The MGF Register Forums

So this happened a few weeks when on slippery windy roads in the Borders. Earlier in the day noticed that tyre pressures were low so pumped back up to 26f / 36r as per the book (on 15" Toyos all corners) and thought the car felt less planted. Anyway coming out of a right hand bend and pressed the loud pedal a bit too quickly admittedly and lost the rear end. Fortunately avoided a full spin and ended up nose in the ditch opposite but no one else involved thankfully! Amazingly the only damage is a cracked front bumper but everything else is intact after a full garage inspection

So to tyre pressures (not another thread I here you shout) but after doing a lot of digging it appears this is not an exact science! Some owners recommend 28 or 30 all round or some variation. I do think what contributed to the loss of control was 36 in the rears so have dropped the pressure to 28f / 32r to see how the car handles.

Anyway thought it worthwhile posting up bearing in mind we're heading into winter and all that ..

winter tyre season rapidly approaches!

1.8 bar front and 2.0 bar rear on my 15" Toyos (Standard sizes). If it's wet and/or the tyres are cold you need to be careful!

I guess you've just discovered that...

Yes indeed RR

Tyre pressures noted

I've never been able to "drift" my MGF. It seems to be a thing with mid/rear engine cars that when you push the envelope they have a tendency to let go all at once. My worst experience was with a Ford Sierra Cosworth 4WD. Luckily it was during a track day, but when it let go I was travelling VERY quickly. If it had been on the road it would have been a hello wall/tree/field/constable moment.

The later Toyo T1Rs seem to have a slightly harder compound than the original japanese made tyres. They need a lot of work to get them up to temperature, so if it's cold or wet/slippy they can be a bit oo ah Cantona until they warm up.

Speed determines how far past the apex you get before you leave the road
Horsepower determines how big a hole in the wall you make
Momentum determines how far through the wall you go before you come to a stop

Never had a problem with 16" running 26F 36R on my TF's. Is your car an F or TF? What make of tyres are you using?

RR MGF and I a TF but both 15's. Yup I know where you're coming from Nigel ie due to different suspension set ups the pressures between the F and TF are different?

Gman1 wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 18, 2022 5:40 pm

RR MGF and I a TF but both 15's. Yup I know where you're coming from Nigel ie due to different suspension set ups the pressures between the F and TF are different?

Indeed, my MGF Abingdon runs 16s ~ the book pressures are 26F 28R.

In theory the recommended pressures should give you more warning if the car about to go around.

I notice that you said "RR MGF and I a TF but both 15's", so you can compare the ride comfort of your (Or is it RR's?) F ride "softness" with the TF. Unless the TF is a very late model or was specified with or retrofitted with the Softride Option, you SHOULD find that the F is much softer than the TF. If NOT, then the GAS part of your hydragas units has lost some or all of it's gas, which of course provides (almost) the only spring. I read somewhere that the original Dunlop-specified design life of Hydragas units was 10 years, so all as-built F's have units at least 21 years old. I suspect that whenever a unit is depressurised, gas tends to diffuse through the rubber diaphragm, dissolve in any remaining low-pressure fluid, and/or just get lost to the atmosphere. Clearly, any serious rusting of the hydragas units is likely to give porosity in the steel and even faster loss of gas.

There must be some ex Dunlop or Rover suspension design team guys out there how understand this stuff much better than me, and Hydragas and Hydralastic Service limited (enquiries@hahsltd.co.uk) seem to have a good reputation, though I appreciate that they are a long way from you in the Borders.

Anyway, good luck with experiments with Tyre pressures etc. and thanks for raising the warning , which has resulted in very useful info. regarding tyre hardness and the need for caution with cold tyres.

MY F (97 mk1) has had a full suspension refurb. Spheres regassed and a new set of shocks.