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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - tyre change

How often do people change there tires rather than waiting for them to wear out.
mark heyworth

On my regular road car aim for every 5 years.
M Wood

Another at five years.
Alan Anstead

This has been discussed before, and following my replies, dire warnings issued, mostly by Nigel. 😁.

But hey ho, here we go, I will repeat my previous reply, and don a tin hat.

Since I began cycling/riding bikes/driving, I've only ever changed my tyres when damaged, or, on cars and bikes, worn down to the legal limit. My current Sprite tyres are Rainmasters, fitted Oct 21. Crap on the rear, but great on the front. Oodles of tread left. At this rate they'll last at least 10 years, probably 15.

Rears, were on the front, must be at least 10 years old, probably 15.

So in short, at varience to most people, I change them when I really need to. Which means when *I* think I need to; which until the law changes, is how I'll continue.

Cue somebody posting picture of exploding tyre on an mgb.

😁😁

anamnesis

Tyres on my modern don't last much more than 5 or so years anyway. I had Pirellis develop tread blocking which made it sound like a dodgy wheel bearing after on 4 years!
I changed the road tyres on my cycle every 2 years regardeless as it reduced the puncture rate.
Modern rubber eh!
Bob Beaumont

Anamnesis
Due to my modern daily driver 1990 XR3i failing its MOT due to ‘chassis’ rot I have had to buy a more modern car: a five year old Mazda is ‘filling in’ whilst the ‘rot issue’ is sorted.
At 6500miles the tyres were showing cracks around the inner circumference so have been replaced. Tyres harden with age. In the past, like many other things, tyres tended to last but as with carbon thrust bearings has the formula changed so that longevity is no longer guaranteed or are we just being conned by a marketing ploy suggesting we change tyres at five yearly intervals?
Alan Anstead

I'm with Anam on this. Certainly in the past tyres have remained useable until worn out with no problems. Maybe they do harden and lose a bit of grip but unless you are in the habit of driving on the limit on public roads, you just naturally adjust your driving to suit. Just as you would to adapt to different road surfaces or weather conditions.
But perhaps modern tyres are now different to the extent of degrading in ways earlier tyres were not prone to?
GuyW

I'd go up to 10 years but most moderns probably need replacement before then, due to mileage wear, and an MOT would identify obvious defects anyway.

It's more of a problem with low mileage classics surely. My Frog tyres are 5 years old with plenty of tread left. I'll get them checked after another couple of years. The spare is unused so I'm potentially going to scrap a "new" tyre. It is kept in the dark though which helps AIUI.

Bob, I have Schwalbe Marathon plus (with tubes) on my road bike which are at least 3 years old and still reasonable tread. May need changing next year.
Bill B

When I lived in Wichita Ks I used kevlar reinforced tyres on my bike as standard ones were just too prone to punctures from the seed pods of a local plant, they are like jack game pieces and easily puncture thin bike tyres. I even knew a few people that had car tyres punctured by them.
David Billington

Obviously I defer to those with knowledge of how tyres on modern's are wearing faster, due to more frequent use and heavier weight. It's been about 17 years since I had a 'modern'. Lol.

Definitely tyres wear faster. Even on my Sprite I notice that, as when I used to do circa 10k miles a year in it, thr fronts seemed to last indefinitely. Now, the rainmasters whilst having loads of tread depth still, are definitely wearing faster.

As for having them checked, that's easy enough I think. I can see as well as any tyre bloke I think, or are they now using special equipment that detect unseeable damage?

Maybe I'm wrong, but apart from wearing faster, are modern tyres more prone to dramatic failure with age, than they were 20 or 30 or 40 years ago? If anything I'd have thought less so with better manufacturing and quality checking.

As Guy says, unless driving on the limit, such as racing, I just don't see the need to dump a tyre with loads of tread and no visible damage.

I read somewhere that **minor** surface/sidewall cracking isn't that serious and can happen quite early in a tyres life. But obviously if there are bigger cracks or splits, then the tyre's shagged, and of course I'd change it. Or when I've kerbed a wheel or hit something in the road, and ended up with a carbunkle, I've dumped that tyre.

