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MG MGF Technical - Alternatives to 215 F1

I have 215-40-16 F1's all round at the moment. The fronts are due to be replaced soon (very soon). Any advice on replacements, perhaps 205's to stop tram lining?

John.
JFK

There are several possible combinations :

215/40-16 all round (was OEM setup)
205/45-16 all round
215/40-16 rear // 195/45-16 front (is new OEM setup)
225/40-16 rear // 205/45-16 front

I have tried #1 and now have #4 (also had 15" wheels some years ago)
Good grip, and (too ?) safe handling at the limit (understeer).
IMO, all these combination are OK ; the more important is to choose good tyres.

Tramlining is like grip on snow or wearing : downsides of high perfomance wide tyres... :(

HTH,
Fabrice

PS : GY F1's are available in all these sizes, IIRC.
Fabrice

Trophy 160s and TFs use 195/45 R16 fronts (I think that the profile %age is correct?) - so this is probably the best way forward, John.
Rob Bell

From what I recall when i looked into them, the 195's are quite a bit more expensive than the 'common' 215/40's...


Chris
Chris George

I was toying with the idea of putting something different on the front instead of the 215s. The cheapest I found, locally, was £79 inc all the usual. The current fronts have lasted 27,000 miles which isn't all that bad. I repaced the rears after 19,000.

John.
JFK

Been running 205x45 16s all round (Fabrice's option #2) now since 1998 and am very happy with them.

Recommend Marangoni Zeta ESC - my last set cost me £65.00 a piece fitted and lasted me around 19,750 miles (including 2 trips to the Nurburgring).

SF
SF

Oh, and i meant to add that these narrower section tyres have NOT cured the tramlining - i live with it.

SF
SF

OK call me stupid but what is tramlining??
Mark Catterall

Andy, your tramlining is due to the incorrect offset of the wheels that Motobuild supplied :o( Makes for communicative steering though doesn't it? ;o)

Mark, tramlining is when the steering follows the ruts in the road (or a tendency to follow the camber of the road - which can be quite marked on UK roads) as opposed to following the desired 'steered' direction.
Rob Bell

This thread was discussed between 03/12/2002 and 04/12/2002

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