a street rod (and there IS a difference between the two) I care about the look of the car as much as the performance, so I only run bias plies. Some radial manufacturers have attempted to make their products resemble bias tires, but they are not close enough for my liking.

To get back to your original question, hot rods are not supposed to ride like your 2009 luxury sedan. If they did it would completely ruin the driving experience for me, and for most hard core rodders. We want to feel the bumps in the road, have the exhaust drown out our stereos (if we HAD stereos ), smell like exhaust fumes from our open headers, and generally take a trip back in time for the duration of the ride to a time when cars were FUN. Practical?? NO. Fun? You betcha. That is why hot rodders like Gastrick say they love the noise coming off of their quick change rears. Why we ride around on buggy spring suspension that certainly is not as smooth as modern IFS, and why we choose tires that may or may not be as good as those now being produced for modern cars. When I drove my open 27 roadster almost daily for those 7 years, I knew I was probably going to get soaked on the way home, but that was part of the charm. Crazy, I know, but hot rodders understand.

Like the sign I saw on the back of an off road Jeep. "If you have to ask, you wouldn't understand anyway."

Don