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MG MGF Technical - Winter Tyres & Wheels for the F

Has anyone fitted winter tyres to their F? I am looking to do so here but there seems to be very, very few winter tyres in the same size as the normal tyres.

Ideally I would like to have winter tyres on steel wheels so I save the alloys and make it easier to change over.

I have asked at the local tyre shop and they have barely heard of the F and can not find any references to it for steel wheels etc.

Any help would be great.

Specific questions are:

1- Do I need to stay with the same size tyres as on the standard 15 inch alloys?

2- Are the existing wheels all the same size despite the difference in tyre size?

3- Can I have the same size tyres all round for winter tyres?

Any help would be much appreciated.

All the best, Baz.
Baz

Baz,
If you have 16in wheels with Low Profile tyres, then you will not find suitable winter tyres.
With 6 x 15 Alloys, tyres are available, however last month I raised a Thread and contacted friends in Switzerland.
The common answer was to take 4 of the 5.5 x 14in Steel Spare wheels and fit 175/65 R14 winter tyres. Why?? Because then you can fit small link snow chains.
Enjoy your winter snow !!
Geoff F.
G. Farthing

Hi Baz,

I've been fitting snow tyres to my F since 1999 so here are my recommendations :

DON'T go for 14' wheels and tyres. This seems to be what the dealers recommend here and I reckon it's a bad choice. First you must realize that you'll only be actually driving on snow 10% of the time (unless you live in a mountain village at 4000 ft) so you need to retain decent performance on the dry and wet. 175s all round make the F handle worse than a Daewoo Matiz (no offence intended for Matiz drivers). And yes you CAN fit snow chains to 15' wheels so that shouldn’t deter you. I even fitted chains on my 16 inchers one winter.

To answer your other specific questions:

1- Do I need to stay with the same size tyres as on the standard 15 inch alloys?

yes, preferably. You could however go for 185/ 55 15 all round (that's what I currently have on my F).

2- Are the existing wheels all the same size despite the difference in tyre size?

yes

3- Can I have the same size tyres all round for winter tyres?

see above

>G Farthing
I think you can find winter tyres for 16' wheels - they're rather expensive though, and only available in a limited number of brands. An Australian chap living in Switzerland tried this out last year - there should be something in the archives.

I have 16' summer wheels and bought a set of secondhand 15' alloy wheels for the winter (15' steel wheels don't exist for the F).

As far as tyres are concerned, whatever make you go for, you should be aware that the F's handling deteriorates with snow tyres. I tried some Kumhos one year and although they were good on snow, handling on the dry got very poor. Last year I went for Bridgestone Blizzak LM22s and was very pleased with them. Dry handling was almost as good as with my 16' summer tyres! As for performance in the snow … these pics speak for themselves :-)

http://uk.photos.yahoo.com/aebraham2000

If you have 15' wheels as standard I would recommend changing just the tyres, preferably the same sizes as standard.

Anthony
Anthony Braham

Nothing to add from my humble side.
Would underline going for the 185/55 15 on a second rim set.
Dieter K.

Geoff, Anthony, Dieter,

Many thanks for the responses. I believe a local tyre company here have the Bridgestones as that was just about all they had in the standard tyre sizes for 15" wheels.

I will try 185/55 all round.

Next thing is to get the tracking set correctly, I have ruined the existing summer tyres after just 8,000kms by scrubbing off the inside half of each front tyre, plus one rear is worn more than the other.

I had the tracking checked before I had the last set of new tyres installed, and it was at an MG Rover dealer. I didn't ask what settings they used.

Reading through the pages here it seems the concensus is to try 0.05 toe out at the front.

By the way Anthony, I'm not too far from you. In France over the border from Geneva. Closer to Annecy.

Thanks and all the best.

Baz

go for the LM22 or 24, I suspect the LM 18 may not be good enough for the F.

>it seems the concensus is to try 0.05 toe out at the front.

0 deg 5 min toe-IN each side is the "recommendation" (as opposed to 0 deg 5 min toe out, which is the Rover setting).

But if you set it at that in cold weather (ie. when the suspension is low) your car could get excessively tail-happy in the summer ...

I'd recommend you have the dealer set the front tracking at 0'0" on both sides.

>plus one rear is worn more than the other.

Which one? I have the same problem. the right rear tyre is slightly more worn than the left. But I suspect that's because I have a preference for left-turn powerslides :-)). Although surely that doesn't explain everything.

