Our Citroens, Xm, C5, C15-6, Traction.

Yes i know what you mean Andrew, maybe it is a case of a tyre fitter pushing a different size on an XM owner. Although one of the Michelins fitted looks original! Even with, what seems to be, the original weight. So id have thought there must be an Xm model with 195/60s, but maybe not. I think what ill do is fit my tyres from the steels, as they have almost new tyres, Vredesteins too, which are superb! Oh maybe get some 205/60 Michelins.

I have to say, it does look especially low at the back in that picture, the earlier pictures are more realistic of how it normally sits. I may raise the back up slightly.

Odd you say that, maybe it is the colour of mine which draws the attention. Ive had people stop and stare at it a few times. One of which 3 people were getting out of a Xantia in tescos carpark, they all stood to watch me drive around the car park until i got parked, then they carried on into the shop. Numerous occasions ive had that kind of thing happen, i dont think its to do with my driving either!

Although, it doesnt grab attention like the C15 does, quite often on motorways cars hover around having a good look at it, some even take pictures as they go by with their phones

I can believe you get a lot of attention in your Cxs, they are very very different looking, they still look futuristic even today.

Hi Chris

Regarding tyre sizes, all tyres where on the car when i bought it at 48k the dealer selling had put a pair of cheep crap on the front for the mot, and the rears where odd but fairly evenly worn and one of those is an original mich, vintage rubber .
The xm injection mk 1 had 195/60's thats mine, and the mk1 carb had 185/65's there is almost a different tyre size for every body shape and engine size!, for mk 1's at least.

I get a lot of comments about the xm too, people stopping to look, or knocking on the window for a chat and people taking photo's etc especialy the pulling up next to you on the motorway thing. I might do the isle of wight car show in it this year, been thinking about it for a while, there is never a cit there of any kind!

D

This post has been edited by dean on January 21, 2009 09:38 pm

Thanks for clearing that up, i thought one model must use that size. Even S2 Xms use a variety of rubber sizes, id imagine the 205s would look quite fat on the alloys, as the 195s are a pretty good fit.

I thought id put them on the car and see what they look like, however when i put pressure in the two cheapy tyres they were leaking like crazy from around the rims, and were deflated again in no time, but the two Michelins held their pressure perfectly overnight. (does that say something about quality rubber perhaps!) So this morning i dropped the two leaking ones at the tyre fitters to have them resealed, so i could try them on. I know them quite well so it was only a few pound to get that done. The tyre place said the rims were in very good condition and they didnt need much sanding back to get a good seal again.

I then fitted them to the car, michelins on the back on cheapies on the front, and they have held the pressure fine now. I wont be leaving those tyres on for long, i may look at getting some 205/60s for them or swap over my rubber.

You must have had your car quite a while too dean? What mileage are you on now?

Ive never had a bad comment about my Xm, some about reliability etc, but never about the looks, most people like it. Its very distinctive, there is no way someone could confuse it with another car, which is possibly why they stand out. Its nice to have something different

This post has been edited by Citroenmad on January 21, 2009 11:03 pm

The pukka Citroen handbooks don't show ANY 205/60/15's used on S2'S but an earlier s1
020 GB 7-89 does list them as correct fitting on the Xm injection with 2.1 front* and 1.9 rear
and 2.2 with air conditioning equipment!!

Chris I'd say the car should run at this level;





Andrew

Hi Andrew, my S2 brochures says its the 2.0T with 205/60, 2.1 autos & 2.5s with 205/65 and the 2.0 & 2.1 manual with 195/65.

One of my pics from weatherby: (this was a very nice Xm!)



Although these alloys have 195/60, which must be the smallest profile, as 205/60s will have a deeper profile. So it seems 195-60s are from the model Dean has.

2.1 and 1.9 is quite low? Thats about 30 front and 27 rear. My car states 33 front and 27 rear. I usually go for 32 and 30.

Looks a little high at the back there, i might have a play with it and set it a bit higher at the back, a little lower than that though . My sig looks silly with it being so low Certainly need deeper tyres to fill the arches then!

This post has been edited by Citroenmad on January 21, 2009 11:18 pm

clever stuff Andrew,

Chris i found that if the rear ride height was right, the rear arch should just hide the top 30mm of the tyre iirc.
I have had my xm for 6 years now and the speedo rolled over to 90013mls last Sunday so i have done about 42k in it, and i cant complain about reliability.
The only real issue was the head gasket which went at about 60k but that was due to much neglected antifreeze changes, despite the FCSH

Oh and the tyres werent sealing because they have been stored for so long flat which has allowed the rim to corode on the sealing lip, but those tyres never held air well.........hate cheep tyres

D

This post has been edited by dean on January 21, 2009 11:27 pm

Usually the top of the rear tyre is just hidden by the rear arch, it is unusually low in that side view picture, but i think it is a little low, so ill have a play and set it a bit higher

Our Xm has been with us for 6 years too, its only done 21K miles in that time though. We bought it with 64K miles and its now got 85K miles. Its never been any problem at all, wear and tear items and the usual S2 window issues on both sides, but apart from that its been great. Who said Xms were unreliable

Yes i expected that, in fact i didnt expect to use the tyres at all but they are legal so i stuck them on for a test and pictures

Im with you there, i hate cheap tyres, i usually rate tyres by their wet weather performance. I dont tend to hang around so its nice to have the assurance of a set of good tyres. It always pays to invest in tyres And in my experience, cheap tyres last half the time of well branded ones, so its worth spending the extra few pounds per tyre anyway.

