New tires! Who doesn’t like getting a new set of tires? It gives you that same rejuvinated feeling that you get when you, say, get a fresh haircut or a new inguinal hernia support belt. I just got a new set of tires for my Citroën 2CV in anticipation of our 1rd Autopian Members Only Track Day, which you should absolutely come to, if at all possible. Reschedule that surgery! Skip that funeral/wedding/b’nai mitzvah/coronation and head over and join us for some track-time fun!
Anyway, I’ve needed to get some new tires for the 2CV regardless, since the ones on the car may pre-date the birth of my teenage son and are pretty dry-rotted. There’s no way they’d be allowed on a track, and probably shouldn’t be allowed on normal public roads, either. So, I finally got a new set of tires, and the 2CV is somewhat unique among classic cars in that there seems to be an overwhelming consensus about what tires to get: Michelin X tires.
There’s a reason for this, one that has some historical import to the greater automotive world as a whole, and I’ll get into that in a moment. But first, let’s look at how bad my old tires were:
Oy, yeah, those aren’t great. They look like they’re made of iguana skin. The date code says they were from late May, 2009, which means these tires are old enough to drive themselves now, given proper training. Because these skinny-ass tires are sort of hard to find now, I kept the old ones, for some hypothetical emergency/civilization collapse, but I hope I never need to actually use these again.
Okay, let’s take a moment to talk about why these tires are the only ones to get for a 2CV and why they’re such a big deal. The reason has to do with the fact that Michelin actually owned Citroën at the time of the 2CV’s development. Michelin took a controlling interest in Citroën in 1934, after the company put itself in financial jeopardy developing the wildly-advanced Traction Avant. The 2CV project started as the TPV (Toute Petite Voiture) project in 1936, and the Michelin X – the first mass-produced radial tire – was being developed at the same time.
In fact, the 2CV’s suspension design was co-developed with these new radial tires, and that particular tire design should be considered an integral part of the 2CV suspension. The qualities of a radial tire compared to the then-common bias-ply tires all factor into the 2CV’s suspension setup, relying on radial tires’ more flexible sidewalls, less rolling resistance, better heat dissipation, and so on.
As a result, the 2CV became the first car to be equipped with radial tires as standard when it was officially released in 1948/1949, and within a couple of decades, this would be come the overall standard for the entire automotive industry, continuing to this day. If the 2CV can be said to have a technical influence on the greater automotive world, this is how.
This is why 2CV people are so into Michelin X tires: they were designed specifically for the 2CV. So, that’s what I got, because I’m not here to make trouble. Well, not that kind of trouble.
The specific size of tire the 2CV uses is hilariously archaic compared to modern tires, 125R15, making for something that looks more like a motorcycle tire or a large O-ring than a normal tire. A stack of four of the tires I ordered was about two modern tires tall.
Taking a car like an old Citroën to a tire shop is a bit different of an experience than taking a modern, mainstream car, mostly because no one really knows exactly how to interact with it. When they asked for my keys so the service people could drive it into the bay, I told them that if they’d like, I’m happy to drive it in, since it’s all a bit weird. They assured me their techs would have no problem.
That was not the case.
I wanted to get some video of a baffled tech trying to figure out how to start, let alone drive the thing, but they snuck out to the car too quickly for me, and realized that this was not something they were equipped for before even getting in. I saw the tech standing by the car, looking somewhat befuddled, and went over to the car. He was happy to let me drive it in, as nothing is really where you think it should be in a 2CV. I’m sure he’d have been fine once I explained it, but the man has work to do, so he just handed me back the keys.
Fine by me!
Once in the bay I was happy to see that they took care to figure out where to best position the floor jacks, and it was fun to see it free of wheels, giving me a decent idea of what it’d look like if it was a hover-car:
I think it works as a hover-car! The skirted rear fenders definitely help with that.
Look at those snazzy new shoes! I’m excited to try them out on the track later this month; really feel those skinny bagels grip the road and flex their sidewalls or whatever they’re going to do.
Anyway, new tires. See, sometimes I make rational decisions! To celebrate, here’s a picture of my cat Neptune calculating if he can grab a piece of sushi from between my chopsticks:
Oh, and that’s an outdoor carpet on a deck. My indoor floors are not that filthy, I promise.
And I thought I had a hard time with tires for the CRX and i3
Is it common in the states for tire shops to just put your car up on multiple floor jacks, especially without stands?
Even in the sketchiest back-woods shop I could find, they’ve always put my vehicles on a hoist.
