Barry

Definitely not a silly question. Generally speaking, the 13" wheel and tyre combination will be lighter and therefore the unsprung weight is lower. This is more important with lightweight (comparatively, that is) cars where the ratio of sprung to unsprung is improved by a greater percentage than it would be if you made the same change to your normal tin-top. The lower the unsprung weight, and therefore the better this ratio, the more control the springs and dampers can exert, and consequently, the handling should be better. There is also the issue of gearing; as a rule, the overall gearing of say a 175/70x13 is the same as a 185/60x14 and a 195/50x15. So a 185/60x13 is more lowly geared than a 185/60x14, most of us are willing to sacrifice the cruising ability of a larger wheel/tyre combination in order to achieve maximum revs in top gear.

1800 Zetec, between 28 and 30 mpg

buroz, have a look here

Can't they be mounted on the scuttle?

Going soft in your old age? wink.gif

Many years ago, when I first had my seven, I used the hood too blush.gif, the easiest way of getting it on there was to slacken off the hood-sticks, put the hood on and then pull the sticks tight again. There is a theory that once you've got the roof on, you can warm it with a hair-dryer to get the material to stretch a little more, but it's not something I've tried. The easiest answer tho' is to fit aeroscreens, then there's no temptation cool.gif, and you get some more space in the hood bag for beer thumbsup.gif

I haven't got a qucik rack but I have got a 22% quick rack. I originally had a standard rack, but after a prang at Goodwood, as I was going to have to change the bent one, a quick one seemed sensible. To start with, there was a certain amount of 'stickiness', I would find that after a while on the motorway, changing lane required a real tug on the wheel. The car would then shoot across to the lane I wanted and it required another effort to pull it straight. After a while, and Jim Whiting filling up the rack boots with some kind of oil, it all settled down. The only downside I've found is that the turning circle isn't so good (the car has flared wings). It's almost as if the % increase has been achieved at the expense of manoevrability at very low speed. However, I wouldn't change it now, the steering is very positive, very direct. ymmv Barry

Have you got your ' 's in gear yet Steve?

Thanks Lawrence, I'll mail our providers. Cheers