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Occasionally someone will post a pic of whitewalls on a/their Speedster and the vote is always divided.  Me- I think whitewalls are a classic American car thing and really don't do anything for a Speedster.  It is your car, though, and if you like it go for it.  As President for Life of Stanistan (because he is beloved by his people) Stan says- It's a big tent, with room for all (just no SEMA cars, please, that would test the boundaries a little too much!).  Al

Carlos,

For what it's worth, I agree with ALB.  Those wide whitewalls do seem more like an older American car thing than a European sportscar thing.  I understand the personally-induced pressure to try and make a well-appointed Speedster look "better".  Particularly in mid-winter when we're itching to go for a drive. 

For what it's worth -- I had an anal-retentive friend in college who had a grey 1972 Beetle.  He pulled off his wheels, taped the narrow sidewall stripe and painted them a maroonish red paint.  Was crazy time-consuming but did add an elegant degree of refinement that might make your grey Speedster sparkle?

Good luck and have fun,

Marshall

Thanks for the picture i have to say that looks super nice. Here's a picture of a one  same color of my speedster.

As I said earlier, I'm not particularly fond of the big whitewalls (on the grey/silver Speedster), but the pic you posted, Carlos, is a slightly different story.  Is it because the whitewall band itself isn't nearly as wide  (and 'Muric'n  '50's automotive looking) or that I'm liking the Speedster's color and the fact that it is, what, 4 or 5" off the ground?

And @Lane Anderson- I've always been a Madeline Kahn fan!

I love the look of whitewalls, and I like them on painted steel wheels even better, BUT the tires themselves are JUNK!  I have had more complaints with the handling of these tires, tread walk, etc...  pop them off and throw a good set of tires on and the car handles 100x better.  i have a few clients who have the whites for shows and then a 2nd set of standard tires for when they really go out and drive.  they are that bad...  I am working with a shop that makes whitewalls and trying to get them to make me a few sets using top quality tires (CN36) as a starting point.  Hopefully that can get the look and the performance, however it'll be a $1500 set of tires all said and done

I've tried the Coker house brand and also the BFG sold by Coker and had the same issue with both.  Not every single time, but more often than not.  It also depends on your driving style/usage.  i put a set on a friends Beetle a few years ago and they seem fine, but that car probably never sees more than 40MPH imperfect weather.

Thanks for the feedback.  Im getting coker white walls. Those are running about $1000 . Are these tires not good?

What about buying a set of Atlas Port-a-Walls? Install those and give them a try first. Get the 1 7/8" set don't get the 3" set. Less than a $100 so if you don't like them you're not out a lot of money.

Port-a-Wall Installation

Buy Port-a-Walls

Last edited by Robert M

I can understand that some folks like the look of whitewalls and others don't. To each is own. I decided to go with white walls and worked with Diamondback Tires to put them on Vredestein Sportrac's. Took about 3 weeks for them to finish them up and ship them to me. These aren't stickers or inserts, they actually rough the sidewall and heat bond the rubber pieces together.
I've heard stories about how poorly the Coker's handled but have no experience with them myself, I love cruising the mountain passes and canyons here in Utah and wanted the best performance tire I could get and then work on the aesthetics.
Highly recommend Diamondback Tires, easy to work with and high communication throughout the process. Call them up and talk about the tires you want and they can source them, they have their own brand as well but they didn't try to push them on me.
https://dbtires.com/

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I'm with Robert - Go with a set of Porta-Walls in the width you like and see how they look.  WAY cheaper than a set of questionable-handling tires, for sure.

Amazon has them, too:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/...90A9378?ref_=ast_bln

That, plus the installation video that Robert linked should fix you right up with your current radial tires for minimal money.

And a 2" porta-wall is about the limit on a Radial to keep them from puckering.

Last edited by Gordon Nichols
@Quadmod posted:

I can understand that some folks like the look of whitewalls and others don't. To each is own. I decided to go with white walls and worked with Diamondback Tires to put them on Vredestein Sportrac's. Took about 3 weeks for them to finish them up and ship them to me. These aren't stickers or inserts, they actually rough the sidewall and heat bond the rubber pieces together.
I've heard stories about how poorly the Coker's handled but have no experience with them myself, I love cruising the mountain passes and canyons here in Utah and wanted the best performance tire I could get and then work on the aesthetics.
Highly recommend Diamondback Tires, easy to work with and high communication throughout the process. Call them up and talk about the tires you want and they can source them, they have their own brand as well but they didn't try to push them on me.
https://dbtires.com/

IMG_0460

That is so cool that your tire shop worked with you on this project. And you can’t beat the Vredesteins for their handling. And the bonus of your tire shop doing the extra work is truly awesome.

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