I'm having the rear tracking checked at the next service.

You should check that the ride height is the same too, in my case it wasn't...

Anthony Braham

PS Baz
If you come to my area drop me a line beforehand and we can meet up :-)

anthonyDOTbrahamATfreesurfDOTch

BTW were you at the Morges classic car meeting?
Anthony Braham

Hi Anthony,

Thanks for the tracking suggestions. It's the rear right tyre on mine too, and yes I will get that looked at too.

Not often in Lausanne, more Geneva and Neuchatel.. but will definately get in touch if I'm in the area.

I was not at Morges. We have only been back in France for 3 weeks after being in Asia for a couple of years, so just trying to get things sorted in the house, and car etc.
Baz

I'm often in Geneva too so don't hesitate :-)

One last comment about snow tyres and tyres sizes:

My experience of the last week's driving with 185/55 15 at the rear has led me to conclude that it is preferable to stick to 205/50 15 at the rear (you could alternatively try 195/50 15 if you can find that size)

Why? It depends on your diriving style, but I have noticed that as soon as you start driving a little sportier, the MGF looses all its nimble characteristsic and begins to sway dangerously at the rear.

When you come to think of it this is logical: all the weight is at the rear, so you really need the extra width and lower profile on the rear tyres.

I didn't experience that swaying last year with the 205 size snow tyres.

It has made the car lose some of it's driving appeal (and makes me wonder what the point is of having an MGF with 14" 175 winter tyres).

So unless you're likely to drive every day for 4 months in a row on snowy roads, I would recommend sticking to 205s at the rear.
Anthony Braham

15" narrow snow-tyres going on first thing tomorrow, had six inches of snow dumped on me in 45 minutes just south of Zurich today. The usually very reliable Swiss Met Service totally missed that one (at least in the last bulletin I saw).

Eight miles covered at 5 mph peering through a howling blizzard, brown trousers all the way. At the final hill she did what is known in show-jumping as a 'refusal', refusing to go forwards preferring instead backwards with a pinch of sideways skew into oncoming traffic for added excitement. She is sulking overnight in a Swiss Good Samaritan's driveway until I can roll the wheels down in the morning. Should have put them on during the week, but was too slack.

Not sure I'll be doing much winter driving, salt's not very good for the bodywork, driving sideways is not good for the leatherwork on the seats but if the weather's fine, I'd be well up for meeting up somewhere between Lausanne and Zurich Anthony. Drop us a line on ktnjimatbluewindotch.

Cheers

Jim
J. A. Farrington

@Baz,

do what Anthony said with tracking.
But at first put the ride height to the values you want.

Note the actual height and ambient temperature before you go for a 4-wheel alignment and write this to the alignment protocol for later needs.

Regards
Dieter
PS to many toe out, or/and to less ride height let the front tyres wear *inside*
Dieter K.

Jim,
You should know that in Switzerland it will always snow on the day before you plan to put your winter tyres on. Today, the road (and the pavement) will be snow-plowed, the sun will be shining and you will not need the snow tyres to recover the car.
Does six inches now mean that it will be a "Good" winter ?? We have our hotel booked in Lauterbrunnen for our normal 2 weeks in February, although I will be having a X0 birthday, I will not let my wife hang up my skis yet.
Natter in Monaco in September, visit James on the Schilthorn on the way ??.
G. Farthing

Hi Folks,

Just got back from Scotland so have not put any winter tyres on yet.

I will stay with the original sizes for the original 15" wheels, and found some of the LM22's locally. Pity there are no steel rims in 15", I don't like the idea of too many tyre changes on the original alloys. Already got some scratches with previous changes.

I definately need a new set anyway, winter or summer, and even though there may not be too much snow, it only takes that one day of being caught out as Jim just experienced.

We are in a hilly area too, and I can confirm that slight incline and summer tyres with some snow makes the car all but useless...

Now,... I don't know anything about ride height adjustments, but due to the uneven tyre wear at the rear I will get it checked to see that it's sitting level all round, then get the tracking done. I'll go for the parallel tracking as suggested and se how that works out.

Any recommendations for ride height? I would expect lower is better for the handling, but I have not played with this so I can't say what my preference is...

Many thanks, Baz.
Baz

This thread was discussed between 12/11/2004 and 22/11/2004

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