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MG MGA - Tires

Its time to replace, age not miles. Anything new about tire brands and sizing? I have 60 spoke Dayton wire wheels and a conversion in the rear so my rear track is slightly wider than normal. Blackwell radials with tubes.

Thoughts? Experiences?

Thanks,all

Ted
Ted Persons

I got some Vredestein in 165HR15. They ride quite and handle well.
Keith Lowman

I just purchased 5 Kumho tires for $400.00 drive out from Discount tires.
david kirkpatrick

Ted,

Like David I was able to find a set of Kumho Powerstar 165-80/15's in mid-2011. Do check the manufacture date as I do not believe this particular tire is still in production. My set is essentially NOS with a manufacture date of 8/2008. Since I am not likely to put enough miles on them to wear them out, I lost a couple of years of service even before getting them mounted.

BTW - This tire size is the same as the '69 VW bug so you can use that car to search the tire seller web sites.

John
jbackman

I checked my records and I paid $291.00 and not $400 for the 5 tires. It's always fun to negotiate with Discount tire.
david kirkpatrick

Tirerack has what appear to be the same tires as the Kumho, under the brand name "Classic". $68 each plus shipping, in stock today (6/18)

I have the Kumho's on our A since 2005. Probably time to change based on age, but over 30K miles with still plenty tread left. Did well in the twisties around Asheville last week during GT-38, and did well in 2006 on the Tail of the Dragon, so I'm very happy with how they worked out. Back then only $28 each!

- Ken
Ken Doris

Definitely NOT the same as Kumho. Very low tread wear number, and traction rating B. Never buy Traction B for a sports car.
Barney Gaylord

I have logged 10,000 miles on the "Classic" tire from TireRack and can say with certainty it is a tire to avoid. First off, it is manufactured in China. Secondly, it has very poor traction as Barney mentioned; at times scary. At the time I purchased my set for $43 ea, just two years ago, I was mislead to think it was a USA built tire.

Although I have lots of tread left, I am picking up a set of Kumho's this week locally - which I was happy to find.

As mentioned Kumho no longer makes a 165R80-15. The one's I purchased for $82 were built the last week of December 2011, so they are 1.5 years old already but I was happy to locate them since they have a good reputation.

The only other decent tire that I am aware of that's still available is the Vredestein, which as I recall are about $95 each plus $70 for shipping.
D Quinn

Oh, also, Firestone makes a 155 tire if you want original size. Since they are owned by Bridgestone I suspect they may be decent. I think I saw them at TireRack.

Coker sells Michelin XZX - a tire I used to love but they want some crazy money for them. They bought the molds and only produce them every so often so they can be dated as well.
D Quinn

Another after thought... Nexen makes a 165R80-15 (from South Korea) that's available over the internet for $65. Reportedly they are decent handling tires and friends reported they are round. While that may sound odd, out-of-round is an issue with some tires.
D Quinn

I put some Vredstein on a few weeks ago to replace a set of Firestones. IMHO the 6 year old Firestones were still better, and as I still have them on a second set of rims, I may yet put them back on for another year
dominic clancy

Walmart has Nexen (Korean competitor of Kumho) 165/80R15's for $59 each online, with free in-store pickup. UTOG of 320. Pictures show tread pattern very similar (if not identical) to my Kumho's

- Ken
KR Doris

KR, that's good to know about Walmart and Nexen. I just gave my new & unused spare tire (a Nexen) to a friend who already had 4 on. I picked up my 5 new Kuhmo's today with 5 new radial tubes, mounted, for $449 today. So I should be set for a while.
D Quinn

This thread was discussed between 06/06/2013 and 06/08/2013

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