Lancia Motor Club

Is there a modern equivalent of the 145 x 400 tyres fitted to the Ardea (S4)? Michelin tyres in this size are very expensive and even difficult to source. Any suggestion would be welcome. Thanks. Andrea

400 corresponds to 16" and Ardeas were presumably fitted with crossply tyres as were Aprilias in those days.   Various 16" tyres are available from the various suppliers catering for old cars who could doubtless advise you - try www.northhantstyres.com who are cheaper than some.  I've no idea how it would affect the handling but the steering would be even lighter.

16 inch tyres are loose on 400mm rims, its too much differance to safely fit, unfortunatly there is not much alternative other than 145 x 400 :(

Hi Andrea,

I was faced with a similar problem when trying to source tyres for the Dilambda. 160 x 450 were only available from Michelin and although they intended to manufacture some a firm date could not be given.

Morris Parry encouraged me to do what he had done on his Astura and modify the wheels to take 18" tyres of which there is plenty of choice. The modification involves welding  bands of metal into the well of the wheel and a metal hoop to each circumference thus increasing the overall diameter of the wheel and solving the problem James refers to. When on the car the modification is scarcely evident, in fact no one has noticed it on my car until I've pointed it out to them. Both Morris and I have covered a significant problem free mileage in our respective cars since carrying out the modification.

I'm sure that Morris won't mind my passing on his drawings and photos to you or alternatively you could contact him direct.

Robin.

Many thanks for suggestions and modifications. The original S4 Ardea tyres were actually radial and not crossply. This is also indicated by the code 145 R x 400. The Ardea was one of the very few cars fitted with such innovative tyres (Michelin X range). As far as I know (but I stand to be corrected), only two other cars used the same size, namely the Peugeot 202 (you may recall the one with headlights inside the front grille) and the Panhard Dyna. Neither model is currently widely available (even in France) and I found little help from the Panhard and Peugeot people so far, but I am still looking for extra data. I think that the wheel modification is a very useful approach but I will consider it only if all the other avenues are closed. Regards, Andrea

just out of interest, my ardea furgoncino has got 16inch wheels that look identical to the 400mm rims, ther is not alot available in 16" either!! cheapeast solution is 175 16 london taxi tyres which are about £35 each but a little on the large side for a normal ardea

Hi Andrea,
According to my books the Ardea had two sizes of wheels fitted 145 x 400mm and for export 4.00 x 15 inch. So if you could track down some 15” wheels or have the 400mm wheels modified with 15 inch rims that might solve your tyre problem. Tim Burrett has converted some Aurelia wheels from metric to standard rims for his and others use so that they can fit competition tyres. Some Ardeas were also exported to the USA so it would not surprise me that there maybe stocks of 15 inch Ardea wheels in some forgotten store somewhere.

Chris

if i remember correctly this aurelia modification sometimes utilises flavia 4.5x15 inch rims as i sold one of my spare ones for this purpose a while ago.cant remember if band of metal was planned or swapping wheel centres?to alter PCD/offset. richard

that answers a question then, at home i have 1 15inch aprilia wheel, its the 1st series solid type wheel not the ventilated type, so i presume its an early ardea rim, another possibility would be to fit 1st or 2nd series appia wheels, not to different in appearance and 15 inch

Many thanks for the useful advice. Andrea