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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Tyres

Has anyone fitted 205 60 13 tyres to a RWA midget.

If so, any fouling concerns Fr or Rr.

Whats the widest i can get away with.

The skinny Michelins on at present just lok naff !

Thanks.
G Bewick

Ooh my favourite topic.

205.. Nope. Not without big mods.

I run 185 tyres on my RWA. They have to be extremely carefully positioned between the arch and the leaf spring. Too close to the spring and the tyre flex under hard driving will push the sidewall into the spring. Too far out and the outside will get shredded by the arch. You'll need a Panhard or Watts link with anything wider than around 175 and driving it hard.

At the front, 185 will also fit but only just. If at all lowered then you'll get catching on the inner wing unless running stiffer springs or harder dampers.

Having tried 155, 175 and 185 on a 14 inch wheel, on a standard car, fit 165 or 175. Otherwise the limitations of the front and rear suspension will be somewhat apparent, and the driving experience will be different.

There's something very pure about a Spridget on 145 tyres, but they don't look beefy.




Rob Armstrong

If you've got the Michelin Energy EB3 (145) they do look particularly slim (which personally I like and think looks more classic).

It could be that the skinny tyres only look naff because you're more used to seeing bloated, fat, oversized tyres on modern cars, many of which don't need them anyway.

If you look back at period photos and original sales brochures the car new had wheel arch clearance this was partly to allow for the car's suspension set up and style of ride, handling and ride. As Rob has put 145s, on the correct wheels, give a lovely feel to the ride and steering.

For a slightly wider looking tyre, on Rostyle wheels, you could try another make and model or go to the usual "wide tyre" 165/70/13 or 155/70/13 or 155/80/13.

If you've got 5" (Minilite style perhaps) then "wide tyre" 165/70/13 or 155/70/13 or 155/80/13.

Also grip is about the tyre and compound rather than just width, bigger tyres more weight, mpg and greater power loss at very high speeds.

As you can tell I'm not a fan of wider tyres but Rob is and yet we seem to agree on 145 and 165 (70) in this instance.
Nigel Atkins

did someone say arch gap? What is an arch gap? ;P

My car is fairly non-standard, therefore suits the wider tyres.


Rob Armstrong

Thanks Rob and Nige. Useful. Nice motors gentlemen - F.F.S Rob - thats a snug fit !!!!!!!
G Bewick

Super snug. Welcome to come and have a poke around, sometimes up your way.
Rob Armstrong

I bet you over-inflated your tyres for that photo just so the gap would be even less just to get me going!



(I'm joking btw, Rob would know that).

Those tyres seem high profile compared to some tyres I've seen on some modern (and mundane) cars, they're so heavy now with all those electric motors to adjust the vanity mirrors.

A friend has a Chrysler Crossfire and every time I see it from the back I think of when two other friends had the car when it first came out and how they looked like dragster tyres back then but now they seem ordinary.

That brings up another point - tyres that just wider may not be better for when the weather is moist or on muddy, cow pat country roads with nice Spridget twists and bends - or heaven forbid snow!

Nigel Atkins

ETA: I think the tyres on my Vehicle Profile are 155/70/13 (but I could be wrong).

Thanks for the compliment, that's an old photo now.
Nigel Atkins

Just checked, the tyres in my Vehicle Profile are 155/70/13 (AFAIK).

The house in that photo isn't mine btw.

Rob,
we sometimes visit friends in N. Yorks (not often, they can't stand me that much) next time we do I must bring my (metric) spanners and have a good look at your car! :yikes: ;)
Nigel Atkins

those are 185/60 R14. HUGE! (ha)

That is a slight issue, I need twice as many spanners now. Let me know next time you're up ;)

The tyres in the pic are trackday Nangkangs and are absolutely hopeless in the wet. Great on Track though.

I have a set of Uniroyals for road use, they're a bit taller and sit on 6 inch wide wheels..... (don't look Nigel!)
Rob Armstrong

Rob,
it'll be me using the spanners - ha, ha, hah.

