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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Tyres - Yet Again!

Sorry for reviving this old chestnut but I'm in a bit of a quandry.

Perhaps, given the rate at which the tyres in our size(s) come and go, perhaps this could be an annual topic.

I really like the Yokohama Blue Earth AE01s that my Sprite is wearing at present and there is plenty of life left in them. The grip and handling are great. Sadly, Motorsport UK, in its wisdom, after just three years on the approved list, has deleted them for 2019.

There are not many 13" tyres on the List 1A that applies to my hill-climb class and most of the few that are there are unknown quantities.

Does anybody have any experience or comments to make on any of the following:

Avon ZT5
Continental Eco Contact 3
Continental Eco Contact 6
Hankook Kinergy Eco 2
Semperit Comfort Life 2
Toyo Nano Energy 3
Uniroyal Rain Expert 3

Given that these will be used mainly on the track, the top priorities are dry grip and wet grip followed by handling. The wear rate isn't really important.

These all have quite similarly good ratings on the Tyre Reviews website with the Semperit scoring highest. In the end it just might boil down to £ (unless I risk it and hope that nobody notices I'm still on Yokohamas! - Can I trust you Rob not to notice if I make it to Harewood in June?).

Thanks in advance

Colin

C Mee

Aren't the ratings for grip etc marked on the sidewall of the tyres? These specifications will be available online too. All done using standard EU tests so will be comparative.
David Smith

Dave, The Eu ratings are useful but I' m also keen to find out how folk find them in 'spirited' driving and in the wet. Some tyres are described as squirmy or giving a poor response while others are reported to give excellent respose or braking etc. I want to find a tyre that's as good as, or better than, the
Yokohamas.
C Mee

Colin,
the reviews are they on Spridgets or modern compact cars, family, town cars and how much of that would translate to track use. If someone gives a review on spirited driving with a lightweight car that might be a starting point.

David,
do all tyres with the same grip marking actually grip the same outside of the test specifications (not that I know what they are) and over use and time.
Nigel Atkins

Colin
A mate has Toyo Nanoenergy 3 's on his Golf Gti
He reckons they are heaps better than the Conti's that came on it, he reckons they suck up irregularities in the road better, sharper in the steering and grip well wet and dry
he does heaps of Klms and runs hillclimbs etc so has got a fair idea of what's good and what's not
One interesting thing he said about them is that even if he pumps them right up at the high pressure spec for the car it still grips great on gravel roads at that
So on a light car like a Midget I guess they would still be a supple grippy tire unlike a lot of eco tyres
willy
William Revit

Willy,
do you know if those Toyos were made in Japan or elsewhere?

MGFs are tyre sensitive and IIRC at one time there were problems with mixing the same Toyo model of tyres, the later ones were made elsewhere, possibly it was a change in compound rather than country but I don't know.

I don't know but in your area of the world you may get Japan made Toyos (if they're still made there) and this part of the world made elsewhere and they may be different - or exactly the same.

Tyres are very complex, just look at how top level motorsports put so much effort to them.

Toyo used to be local to me at Rushden but no more.
Nigel Atkins

Whatever you end up with, is it worth getting them scrubbed so you don't have too much tread for motorsport use? (I'm sure there are others on here who know more about this subject than me!)
Jonathan Severn

I use rainexpert and am happy with them. They are a bit softer compared with say the eco 3 but it does depend how your suspension is set up eg size of front ARB etc
Bob Beaumont

Don't know Nigel, I'll check over the weekend

I run Kumho on my golf and yes you are correct about countries (or spec) I had KH17 (Japan) and changed to identical looking KH18 -not japan -and there is a very noticeable difference in them---KH17 next time for me
willy
Just had a look on the Aust. Toyo site and the smallest tyre listed there is 185/70/14 there are no 13 inchers listed
I'll still check to see where they are made--
William Revit

I have Uniroyal Rainexpert 3 on my Jaguar and they are excellent. One point, however, they are asymmetric but in an odd way. When fitted (correctly) the grooves appear to go in the same direction on both sides so when viewed from the front or rear it looks odd (hard to describe I know). If looks are not an issue then a good tyre.
Chris Hasluck

I agree Chris but then you can't see them when driving!!!
Bob Beaumont

Thanks for all the comments and advice - all really helpful.

Nigel, re. tyres for moderns - that's exactly why I'm asking! I realised the weight issue some time ago which is why I really appreciate the soft Yokohamas. A quick google shows that FIAT 500s and Pandas are both heavier than the Sprite and some Minis are twice as heavy!

Willy, I've been considering the NanoEnergy. I'm just a bit wary of Toyos after my experience with the concrete Toyo 350s that had no idea what grip is! When this problem arose I decided to go for Kumhos as they are popular with a number of club hillclimbers. Sadly they deleted all but the Ecsta PS91 from the approved list and that isn't available in my size

Jonathan, thanks for the reminder about scrubbing. The early events in the year are often wet and I don't want to go skating! I'll make sure I get some miles on them first.

