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MG MGF Technical - tyres

Hi all
i have been looking though the old threads at tyres i have a question they talk about having a different size on front to back.
what happens if all 4 are the same ?
why do they want different sizes ?
thanks Andrew
AR Cayzer

Hi the best width for the front is 195 any wider and you tend to suffer from tramlining where the car follows road imperfections or cambers particularly under braking. This was the width used by MG Rover on the TF 160 and the MGF Trophy 160. Dave Kar-Solutions
David Karle

Judging by the tyre pressures and sizo recomended the F/TF is weight biased towards the rear. When you combine this with rear wheel drive which uses some of the slip angle up when you apply power in a corner it all adds up to more rubber needed at the back to give neutral handling. I presume this what everyone who bought an MG and joined this board wanted. Besides if its good enough for a Ferrari 355 its good enough for me.
Stan Best

thank David and Stan
David you might off answered my problem with what feel like going over 1000off little bumps in the road i had 4 new tyres fitted and the ride for the last 12 months has not been good i have 205/50r15 what ever that is would the size that much more make a diferenca do you think
the things i have had hecked and the cost
any thoughts on the size i have on
Andrew
AR Cayzer

what really ticks me off
today i went and had the 2 front tyres changed over to what the book and this forum said i should have 185 and not 205 and o boy what an improvement.
again thanks David you did what many many many trades people couldn't do and many $ spent

As i said at the start
what really ticks me off
is i had 4 new tyres fitted by a very large tyre company Nealy 12 months ago and now i found that they put the wrong tyres on.
all 4 were 205 and that's were it went down hill till the other day .

I took it too melbourne's best well i thought so MG mechanic they didn't pick up that i had the wrong tyres
no i had a wheel Bering going o no i didn't i had the wrong tyres on
still had that wobble

I had wheel alignments done

I went too not 1 not 2 but 3 experts on steering .
maybe i had tire rod were but know .I had the wrong bloody tyres on .

not one of these so called experts picked it up

so again a big thanks to the members off the forum
Andrew
AR Cayzer

We are MGF specialists and have owned our own car for 14 years from new so know them pretty well.

MG Rover did fit 205's all round to some of the special editions in around 1998 but this did not last long, they probably realised the problems it created. So don't be too unkind to your mechanic.

If your car is still a little loose at the front it could be a track rod, they tend to go at around 50,000 miles and a small amount of play can make the car seem loose at the front.

Dave Kar-Solutions Ebay ID onlinetb
David Karle

>>MG Rover did fit 205's all round to some of the special editions in around 1998 but this did not last long, they probably realised the problems it created<<

Didn't know that MG fitted 205s all round - are you sure.

Standard size of tyres for 15" wheels on the MGF were 185 on the front and 205 on the rear. When they brought the MY2000 cars out some of them had 16" wheels (VVC and some special/limited editions) and they were fitted with 215s all round. When the Trophy came out it had 195s on the front and 215s on the rear. It's quite common for people to fit 195s on the front to replace their 185s because they are a more common size of tyre and therefore cheaper.

The smaller tyres were fitted on the front to induce understeer. We have had several generations of drivers only used to front wheel drive cars and MG were initially frightened that fitting the same size of tyres all round would cause the the car to oversteer and lots of inexperienced rear wheel drivers would be disappearing through hedges backwards. They must have changed their mind by the time 2000 came - either that or Goodyear did them a good deal on 215 tyres.

My MGF came with the 185/205 Goodyear NCT 3 combination as new which I changed to 205s all round (Toyo tyres). I found that the car handled a lot more neutral with this setup and the tram lining was much reduced with the Toyos (even with the wider tyres)- I'm convinced that tram lining is down to tyres makes as much as it is size. I've now got two sets of wheels and tyres - 17" wheels with 205/215 tyres and 16" with 195/215 tyres. I prefer the 17" wheels because every time that I put the 16" wheels on with the narrower front tyres I notice a terrible difference in "turn in" at corners.
David Clelland

Hi David, the Abingdon special editions in 1998 were fitted with MGF Trophy race series type 16" alloys with 205 tyres may have been 215's front and back, these alloys and tyres were also offered as a optional extra around the same time with recommendation that a bump stop kit was fitted to the front.
This was only on 16" wheels these standard size on the 15" was 185 although a 195 makes a nice upgrade with a small reduction in understeer.
David Karle

David the Abington was fitted with 215s all round -

"The Abingdon LE (spring, 1998) was the first MGF special, limited-run edition, based upon both the 1.8i and VVC. The car's more luxurious specification included full ('Walnut' beige) leather upholstery, beige soft top and unique paint colour, Brooklands Green (a kind of dark, non-metallic British Racing Green). Other cosmetic extras include an interior and exterior chrome pack- chrome ashtray and lighter, chrome exterior door handles and stainless steel grilles. Also standard, and first seen on this car, were the 6 spoke 'Abingdon style' 16" wheels, fitted with Goodyear F1 (215/40 R16) tyres. The 16" wheels were soon to be found on the options list for all MGFs and have proven an extremely popular design!"
David Clelland

185/55 seems to be something of a Rover spcific size, whereas a 195/50 is more industry standard. I'd recommend anyone using a 185/55 goes to a 195/50 on the next change, not only are they better, but also cheaper, hence win win ;)
Russ68

I have never tried equal tyres all round but find the TF an agile car eager to turn in (mid engine) and very responsive to be being balanced through a corner with the throttle. As mine is a humble 115 I would have though the more potent versions would find these even more gratifying. Our MGB is set up the same on skinny 82 sections with a 3/4" front ARB and responds well to being driven. IMHO MG knew what they were doing, well at the engineering level anyway. I have also owned Mini Coopers and lots of FWD "cooking" cars which are better in the snow but otherwise cant compare with slow in fast out in a sorted RWD car.
Stan Best

On both 15's and now 16's I have used same size on all four wheels, the 15's 215 and 16's 205's YES 205 why? because Toyo R1R's dont come in 215'sd only 225. Problems, none only great grip,perhaps leading to over confidance on trackdays!
Andrew Regens

Hi Andrew,
My MGF came out with 195x50x15 front and 205x50x15 rear. The rims are all 6.5 x 15".
About five years on and I changed the rims to 7 x 17" all round with 205x40x17 on front and 215x40x17 on rear.
Did rub at first on the front inner guard when turning the wheel on full lock but was sorted by using a hairdryer to melt the plastic, pushing into shape to stop the rubbing. Also rides alot harder due to aspect ratio/profile 40 of the tyre.
Once I changed the rims to a larger size diameter I also changed all the bushes to powerflex suspension and koni adjustable shocks. With keeping the ride height correct,the wheels correct pressure,balanced and laser aligned, it's like a go cart to drive. Its great!
Have fun Sue
Sue Wilson

This thread was discussed between 23/10/2010 and 19/11/2010

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