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MG MGB Technical - New Tyres

Thinking of getting new 185/70/14 tyres on 5.5 rims. I realise it may be a matter of taste, but any suggestions as to preferred tyre manufactures......?
Andy Hinson

For a summer use only car it may make sense to use lower cost tyres. This is because they will be due for a change from age before you use all the life in the tread. For a higher mileage everyday car I always use good quality tyres, such as Firestones (great when not on overweight 4 x 4 Fordobarges) Contis, and my personal favs Goodyears. In fact my B is on Firestones atm and I will be swapping some of them on age rather than tread wear, they are nice tyres though with lots of grip and very progesive behaviour at the limit.
Stan Best

A few years ago I changed my tires and wheels. Now I use Minilite replicas from Moss and Pirelli P400,s in the 185 size 70 series. These have been far better than any 165 or 175 tires I have used in the past. Size wize thet look right for the car too.
Robert Ekstrand


I am very pleased with Michelin XM1's.
best tyres I've ever had. Good in both wet and dry conditions. Very quiet. A little more expensive, however the treadwear rating is greater than 3, so they will last far longer than anything else around. More tyre per dollar.
Also there is far less rolling resistance than previous tyres.
They still look like new after 20 or 30 thousand km's
These are 195 by 60's on a V8 conversion, 195by15 minilite replicas.

http://www.michelin.com.au/tyres/passengerCar_energyXM1.asp

They probably have another name in the UK, or have an equivalent.
suggest you search for Michelin Energy
Peter

Hi Peter,Melbourne
I am building a '77 GT with 3.5V8 and rather than change the diff, which has been completely rebuilt, I thought that I'd go to 15" wheels to compensate for the different axle ratio between 4 cylinder and V8.
What do you think?
Peter M (member)
Peter M

Hi Andy,
Michelin is well known for good value for money. You may have a look too with Vredestein, not that bad really. They have a good grip and they even can supply you with the "classic sprint" really sticking to the tyre area profile too on a modern technology.
Peter,
Converting for 4 to 8 implies uprating wheels from 14 to 15.
R.G
Renou

Hi Peter,
I've kept the Diff' as well. Haven't done a thing to the back axle. I must have at least 40 or 50,000kms on the V8 now. I really enjoy the 3.9 ratio, very sporty. Tremendous surges of acceleration! The economy is still pretty good as well. I'm using a 3.9 EFI engine with a supra W58 gear box that has the 0.78 fifth gear and at a steady 110km/hr (top down) get a solid 10km/litre (29.2mile/British gallon). That is an averaged figure from a trip to Sydney. Perhaps the low energy tyres help.
I still find the low first gear very useful for for traffic/carparks etc.
The diff' is way over engineered for a small car. The diff casing is a quarter of an inch thick! .The Salisbury diff' originally came out of a delivery van, and was shortened/adapted for MGB's. I recently came across a discussion where a couple of guys were using it with 300-400BHP engines. One of them said that he eventually managed to break the spider gears dragging off a 911. Rev'ed the engine real hard and dropped the clutch I expect.The other guy was still using his.

Some bad news, Originally I thought exactly as you did wrt the wheel size, then i ran afoul of the regulations. You may not change your wheel size significantly from orriginal. In fact it turned out that my old 14 inch rostyle wheels with their 75 profile tyres were just outside legal! I have forgotten the details of how to work this out, but they are in the archives, or you could post a question, the experts are still around. It will be a plus or minus on the orriginal overall wheel plus tyre diameter.
My primary motivation in changing wheels was; appearance and I was fitting the volvo calipers and required more clearance.
Since I was changing the wheels anyway, and needed to change to high speed tyres, I opted for 15 inch minilite replicas (performance wheels) and a lower profile tyre for better control. The 60 profile gave an significant improvement, but was not so low profile (ie50) that ride comfort was compromised. The 15 inch, 60 combination worked out to be within the legal range for MGB's.
If I was not spending a whole lot of money on wheels and tyres I would have probably taken a chance that they would not have picked up on the regulation. In fact, you will need to contact an engineer to get a certificate, ask him.
Peter S

Hi Peter S
Many thanks for your great reply - will call you (assuming you are Peter Sherman).
Kind regards
Peter M
Peter M

sure, anytime
I'm in the phone book. Selwyn ave'.
Peter

This thread was discussed between 18/09/2007 and 21/09/2007

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