Bob, Chris. Thanks for the votes for the Rain Experts. Other folk in the club have rated them highly on their MX5s. It was between them and the Yokohamas and I went for the Yokos because the Rain Experts were marked as probably being removed from the approved list the following year. It didn't happen and they're still there but the Yokos aren't. Just my luck. If they look a bit odd, I'm intending to switch the Yokohamas onto my steel wheels for when looks count!

Thanks, Colin.
C Mee

Colin,
even the smaller original (modern) version of the Fiat 500 will be heavy as it's a modern car designed to carry 4 or is it 5 modern adults with all the necessities and safety features of a modern car and the 500 used the Panda floor IIRC. Panda another not so small small car.

The Sprite would have been a lighter car even when new compared to the other cars of its day let alone modern cars, and latest MINIs are like trucks and latest 500s like vans.

Those Toyo 350s were certainly not the best, we blame guy for saying the 330s were OK. :)

I was surprised the Yoko Blue Earths turned out to be so good, my mate said so too, just my luck as I stuck with the Michelin Energy.

Good luck, keep checking.
Nigel Atkins

I have Uniroyal on my Midget. They're the previous version that isn't asymmetric/odd like Chris says.

They are great. I've done a track day on them, in the dry, and they held up pretty well. Nowhere near as good as a dedicated track tyre but...

In the wet they are fantastic. Way way better.

I have a set of the asymmetric ones on the big P6. They are also great. Would buy them again,if I can deal with the funny looking tread pattern....
Rob Armstrong

I have Uniroyal Rain Expert 3 on my Midget which I've only used on a rally day which comprised of tarmac and gravel and found they performed well on tarmac so I will try them on sprints and hillclimbs this year.
Not played round with pressures yet but think I'll try starting at 20psi testing round the lanes looking at them they should also be ok in the wet. I only bought them to try as they were quite cheap and to run round on save wrecking good gravel tyres.
Peter King

Hi Colin,

I have been through all this recently. I have so many spreadsheets! :-) In the end I am going to be using 1b tyres but I explored all the 1a options too.

Part of my research was looking at the UTQG treadwear ratings. A predominantly American rating system, but appears on UK/EU tyres sometimes too. The treadwear rating is an indication of the "softness" of the tyre. Super stick track tyres tend to be less than 100, list 1b semi-slick types around 100 - 180. Road tyres can be anything above that.

In order of treadwear rating (approximate softness) of the tyres I could find info for:

Yoko A048R (list 1c, for example) - 80
Nankang NS-2R "Track/Soft" (for example)- 120
Nankang NS-2R "Street/Hard" (list 1b, for example) - 180
Conti Eco 3 - 240
Avon ZT5 - 300
Yoko Blue - 300
Yoko A539 (would 175/60 size work?) - 300
Nankang AS-1 - 340
Hankook Kinergy Eco2 - 400
Toyo Nano 3 - 420.

I couldn't find details on the Uniroyal, Semperit or EcoContact 6. They are all Continental brands and (for whatever reason) Conti seem relatively unwilling to share this data.

The other option is the Cooper CS2, but this is the same as Avon ZT5.

I used the ZT5 in 155/70 at Donington last year. They seemed OK and didn't completely melt! :-)

As mentioned, if they are only going to be used for competition, get the tread cut down to 3 or 4 mm. There are a couple of specialists (Demon Tweeks for one) that can do this.

Hope this helps.
Malcolm
Malcolm Le Chevalier

If you need to get tyres shaved 2 more names to check with are George Polley and Tadworth Tyres. Also worth asking the C1 race guys where they get theirs done.
David Smith

Dave, Malcolm,. Thanks for the tyre shaving suggestion. Demon Tweeks is only about half an hour fom here so I'll give it some consideration.

Malcolm, thanks for passing on the results of your research. Those UTQG figures are really interesting and very useful in helping me to narrow the field somewhat. I've found some American sites giving UTQG scores but they only had US market tyres on. I'll keep looking for data on UK/EU tyres.

Colin
C Mee

No worries Colin.

A few of them I found just by trawling through eBay and finding pictures of the sidewalls! Most (but not all) tyres are marked with the UTQG numbers for Treadwear, Traction and Temperature
Malcolm Le Chevalier

Mr Tyre was completely flummoxed when I mentioned UTQG figures yesterday!

I can't find any UTQC figures on my Yokohamas but the Toyo 350s have a Traction figure of 400 so that rules out the Nano 3.

It's my daughter's birthday today. The only thing she said she wanted was tyres for her VW Caddy so we're off to the local tyre shop tomorrow, we'll see what he has to offer.
C Mee

Blimey - sensible girl!
and good parenting.... :-)
David Smith

Colin

I've gone for Conti EcoContact 3 for my road and hopefully speed event Sprite. Not on the road yet so cannot report. In 145 size (I am on standard MkI/II 3.5 inch rims) it was only these or the Uniroyal Rainexperts that I could get.

I find Camskill Tyres useful.

Cheers
Mike
M Wood

Coming into this thread a bit late, but I also have Continental Eco Contact 3 165/70 R13 on 5" K&N minilite lookalikes. Had them nearly 3 years and they replaced an earlier set of Contis.recommended by Tadworth Tyres.
Very well pleased with them for road use. I have no experience track-wise.
Peter Blockley

This thread was discussed between 06/03/2019 and 20/03/2019

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