Would the Tamiya Lotus 79 tires fit the Lotus 78?

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Would the Tamiya Lotus 79 tires fit the Lotus 78?

Post by BMW »

Silly question maybe, but I have a Lotus 78 that needs building, but the tires are of the well known old balloon shape with imprinted logos that also disintegrate after a few years.

So I am thinking, can the Lotus 79 tires be used instead?
(and if they could be used on the Tamiya Brabham BT46 and others of that vintage as well...)

The Fujimi Brabham BT46B tires will sadly not fit the Lotus 79 (or Brabham 46).
The front tires fit the wheels but are a bit too thick and the rears do not fit the wheels at all.
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Re: Would the Tamiya Lotus 79 tires fit the Lotus 78?

Post by gp-models »

What starting point are we talking about? Tamiya or Fujimi Kits??
Tamiya kits should have the same dimensions, but not sure about Fujimi, or mixing Fujimi with Tamiya kits. ;)
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Re: Would the Tamiya Lotus 79 tires fit the Lotus 78?

Post by BMW »

Sorry :)
Would the Tamiya 1/20 Lotus 79 tires fit the 1/20 Tamiya Lotus 78 :)

The Lotus 78 was released in 1978, and the Lotus 79 in 2010 so quite possibly, the dimensions might have changed due to better quality
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Re: Would the Tamiya Lotus 79 tires fit the Lotus 78?

Post by indycals »

I think I did exactly that with my Lotus 78 and Brabham BT46 - Tamiya redid their tires when they started re-issuing the M24 and WR1 10-15 years ago. I think all three -the Lotus 79, WR1 reissue and M24 reissue all use the same tires. I can say that they both have the newer style of tires, but I can't say for sure what kit tires went to what car, but my unfinished Tamiya 79 is missing the tires so they have been repurposed onto one of them. https://indycals.net/decals/f1/78lotus78.html
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Re: Would the Tamiya Lotus 79 tires fit the Lotus 78?

Post by BMW »

I see!
Thank you very much! I am off to get tired!
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Re: Would the Tamiya Lotus 79 tires fit the Lotus 78?

Post by Flemming »

Yes the modern issue Lotus 79 tires - like the 20061 Martini Lotus 79 fits without any problems on old timer kits wheels like the M23, Wolf, Lotus 78 and so on,

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Re: Would the Tamiya Lotus 79 tires fit the Lotus 78?

Post by CAREL »

The front tires of the Lotus 78 from Tamiya are smaller in size than the 79 tires.
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Re: Would the Tamiya Lotus 79 tires fit the Lotus 78?

Post by Flemming »

CAREL wrote: Fri Jan 14, 2022 4:43 pm The front tires of the Lotus 78 from Tamiya are smaller in size than the 79 tires.
Yes but the question was if they fit on the rims - and they do. The old Tamiya fronttires were probably too low in profile anyway - the new ones looks a lot better.

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Re: Would the Tamiya Lotus 79 tires fit the Lotus 78?

Post by BMW »

An update:
As said, they fit! :D
Image

Perfect for Brabham BT46, Lotus 78 etc.

You can order part number: 19402409 from your local Tamiya stockist, and you get four tires with four polycaps and black tubing as well.
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