correct tyre sizes for a 98 mgf

[gucciman]

Hi, I have a 98 1.8i MGF with the original alloy wheels still fitted. What are the correct tyre sizes for the rear and front of the car?
I currently have 205 x 50r x 15 fitted to the rears and 185 x 55r x 15 on the front. However I went on a tyre sales website where you enter your cars reg no in the search box and it comes up with the tyre sizes you need and they didnt match whats on my car?
also does anyone know anywhere in either Brum or Swansea or enroute inbetween where I can get cheap budget tyres or partworns?

[Mykel]

The sizes you have on your car are perfectly okay, these are OE.

[Keith Williams]

also does anyone know anywhere in either Brum or Swansea or enroute inbetween where I can get cheap budget tyres or partworns?

Be very careful with what tyres you do fit to the F. Not all brands suit the F/TF. Cheap or part worn tyres may not give you very good handling. Ensure you fit the same type of tyre to each axle and preferably the same tyres all round.

[Mykel]

Oops, Keith, got me on that

Note to self: read a post down to the last words ("budget" and "partworns") before replying.

Mykel

[Green Squirrel]

Strange one this as our *F* is likely to fail its MOT because of rear tyres AND the garage can not get me my preferred Toyos so we went on the web to a couple of 'tyre suppliers' and they both told us our car has 16 inch wheels as original fit!! Now I know that is a load bull because we have owned the car since new in 1996 and it still has its original wheels - 15 inch.

It got me so confused that I dug out the original advertising leaflets and books and they stated quite clearly that both the MPi (ours) and the VVC were fitted with 15 inch wheels.

I know that 16 inch came along later but not sure when.

PS still looking for our Toyos - several sites advertise them BUT when you click on buy they come up as out of stock and no delivery dates!

[artful.codger]

I got a pair at www.blackcircles.com not long ago at a good price.

[Mike H]

As others have said, the sizes you quote are the correct sizes for your car.

As others have also warned, the F (and TF) is *very* sensitive to choice of tyres, and the handling can be really compromised through the choice of tyre. It is so important not to mix tyres and to make sure you go for 'recommended' options. There is so much information on this and other forums about the choice of tyres (probably as much on tyres as cooling system issues ), do a search and make an informed decision.

[Softly~Softly]

Toyos are for summer only and need heat in them as they are sports type ,so you need to push hard to keep the heat going !
Having fitted 4 new ones last year and I can honestly say they are useless in the wet or winter conditions..
Bambi on ice comes to mind ..
Although my opinion was not shared by many, quite a few have recently "Come out" and said they hate theirs too ..
Common problem wandering, lack of grip and low mileage around 6 to 8k ..
I would not recommend them to anyone...

[Trainer]

Tyres are a bit of a personal thing though arn't they, yes of course it is sensible to look at recommendations, but personal experience also plays a part, I've used Avon tyres for years and never had a problem with them even back in my motor bike days, on my F, I have Avon ZV3 195/50/15 all round and have found them excellent for grip both in dry and wet conditions, even on the ice and snow we had earlier in the year they were fine, wear is also very good have done 6000 miles on them so far and there almost as good as new, about the same price as Toyo proxes but always easier to get and they are British on my British sports cars lol

Because of personal experience I've done the same on the TF and today had fitted Avon ZV5 205/50/15 on rear and 185/55/15 on the front.

I did note that Avon ZV3 did score well on Rob's tyre chart 8.1/10 and 7th on the list.

I did notice like others that when you put the car type (make model) in some of the online tyre retailer search engines it does come up with some weird suggested sizes.

The other thing I found was that you can get some amazing discounts if you play the tyre retail fitting companies off against each other, originally Halfords Auto centre were the cheapest for Avon tyres including fitting balancing etc, but I don't like Halfords so rang around, at National Tyres got a quote, he asked if I had any other quotes so I told him Halfords Auto centre’s, I knocked £20 off the Halfords price I told him and he still bettered it, ordered tyres yesterday, had them fitted an hour ago

[Green Squirrel]

In 15 years I have had the OEM tyres (Goodyears) Bridgestone SO2s and Toyo TIR Proxes.

The Goodyears would break away at the least provocation, the Bridgestones were certainly the best BUT no longer available so I am now onto my second set of Toyos and the have never let me down in rain (summer or winter) and providing one drives accordingly they have been fine in the snow and on dry roads their grip is phenomenal!

Would recommend Toyos to anyone.

Oh and as a BTW I have been known to drive The Green Squirrel a little on the hard side -especially when one can do it legally on the Nurburgring for example.

[adrianclifford]

Like Ted, I have to throw my hat in the ring and defend Toyo's. Having driven other brands I'll stick with what's good for me.

They are a fair price, compared to others, they give me excellent mileage (24K on the rear and close to 40K on the front) I've had them in 16" and 17" on both F and TF and like Ted my wife and I have and do regularly push the car to it's limits where we can, usually in Germany.

I cannot agree with your "Bambi on ice" statement although I respect your view and words, last year as many will have read in FasTForward we took a number of cars across the Dolomites/Alps and Pyrenees with full loads of luggage and fuel for two weeks of touring, most had Toyo's fitted and we never encountered any problems as you describe. We drove in snow, sleet, rain and sun with never any problems. My car is used all year round and I never have any scary moments where I feel the tyre has let me down in over 70K miles.