Peter showed me which way to hold them, still can't eat my peas with them though.

I know you're joking as 6" wheels just don't exist. :)

Sorry about thread drift, my fault, I'll stop now.
Nigel Atkins

Rob I passed a very sporty looking Midget in your colours up here on Sunday - might it have been you?
J Gibson

ooh, subtle challenge there perhaps ? "I passed . . . ."
GuyW

You stirrer Guy!

Passed from the opposite direction :)
J Gibson

Not me! I was fighting with a front inner wheelarch on Sunday. Can't think why it might catch....
Rob Armstrong

Ive just squeezed revolutions with 175's on to my newly acquired (square arch) Sprite. they are a bit tight and god knows what will happen when i try to take a corner - but thats not the point is it!
What started as a leaking wheel cylinder turned into an axle out rebuild, a rear brake rebuild, seat out to free up the hand brake, a tank refurb, a new fuel pump, lowered suspension, painting of the arches, then finally new wheels and tyres.
After bolting up the wheels i gave them a spin while admiring my handywork, i had my fingers on the tyre wall, the wheel rotated and my fingers with it, they became trapped between the flange of the arch and the tyre wall.
Im pleased to report the flanges are in good shape and pretty sharp.
After enduring some incredible pain, and with nothing to hand to let the air out the tyre i had no option but to rotate the wheel back to release my fingers - no permanent damage but currently they are in pretty poor shape
Who would have thought fitting wide tyres could be so dangerous!
S G Macfarlane

OW! and another OW! if it's that close, then they will catch and if the arch edges are that sharp they risk shredding the sidewalls, not thick at the best of times....

also, OW. Hope it't not too bad.
Rob Armstrong

You can fold that edge lip upwards a bit to gain some extra clearance, working around it with a hammer.

But you will find that in a square wheel arch car the part that contacts the tyre wall first is the inner wheel arch further up inside the wheel well. You can spread this slightly using a scissor jack, but l would be doubtful that 175 tyres will clear under heavy cornering without use of a Panhard rod. Even some brands of 165 tyres will rub, though others may not. It depends on the degree of flexibility in the sidewalls and varies between brands.
GuyW

Ive successfully "jacked" the arch on previous cars to get a bit more clearance - nothing noticeable on completion and no need for a panhard rod etc with my style of driving. When my fingers have healed ill have a go....
S G Macfarlane

205/60/13s on 8" rims without a problem
No panhard bar or any of that cr8P
The only mod needed was spacers on the ends of the rack to limit steering lock for clearance on the end of the toeboards
willy
William Revit

No arch mods Willy? How'd you get them in the back?
Rob Armstrong

Sorry Rob
I sort of meant no other mechanical mods apart from the reduced steering lock
Yes the wheelarches had previously been modded when I had these tyres on 6" rims and no further mods had to be made when the 8s went on
The problem with 205s on 6" rims is keeping them from distorting under load- on 8s they still fold under a bit but much more stable
Sorry if I accidentaly mislead you there
willy

Pic of my wobbly old Midget at work with the 8" rims


William Revit

thought you might have made mods before Willy :)

Can get quite a bit of distortion even on sensible wheels, here's some 185 tyres on 5.5 rims


Rob Armstrong

I think (hurts) that if I were to do another club racer style Midget now I'd probably go for 195/50/13 or there abouts
My main reasons for running 205/60 was because I had a free supply and also the taller wall height worked well with the undulating surface of our local hillclimb
Unfortunately this hill is out of bounds now as "they" have decided to ban open wheelers and also open cars without a full roll cage from competing there- Shame as it was a magic hill, over 2klm long and 30 plus bends with a couple of higher speed straights, bumpy as they were.
On the fastest bit,running a 2.7axle and C/R gearbox and it would hit 7grand in 3rd on the bumps 2/3 up the straight just before pulling 4th . It was that bumpy that it would skip/wheelspin all over the shop just as you were full hook in 3rd--found the trees a couple of times---fantastic hill, I miss it
willy
William Revit

This thread was discussed between 25/09/2017 and 29/09/2017

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