Good work. Hopefully they didn’t over-inflate the tires. I think these are supposed to be at something very low like 22 psi. I bought a tire gauge that maxed out at 40 psi so that I could get an accurate reading for stuff like this.
Yeah, 20 up front, 26 rears. I told them specifically that!
Neptune is clearly trying to use the Force to free your sushi from the grip of your chopsticks.
What’s going on with license plates in North Carolina? The truck has had “Farm Use” plates for years and the 2CV is sporting plates from Argentina.
My title arrived for the Prius yesterday, so I need to go get it registered. My Miata plates expire this month, so that would be a nice annual hit of almost $500 every June to renew plates on the 2 cars. Do you think I could get buy on Farm Use plates for a few months before registering the car; to spread out the future pain a bit?
I’ll be getting real plates on it very soon! NC is thankfully generous about timelines for that. It’s a wonderful state.
I can only imagine what was going through your head during the interval between “no, we got this” and “yeah can you drive it in?”
I find when at a shop these days, I’m increasingly taken up on my offer to just move it myself vs “sorry but can you hang on while we get someone who can drive a manual?”
When I dropped my car for new tires I mentioned it was a manual just to be on the safe side and the guy seemed offended that I would even bring it up.
Then I watched a young kid go out to grab it, stare in befuddlement for a bit, then ask an older coworker to pull it in.
It was always entertaining to take my ’83 F150, equipped with a 3-on-the-tree, into shops. There was a good chance the tech would get in the cab and suddenly just start staring blankly at a lever on the column and three pedals below. It was mind-bending for individuals who’d never seen such a thing before.
My nephew is in the early stages of his career as a mechanic, and was hot to drive my Boxster when he was visiting, so my daughter taught him to drive a stick on her Mazda 3 (which he picked up shockingly fast) and was good enough by his next visit that he could handle the Boxster. His first car was a beater Nissan Z of some type with a stick, and he just bought a Mustang GT with a manual (and apparently got a great deal as none of the other interested buyers could drive it). So, not all of the young mechanics out there are clueless on a proper transmission.
Spicy tuna roll? Anyhow, glad to see the new tires; those old ones are positively scary. Looking forward to meeting you and seeing the 2CV in person.
North Carolina. The gas station sushi options are limited.
Another reason to love the great 2CV.
There can’t be too many options in 125R15. Ninety seconds of intensive research revealed there’s a Firestone option, but not much else.
I think I’ve seen sidehacks with more meat on their rims (I’m told sidecar pilots prefer bias-ply for some reason.)
Interesting license plate tidbit:
I see that this 2CV is sporting Argentina tags, and up until now, I didn’t know that the numbers on those tags was embossed, rather than stamped from behind with raised numerals.
After the plate is stamped with a unique #, the paint is applied to the raised areas to provide contrast. Nearly all stamped license plates have the numbers painted after the number is applied. This Argentina tag has the background painted black and the white embossed numerals remain white.
This is interesting as Vermont (where I lived for 35 years) is the only other state that produces plates this way – numerals are embossed into the white blank and then the green paint is applied to the background – leaving behind white numerals.
…maybe only interesting to me. 😉
And as you probably know, the green they used on that center section in the mid ’00s fades like crazy.
That is interesting. Thanks!
You must tell us about the license plate bars you frequent.
This is an interesting tidbit, but If I’m understanding correctly I think your terminology is off.
Embossing is how “typical” plates are made, where the letters are raised above the background.
What you’re describing is actually called “debossing.”
For the second track day, I’ll need to see it equipped with 315 Hoosiers. Shouldn’t be that difficult. I hear you’re handy with a chainsaw.
Why do so many articles have a 0 instead of an O (“…suspension design was c0-developed…”)? I MUST KNOW!
It’s a secret code I send to my handlers in low-Earth orbit. Also, I fixed it.
Missed my 0pp0rtunity to call this 0ne 0ut…
It has to do with his typical overreach. Which is why his articles are so awesome!
Some demented designer hundreds of years ago decided to put them right next to each other on a standard keyboard layout.
See also: “pwned”
You probably know, but the QWERTY layout was designed to prevent the metal bars in a typewriter from clumping together with frequently used letter combinations during rapid typing. There’s always the Dvorak keyboard, but God help you re-training your brain/muscle memory on the different layout.
With my hunt and peck method, I wouldn’t have to do much retraining.
To quote Mitch Hedberg, “If I had nine of my fingers missing I wouldn’t type any slower.”
One of my favorite pranks when somebody leaves their desk with their computer unlocked is to remap their keyboard. They get so confused.