We swopped cars on a run in Germany last year, the car I drove had Goodyear Eagles GSD2's, some say they are the best, to be honest, I was not impressed at all, nothing wrong with them but nothing special either for the money you have to pay.

I've just come back from the Montlhéry circuit in France where we thrashed around there for two sessions, the tyres took a pounding especially trying to drive at the top of the banking (think Brooklands only higher and faster), the outside edges suffered from the cornering, that's to be expected but never once did the tyres feel compromised, I know you've stated they are good in the dry but, believe me I know they are good in the wet too.

They are not perfect, is there a perfect tyre ?. The only downside I can report is, when cold, they are lazy, like all tyres they need warming up, that doesn't mean you need to rock the steering side to side just normal use and they respond.

I will also add that I've just had to prematurely change a front as, while checking the car over before the trip to Paris, I noticed bad inner tread wear. I quickly jacked the car up, checked everything felt secure, ran it to my local MG garage who also checked everything while the car was up in the air. We phoned our local tyre fitters who got a tyre in later that day (£65.64 all in and tracking checked too) and the job was done, what had happened was the inner wall had broken up, maybe as a result of damage by a speed hump as i don't recall hitting anything, there were no visible signs of damage on the outside, so it remains a bit of a mystery.

With over 40 years of driving, both professionally and enthusiastically I'm satisfied with Toyo T1R's, they suit my car and expectations and budget that's my view. I doubt if MG Motors/Brown & Gammons/Mike Satur etc would recommend a tyre as bad as you describe

[Trainer]

The only downside I can report is, when cold, they are lazy, like all tyres they need warming up, that doesn't mean you need to rock the steering side to side just normal use and they respond.

Nice one Adrian sat at my desk reading this at 7am, you started my day off with a good laugh, I had this image in my head of people driving to work in the mornings, swinging the steeering from side to side to warm the tyres up like in motor racing, good to start the day off laughing and the sun is shining in Torbay

Steve

[adrianclifford]

That would be a start to anybody's day seeing cars all over the road warming their tyres

[talkingcars]

Be carful when ordering Toyos - there is the T1S which is an ok tyre or the T1R which is a very very good tyre (obviously more expensive).

I have Avon ZZ3 all round on my ZS180 - I would highly recomend these, certianly for the ZS anyway.

My F came with Perelli P6000 all round which I know are not recomended but as they all have very good tread and we are budget motoring in the F they will stay for a while.

If buing tyres online use blackcircle to find an agent to fit them, even if supplied by someone else, I use camskill.

If going to a local branch of a national chain check online beforehand, often reserving through the net gives you a better price.

[gucciman]

thanks for your reply everyone. I'm afraid that my primary concern at the moment is low price rather than a particular brand, I never drive the car hard anyway so don't really have to worry too much about performance and handling.

[Reckless Rat]

All I can say is that if you fit cheap tyres the car will handle like a bag of spanners. There is plenty of paperwork available from the manufacturer to state that fitting non approved tyres is definitely not recommended as the handling may be adversely affected. In the case of a serious accident any crash investigator worth his salt will be able to identify the fact that non standard tyres were fitted and you could well be liable.

It is pointless spoiling the car for an 'ha'porth of tar.

[Keith Williams]

I never drive the car hard anyway so don't really have to worry too much about performance and handling.

You do have to watch out for poor road conditions not just the way you drive with non suitable tyres. No hard driving but add a little bit of rain water to a tarmac road after a dry spell and the tyres are your only means to stay on the black stuff and if you come off, the insurance might get involved.

[MGsteveT]

thanks for your reply everyone. I'm afraid that my primary concern at the moment is low price rather than a particular brand, I never drive the car hard anyway so don't really have to worry too much about performance and handling.

As it's been said Tyres are a personal thing and personally i wouldnt put Toyo's near any car. They're a budget Tyre and used to be priced as one but they're now taking a hike pricewise. My Tyre supplier wont even deal with Toyo anymore because of various bad experiences. And as Adrian said he had a Toyo go out of shape on the front of his TF recently. Different people will recommend different things but remember it's just their opinion.

If you need to buy a budget Tyre then buy a budget Tyre. We see hundreds of F's and TF's every year wearing different rubber from £35 Corsa tyres from Korea to £160 Pirelli PZero's and they all work well enough for everyday driving. As a company we recommend Uniroyal or Falkens but if price is an issue then we will happily fit budgets.

FYI there is a Budget Tyre called Nexen, they have a tread pattern like a GoodyearF1 and come with a Lifetime guarantee, some of the market leaders dont even do that.

[Mykel]

FYI there is a Budget Tyre called Nexen, they have a tread pattern like a GoodyearF1 and come with a Lifetime guarantee, some of the market leaders dont even do that.

I have to back Steve on these, have had Roadstone/Nexen N3000 fitted since March, ~4000 miles on them now. Good grip, quite silent run, little wear. In the wet, just had the back of the car slipping away twice and this was on the same corner on the same day, so might as well have been oil or sth like that on the road.

The N3000's are only available in 215/40 16 86W, that's the ones I've got. For the 15" sizes asked in this thread it's the N2000's, which have a more or less similar appearance. Load/speed index is 82V front, 86V rear. Good quality for almost budget price ... in the Falken range I'd say. And a lot more sensible than buying part worns.

Mykel

[mowog73]

My F came with a set of Nankang tires on it. I was a bit concerned about how the handling would be from everything I have read about the F being picky about its tires. Well, so far, so good. The car handles very well even when exceeding the posted limit.