Lettered Tires?

[Mikeybc]

I'm a fan, but as with most automotive things, it's simply a trend.

Musical horns and cb radios were trends, white letter tires have been around for decades and will continue for many more...probably until when the tire becomes obsolete and were in flying cars and hovercrafts )

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

Musical horns and cb radios were trends, white letter tires have been around for decades and will continue for many more...probably until when the tire becomes obsolete and were in flying cars and hovercrafts )

Just because they have been around doesn't mean they've always been popular. They were popular in the 60s, then again in the late 70s/ early 80s, and now they are becoming popular again. It will last for a while, then it will go away again for some amount of time. Everything goes in cycles.

 

[Mikeybc]

Just because they have been around doesn't mean they've always been popular. They were popular in the 60s, then again in the late 70s/ early 80s, and now they are becoming popular again. It will last for a while, then it will go away again for some amount of time. Everything goes in cycles.

I suppose it's a regional thing , I've never noticed a difference in popularity up here in over 30 years. Though whitewalls did go out of fashion... I remember keeping them nice and white as a kid.

 

[Slash]

I suppose it's a regional thing , I've never noticed a difference in popularity up here in over 30 years. Though whitewalls did go out of fashion... I remember keeping them nice and white as a kid.

Yeah white walls went out but I've never not seen a bunch of cars with lettered tires around here. Very common.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

Yeah white walls went out but I've never not seen a bunch of cars with lettered tires around here. Very common.

You guys are not getting what I'm trying to convey. Back in 2001 when The Fast and the Furious came out, no 'tuner' or 'import enthusiast' would have dreamed of putting white letter tires on their car. It was all about the thinnest possible rubberband-like sidewall.

Now we have the likes of Rocket Bunny and Rauh-Welt riffing on early 90s JGTC machinery, bringing the white-letter to the import crowd.

It's in right now. In less than 5 years I bet it won't be.

 

[Sage Ages]

It was in for a long time. Just not here.

 

[Slash]

You guys are not getting what I'm trying to convey. Back in 2001 when The Fast and the Furious came out, no 'tuner' or 'import enthusiast' would have dreamed

It's in right now. In less than 5 years I bet it won't be.

Maybe in the performance scene. Most people just don't care of the tires have white letters or not, so you see them on common vehicles like SUV's and trucks.

 

[Badasp5.0]

Not really a fan of them any more. BUT When I was in high school I was upset that discount didn't put the white letters out on my new BFG all Terrains on my Dodge 4x4.

 

[Mikeybc]

You guys are not getting what I'm trying to convey. Back in 2001 when The Fast and the Furious came out, no 'tuner' or 'import enthusiast' would have dreamed of putting white letter tires on their car. It was all about the thinnest possible rubberband-like sidewall.

Now we have the likes of Rocket Bunny and Rauh-Welt riffing on early 90s JGTC machinery, bringing the white-letter to the import crowd.

It's in right now. In less than 5 years I bet it won't be.

Ok yeah I can agree the fast and furious crowd is having a white lettered fad, however for everything thing else from pickup trucks, old 60's muscle cars, 70's 80's and 90's 2 door couples and even suv's there seems to have been a pretty constant level of "white letteredness" through the years...much like blue paint.

 

[mustangGT90210]

Painted lettering on anything other than a race car, proper off roader or a US muscle car just looks wrong… they are just as stupid as stretched tyres, overly lowered cars, dodgy bodykits, neon lighting kits, and the other chavvy tat of that nature.

This, for example, belongs in the questionable modifications thread

I dig white letter tires... and stretched tires.. I've got 10.5" wide tires on a 10" wide rim, white letters out always! If I could find motorcycle tires I'd do those white letter out too lol


EDIT: Love how I step into this thread without reading the post before me and someone mentions blue paint to go with white letters

 

[ExigeEvan]

My housemate's '08 Honda CTR has the Pirelli PZero name highlighted and it looks really good, even on rather thin 225/35R19.

The only problem I see with it is when you scuff it, I don't have nearly a steady enough hand to touch up something like that and make it look factory fresh.

 

[NoobMan DS]

If the size of the sidewalls is quite wide and the height of the letters doesn't go completely from edge to edge, then lettered tires (with the letters in white) can look very appealing. Especially on mid-60s to late 70s American muscle cars.

But other than in that case, they don't look so nice. Well, maybe they still do for race-prepped or race-ready cars with an aggressive aero package.

I imagined it would look terribly unfitting if they're on a regular "everyday car", like an Accord or a Camry. I also tried to visualize them on an exotic grand tourer, say, an Aston Martin Vanquish or a Jaguar XK, and its charismatic elegance is just ruined. On some other exotics, they don't look so bad though, like the ones on the Ford GT someone else posted.

It kinda depends on how you interpret the character of the car. A Ford GT with its looks being similar to the GT40 has that racing vibe. Some other cars don't really have that, even though they're high-performance models.