New 4wd tyres in 13 and 14"

[Mattel]

I'm not sure how easy it is to find 4wd tyres in 13 and 14" But if you go to this website. http://www.ziarelli.com/ on the left hand side of the page click on 'Profondità' and you with see 13" and 14" options. some pretty aggresive tread patterns there! I'm not sure if they are easy to get in the states though.

[Petros]

I went for aggressive tread pattern with my Pathfinder, I thought it looked more rugged and would prevent me from getting stuck. they cost a lot more, and I found they were quite noisy, but worst of all they noticably harmed my fuel economy.

I thought about it, and considered that even though I live on steep gravel roads that I drive daily, the majority of my driving is on paved roads (like 97 percent). Economy is always important, a quite ride is mostly important, and maximum traction is only necessary once a year or so in extremely rare instances. So when I wore out another set of expensive off-road tires, I got some "SUV" tires with a quiet ride. Not only did the ride improve, but so did economy, braking, wet weather traction, and they cost a lot less. Funny thing, I never did miss any "extra" traction they may have given me, they worked very well in snow and off road as well.

So now I always buy for my most common and likely needs, not for the few rare instances where you think you might want the heavy duty off road tread.

Those kind of tires are for people that suffer testosterone poisoning. You can not compensate enough for that problem when you drive a Tercel.

[ARCHINSTL]

...testosterone poisoning. You can not compensate enough for that problem when you drive a Tercel.

One of your best, Peter!
Tom

[Jonymoto]

In the summer when I'm in heavy traffic, I can't use my AC because of the power it robs from the engine specially as you accelerate in 1st gear. Imagine the horsepower that it will take to turn those rugged tyres on a Tercel.

[ARCHINSTL]

Wow - wish we would have some of those tires in the Army Engineers back in the '60s!
Tom M.

[irowiki]

In the summer when I'm in heavy traffic, I can't use my AC because of the power it robs from the engine specially as you accelerate in 1st gear. Imagine the horsepower that it will take to turn those rugged tyres on a Tercel.

Strange, the AC on my 87 FWD, while I do notice the power loss, it doesn't hinder accelerating because it cuts the AC out at high RPM anyway (or should)

[Jonymoto]

On mine the ac cuts out when the car is idling. As soon as you put your foot on the accelerator, the ac engages and robs power from the engine. So in stop/go traffic, it takes longer to get from 1st to 2nd gear. Once the car is cruising in 4th gear, it's fine.

[irowiki]

Mine surges at idle with the compressor engaged, and I haven't dug into it to figure out why yet.

[marlinh]

There should be a solenoid that boosts the idle when AC comes on to compensate for the extra load on the engine.

[Jonymoto]

Marlinh, where about is this solenoid located on your T4? I'm sure mine hasn't got it because my compressor has always disengaged when idling from when the car was brand new.

[irowiki]

You might have an aftermarket AC then!

It's on the hard lines to the passenger side of the carb

[marlinh]

I don't have AC on any of my cars. It should be a standard installation on any car with AC.

[Jonymoto]

Irowiki - It has a Denso compressor. It came with the T4 from Japan. Maybe the Oz version is setup like this, just like we don't have an O2 sensor, unless these were incorporated in later versions.

[Mattel]

Hi Jony does yours have the Econo switch next to the AC? if so then it is a factory AC option. I used to call the AC button the 'reverse nitro' switch. lolz

[Jonymoto]

Mattel - yes, you press it in once, economy lights up green. You press it in again you get full AC, blue light comes on. Unfortunately my switch doesn't stay in when in full AC mode. Probably through lack of use over the last 32 years. So I can only run in economy mode. If anybody has a spare AC switch that works in both mode, I will be glad to buy it off you. I did think of rewiring it to another switch, but I'm trying to keep my T4 as original as possible.