Thats strange, as I went on to Bridgestone's website and looked up the sizes they have available for the RE050 and all of them are way to big for both L880K and LA400K. Maybe they only make the smaller sizes in Japan? If thats the case then I guess we should start importing! They have a few different tyres which is availiable in 165/50/R15, on bridgestone's Japanese website: 165/50R15 サイズ 検索結果 | タイヤを探す（乗用車用） | 株式会社ブリヂストン •Playz PX-C - A normal tire •Potenza Adrenalin RE003 - A sport summer tire •Potenza RE-71R - A high performance summer tire •Nextry - An eco tire They also have 2 stud-less winter tires •Blizzak VRX - Winter tire •Blizzak VRX2 - An improved version of the VRX
I had the Nankangs fitted today but haven’t had chance to drive on them properly as there were problems sealing one of the front rims and I had a motorway journey to do. One minor problem is that they jacked the front of the car on the bracket just to the left (as you face the car from the front) of the recommended bump. I can’t tell if it’s been pushed back due the tightness of all the bushes/torsion bars. It looks like a oblong bracket with a plate in front of it and 2 holes drilled in. It’s clearly part of the same subframe/bumper structure but I can’t tell if it’s bent or not. Couple of pics attached. Does it look right or should it hang vertically.
I drew a straight line across one of your pictures to help identify any bends, and it looks as if there is a slight bend in the middle. You can see a small gap between the red line and the err, what's it called, I forgot I'm tired. It may be normal though, I don't really know... I'll compare with Sachihiro tomorrow since it's too dark now and I'll take some pics so you can compare them. (I hope they aren't bent on Sachihiro aswell)
@AFR0N1 Thanks for taking the time. I’m less concerned about the deviation along that line but whether the whole bracket has deflected backwards. On the first photo, the thread of the bolt is partly through the drilled hole (mush easier to see and feel in the metal, but you get the idea) and there’s very little clearance on the other side. It doesn’t help that the Dinitrol has just been reapplied so even with my phone flash and being right underneath, it’s still hard to see.
I know, there are also some tiny rust spots on the door and sills which will need fixing. I don't know if or how I can fix them myself
@AFR0N1 Thanks for the pics. It looks like the bracket isn’t present on the 660cc which is why I couldn’t find it in the workshop manual. As far as the rust is concerned, a lot of it is on the main structure of the subframe and suspension components. It’s almost certainly not too far gone to be really expensive but I would be tempted to pay to have it done professionally and then under sealed. It cost me around £600 for mine last year, although I added a bonnet respray which took the bill to £1100.
Can anyone with a 1300 tell me what there bracket looks like please and what it’s role in Copen life is ?
If you would take some pictures that show the surroundings as well, I could tell which part you mean As for the rust, I'm with welz on this one, your car looks RUSTY. What you can do? Get an angle grinder and start grinding the rust away , then treat it with rust protection primer and paint, then apply underbody seal. Should you find any holes, weld in a piece of metal
@Salieri If you’re asking me for more pics, it’s not easy to get at but the bracket sits to the left of the front subframe jacking bump and the left from towing eye. I suspect it’s a guard of some sort for the oil filter on closer inspection.
@Salieri Thanks for looking. Does yours deflect slightly backwards ? If you look in my first pic, you can see the bolt end and thread slightly protrudes through the drilled hole in the bracket plate at about 30 degrees.
@Salieri That’s very helpful. Looks like yours deflects forwards about the same as mine does backwards. I suspect mine had a run in with a kerb at some point. I’ll jack it up and check it’s not fouling anything but I suspect it’s just a shield seeing as it doesn’t exist on the 660cc as shown by @AFR0N1
I’ve got a bloody wheel out of balance now as well. I’m assuming it’s at the rear seeing as I can feel the vibration through the car rather than through the steering. It happens just before 65mph and disappears around 70mph.
It looks like the bridgestone potenza's are gone in the UK at least - has anyone tried the Nankang NS-2's? This seems like one of the few available tyres in the copens size at the moment.
I ran them for a couple of hundred miles before I sold the car. Once I had them rebalanced they seemed ok but it was earlier this month so never got to test them in the wet.