Chris,

you'd have to agree the sill line is parallel with the ground rather than dropping rearwards.
Yes, possibly the front needs to drop a smidge and the rear could be a bit lower than I
pictured (doctored!? ) Dean is not far wrong, the arch just very slightly clips over the
tyre but not to the degree it seems to be in your signoff side view - now where's a posting
by PeterH when you need it...

Andrew

And all the cheap tyres ive had don't cope with heavy cars and always seem to wear funny, like the ones you have on the front at the moment have.

Mine was on 83k at the beginning of the year, but two trips to Ireland for a fortnight each last summer near trebled its annual millage , sure is nice to use it though

Mind, Chris, there's no need to hide your signoff piccy!!

Actually, one of the front 3/4 one's looks even more dramatic an menacing with it's rear
haunches all sqaut as if it's just started to hoon forwards!!

I don't think the rear end I'd doctored in the side view picture is too high actually, guess
it because I've always preferred the look of the nose down tail slightly high attitude in the
GS, 2CV and CX! Are we all going to get really sad here now and start looking at side view
pictures of Xm's!?

Agree about cheap tyres and won't even consider something I can't even pronounce!

Darkhorse - sounds like an apt brandname as they're shocking on a Xantia I bought with
them fitted. I like Avons, Dunlops and Goodyear although for me the jury's out with Michelin
- used to swear by the bespoke TRX metric Michelins on the CX Turbo's mind but the these
are damned HEAVY cars on the front tyre weear and they're not cheap at £190 EACH
- yes each!! Nobody else offers a similar size; even Avon bailed out from making them
and only left remould manufacturers to offer an alternative. Cheaper to get Alfa alloys...

Andrew

Yes your right andrew, the sill is level. Ive been thinking mine is a bit low for a while now. We have set it before, ive just found the notes my dad made when he last did it, inside the Haynes book! Ill try have a look at that this weekend. Thankfully my dad is a mind of Citroen information, unfortunately i havent cought on to all of his info yet Though i am learning, and through this forum too.

This is maybe a better picture of the ride height - its still low :



Yes cheap tyres do wear strangely, these are worn on the edges arnt they, even when they are up to pressure they look soft. Ill be getting them off and mine on soon. I dont use the Xm much this time of year so it wont be going anywhere with these on

I average about 16K a year in my Seat and 3-4K in the Xm. They sure are nice to use, so relaxing on long journeys, which is what the Xm does best.

This post has been edited by Citroenmad on January 22, 2009 12:13 am

Im just making another one, just deciding which picture i can crop Maybe a 3/4 one like you say

Yes, i think we should have another thread of Xm side views, then i can compare mine!

Well Vredestein is hard to pronounce, but they are great tyres, they won tyre awards for the best in class, which was actually in the 195/65/15 size, so good enough for me!

I have michelins on my Seat, i find them very good, ive had better in terms of grip but as an all round tyre they are quiet, grippy and wear well. Nearly bought them for the XM but then found those.

Actually, its very greasy the roads at the moment, and there are a lot of roundabouts on the way to where i took those pictures, but it actually felt very secure, i was surprised.

£190 a tyre! Id not like to have to buy a set of them in a hurry

Andrew is right, it should not be hiding the top 30mm, the top of the tyre should be about level with the top of the plastic door trims as a rough check, i knew it was something like that but a measurement is always best .

When those black beauties are flat the sidewalls feel like they are made out of tissue paper which i think has caused the shoulders to wear, and i was never happy with how they looked when pumped up either.
You do realise those tyres managed 6k to put them in the state they are now so it goes to show you get what you pay for.

D

Yes, Vredestein's are good, I've got a set on my G plate V6 12v manual!

I recall the best in test reports but that was a good few years back now,
certainly not recently within the past 3-4 years - are they the same version?

My sister had a saying in College which still cracks me up and I'm reminded
by the Darkhorse moniker; "Pony" as in, Pony and Trap or rhyming for...

the abysmal performance of these tyres = cr*p!!

Andrew

Hmm, the ones im referring to are the Sportrac3s? http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/products/prod...08620/tyre.html Im not sure how old the design is but i think they are fairly recent.

Yes i can imagine they are pretty poor if pushed, i was taking it easy today as they had been leaking earlier in the day and sat around in a garage for a while so i didnt want to trust them too much They will be off soon though


This post has been edited by Citroenmad on January 22, 2009 01:21 am