If 10 year or more old tyres were all so dangerous, given how 'elf and safety everything is these days, I would have expected they'd be illegal to use by now.







anamnesis

Hi Bill
I use Continental gator skin. I ride mainly in London and the road is littered(!) with debris which cuts the tyre and reduces its resistance to puncture. I have got shwalbe marathon on my folding Brompton and they seem to last longer but it doe not do the miles.
Bob Beaumont

I have now been driving for over 60 years; many hundreds of thousand miles I have only once experienced a tyre puncture severe enough that I couldn't drive on it. Pothole damage about 25 years ago. Other than that I have had occasional slow punctures from nails, screws and thorns.

I once did have a puncture in a tubed tyre that wouldn't re-inflate. To get me home about 8 miles, I stuffed the outer cover with dry grass from the road verge. Handling a bit compromised but I didn't have to walk!
GuyW

That jogged a memory Guy. I cycled to Brighton from Streatham once with a mate, when we were about 15. We stayed ovetnight, forgotten where. But on the way back I got a puncture. No punture outfit. I'd heard about the grass trick, so I did what you did. But my grass stuffing skill wasn't as good as yours. Only got a couple of miles. Had to ring my Grandad to meet me at East Croydon station, and pay my fair after riding in the guards van with my bike. He wasn't impressed. 😄.


After that, I always carried a tool roll, spare tube, and a puncture outfit. 😅.


anamnesis

Bike tyres are narrow with only a little rim lip and would need a much higher pressure to support the cover enough for the grass trick to work. Reasonably packed grass in an old thick side walled radial ply tyre would have a much better chance of success.
GuyW

I think with modern tyres it very much depends on what they are which dictates how quick they wear. With something like the Rainmasters which have good grip they wear fairly quick but some harder cheap tyres can last ages. They probably all last longer than the cross plys most of us started with although again some wore out quicker because they were grippier than others. Mine certainly didnt last long then although they had a hard time and I used mainly Firestone which were soft and grippy.

Trev
T Mason

I remember looking out of the window of a taxi at traffic lights in Mumbai about fifteen years ago, when another (much older) taxi pulled alongside and stopped.
The offside rear tyre was stuffed with straw or something, which was visible through a two/three inch cut in the sidewall.

To get back on topic; I change tyres when they need changing, not before.
They wear quite fast on the Volvosaurus, especially the front. Probably due to the weight. It's a hefty brute.
Greybeard

Speaking of old tyres does anyone else remember getting their first set of radials and what a revelation they were compared to cross plys? My first set were Firestone Cavellino sport 200s on my Mark1 Cortina.

Trev
T Mason

I remember the dodgy transition with two cross plies and two radials (all Dunlops).

They were the right way round front/back (can't remember which) so legal but I remember some dreadful tramlining in my Morris Traveller.

Transformed when I finally had radials all round.
C Mee

Trev
I think it was Goodyear G800's on my mk3 Sprite in the early 70's.

Bob
I've also used Continental Gator skin - very good tyres.
Bill B

The first tyres I had on my Sprite were Firestone 165/70-13, don't know which ones, glad to see the back of them as not great in the dry and poorer in the wet. I swapped to Avons, a great improvement, and have been using them on all my cars ever since.
David Billington

Me too. G800's.
anamnesis

Bill and Anam, so did you not start driving on cross plys. My first car only ever had them.

David, surprised you had a bad experience with Firestones. I wonder what they were as I always found them great in the dry and wet although I must admit I have always liked Avons too. I have had both in cross ply and radial.

In my early motor club days general consensus in the club was Avon or Firestone good in the wet, Dunlop good when damp and Goodyear only good in the dry. Not many used Pirellis or Michelin.


Trev
T Mason

Trev
Yes, first car, before the Sprite, was a Ford Anglia. That was on cross ply's. Because I was changing to the Sprite with much better handling anyway I maybe didn't fully appreciate the advantage of radials.
Bill B

Trev, my first car was on crossplys, a 1959 Austin Metropolitan. I swapped to G800s, and stuck with them for ages when I bought my Sprite, then Pirelli P600s, then Michelin. Now Rainmasters front, and I think some variety of Goodyear rears.

I liked the G800s, but really liked the Michelins for their huge mileages.

Yep I remember the different feel Radials vs Cross. Huge difference.

The only time I've had a problem is with the Rainmasters. They are fine on the front but made the rear weave when on the rear. Asymmetrical. I won't buy another set.
anamnesis

This thread was discussed between 05/12/2025 and 10/12/2025

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