Another Tyre Question

[pelliott1954]

Hello All,

You are probably fed up to the back teeth of questions about Tyres, however, even though I have read the advice on other threads I still thought it worthwhile asking again.
My recently purchased TF has 4 different tyres on it!!!!................just great!!!

Fronts are Continental Contisport, 195/45 R16 80V and Milanza 195/45 R16 84V

Rears are Federal Super steel 215/40 R16 86W and Pirelli Zero Nero 215/40 R16 86W

I can see that the sizes are correct and that both fronts have V rating and that both rears have W rating, not sure though how that affects anything.

So the question is what to do about it, would it be safe to buy another Conti for the front as I believe they were originally fitted to TF's and another Pirelli for the rear but am not sure if Pirelli's are any good for the TF, thereby only paying for two new tyres, or choose one of the four and buy three to match or ditch the lot and get four new Toyo's or Falkens as recommended by some????

My local tyre man did say that to buy one Conti and one Pirelli would be near the price of four of the others, I have left him getting me various prices.

Sadly they all have really good tread on as well, does anyone know if I could offload them anywhere to soften the blow?

Any ideas? Regards Paul

[Mykel]

The summer tyres of my car were mixed as well, 215/40R16 GS-D2s on the rear (almost worn blank) and same size GS-D3s on the front (6mm tread left but 6 resp. 8 years old). I decided to go for new ones all round and found a bargain, 280 Euros fitted.

I then took the 2 old GS-D3s and put them on eBay, they got sold for 93 Euros the pair. Plus 25 Euros shipping

[Spark135]

You ask a good question, Paul. I suspect your tyre man will be correct in that a ContiSport and Zero Nero won't be that much more than the T1R and especially Falken 912.

After much thought, I think the safest course would be to order a new set of T1R's, assuming they have a high enough load rating. I see on the .org forum that Camskill now have both sizes in stock after being without 215/40 for quite some time. The Conti might be useful as an under the Bonnet spare if you get hold of a fifth 16" Rim.

[Mike H]

Knowing the susceptibility of the F and TF to the choice of tyres, I think you're right to consider going for a complete set of Conti's or Toyo's. Certainly, mixing tyres on the same axle is not recommended, and mixing tyres across axles is similarly not recommended. My personal preference is still GSD2's, but that's a subject for a different thread

Get the car shod with four identical tyres, get a four wheel alignment, and see how the handling is transformed (from how I imagine it must feel like now)!!!

[Rob Bell]

Hi Paul,

I am a little unclear - do you need to replace a tyre right now? Whether you need to replace either the fronts or the rears to get a matching set all round is an interesting question, and my pragmatic answer is, if you have not got any handling problems at the moment, and you are confident in the way the car behaves in the dry and the wet, then you can afford to leave well alone. Then, once the tread has worn down to the extent to warrant repalcement, replace all four at the same time.

Then the question is which tyre to use... which may by then depend on what is on the market. Current MG owner and MG corporate advise is the same at the moment: the Toyo T1R.

[Mykel]

I'd like to humbly and quietly confess that I am not using GS-D2s, Toyos, Falken or whatsoever at the moment. Instead I went for a complete set of ... well, it will be revealed some day anyway ...

Roadstone N3000.

Also known under the Nexxen Brand name. 215/40 16 all four. Real cheapos, 57 EUR each incl. VAT and shipping, that's some 50 quid or so.

The tread pattern is a bit similar to Goodyears, load index 86, W-rating. Have been on for 14 days now, meaning some 500 miles experience. They actually perform quite well so far, we had a really wet day over here today and I tried to kick the back out a little, like cornering in first gear ... no probs at all. Also they hold track well up to 130 mph.

Will see how it actually goes with some more miles on them. Here's just a glance:

[Rob Bell]

Smart looking rubber. Good value too.

They key to successful 'off-piste' tyre purchasing for the MGF and TF is to chose a 'high performance' tyre with a very stiff sidewall. Apparently, this is a common characteristic for any mid engined car, so other clues to tyre choice could be gained by looking to see what other mid-engined car owners use (Toyota MR2, Lotus Elise for example).

Keep us posted on your experience with these Mykel