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MG MGB GT V8 Factory Originals Technical - Tyres

I use standard widths and have just replaced the Dunlop SP Sports at the rear of my factory V8 with Generals which are supposed to be 'rebadged' BF Goodrich. The rear is just so twitchy now on only a slightly damp surface it is ridiculous, and this is while I am driving more gently than usual to bed them in.

Can I expect the grip to improve or am I stuck with crap tyres for the next 50k? I can't recall this happening on any other car or tyre change.

PaulH.
Paul Hunt

Probably crap tyres ( sorry to be negative). The PO put 4 new tyres on my car just before he sold it to me. They also seem to be crap - I frightened myself silly at Wiscombe 3 years ago when I got wheelspin in 3rd on the greasy bit under the trees. Although they have probably not done 10k miles yet, I have decided to replace them with something sticky like Yokohamas when I next put it back on the road.
David Smith

Paul H.,

The "General" tires you bought, are they an American-made tire? I surely hope not, because the General Tire and Rubber Company makes some of the most un-sports oriented tires available. The company I work for used to be affiliated with General Tire (we used to be called Aerojet-General) and we could get a substantial discount on tires. The problem was, I could never find any tires good enough to put on my cars. They were all designed for American luxo-barges, optimized for quiet and ride quality and little else.

I had a difficult time locating the OE size tires for the V-8 here in the States. As it was, I could not find 175HR-14s over here, except for the old Michelin XAS from a vintage tire outfit (at $175.00 each!). The 175SR-14s are a little easier to find, I went with the Michelin MX4 Rain Force tire (I don't expect to drive at sustained speeds over 100 MPH). Dunlop and Goodyear do not market that size over here. I should know how the Michelins perform in about 6 months, once the "kit" is assembled.

Cheers,
Paul Kile
Paul Kile

Ive got 195/60 Goodyear Eagle F1's on my 3.9 V8, and I think Roger Parker uses the same size. The best buy is from Micheldever Tyres near Winchester.
robert pulleyblank

Paul,

I swear by Goodyear NCT2(185x70) on a 6J rim at around 26 psi all round-I'll have to change to the Eagle Touring NCT3 next time around.
You do have to watch some of the claims made by some tyre suppliers-for instance be very wary of brand name tyres not made in the EEC-a friend of mine had a dickens of a job to wear out his South African made NCTs and they didn't grip that well in the wet either-we reckon that his tyres were made with a different compound(NCTs seem to be usually made in Germany)I have seen Mr Pulleyblank's wheels at close hand and they do look the business.(BTW Bob I have discovered that my local performancr tyre outlet is a subsidary of Micheldever Tyres).
Tyres do come with a mould release agent on them which does need wearing off-I cant see this taking very long though.Personally I wouldn't touch a tyre unless it was one of the big name brands-Goodyear dominated F1 for ages and some of that technology must rub off into their road tyres.I have also had excellent feed back from their technical section.I don't feel that it is worth taking short cuts with tyres.
The one problem that I have got is physically wearing the tyres out-my car is laid up over winter and was off the road during the V8 conversion-it's quite easy to end up with tyres over 6 years old with loads of tread left on them(I have found out how to tell when the tyre was made by looking at the sidewall).On a car which is laid up over winter I would consider using really high performance low-life rubber-that way you get to wear it out before it age hardens!


Regards

John Bourke
John Bourke

Thanks all. The car is my daily driver and can be doing up to 150mpd (miles per day!) depending on where I am working so long life is not usually a 'problem'. I did get the impression they were American as the fitters said they were made by BF Goodrich - they American? Maybe instead of bedding them in gently I should just take them for a good tear-a**e!

PaulH.
Paul Hunt

Different regions do have different tyre compounds even if the tyre is visually identical to one made in another area. If the tyre is made for say South Africa, and I choose that market as there is a significant flow of tyres in from that direction, then the compound will be very hard which reflects the very high ambient and road temps there. In our miserable temps with much cooling water the tyre will hardly ever have an opportunity to reach a satifactory working temp. I bet that with these you will find then cracking up on the sidewall long before the tread wears out.

Sorry to be negative.

Rog
Roger Parker

This thread was discussed between 06/03/2000 and 10/03/2000

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