best tires for my B?

Yo!

I did a search regarding the question: which tires are 'best' for my 79 B roadster? Didn't come up with much - so I'm posting this question...which tires are best for my B?

My car's been lowered and runs quite well. My brother mentioned Pirelli or Michelin. I have had both on a previous B I owned. However, I haven't purchased tires for my current B - as the tires are over 10 years old. I'm just about to complete a repaint on my Rostyle wheels - Tim Delony's wheel templates are what I'm using. I'm pumped to complete the project. I just have to now adhere the template to the freshly painted wheels and finish with black fill-in.

So, what is the best choice of tires from all of you? I don't want to spend all my money on top-end tires, somewhere inbetween in price!

Thanks everybody,

See you out on the road, top down of course!

Dan

Dan.. the car looks nice slammed like that!

So i am assuming you have both front and rear sway bars. So your car will corner wuite flat with some oversteer.
I would suggest 195/60/14 size for a great variety of sticky rubber.
I run Felken ze512 s on my car. Fantastic tires and cheap.. made by sumitomo rubber co.
So sumitomo performance tires will do you good aswell.
also look into Toyo and Kumho rubbers.
you will not do wrong with any high performance rubber from any of these brands. Yep, they are all far east brands.
I used to ahve BF goodrich on my Z24 and they were ok.. then switched to Dunlop Sp5000 and the car handled like its on rails.


With the Felkens, the car drove great in a foot of snow! and rain is no problem either.. In dry, they go a little too soft but still fantastic! Just ask people how i throw the car in to the turns!

Sumitomo HTR200 175/70x14" $39 each @ tirerack.com

http://www.mgexperience.net/phorum/read.php?1,575172

+1 on the HTR200's Get the 185/70 or the 195/60 size.

Yokohama AVID T4 185-70-14

I like bridgestones. 195-60/14

If you can still find them, Pirelli P6000 185/65x14.

Thanks...I'll 'B' - researching my way through this...though MG Experience main directory states that 175/70x14 is the most suited to the Rostyle steel wheel - based on mm width, (165). I like the way the 185 look as well - I like the 175...so time will tell and I'll make a good choice I trust.

Thanks again, Dan

Good rubber pays off the most in the wet as for grip, that where a good tire will kick a cheap tire's ass and possibly save your life. Being out of the tire business almost 10 years now, I'm not going to pretend I know what is a great tire or bad tire, pay attention to traction ratings, the lower the traction rating the less rubber in the mix content and the crappier the tire will perform in wet or performance driving. Keep in mind all tire companies make good and then, well cheap tires, so just because it has Goodyear or BF Goodrich's name on the sidewall doesn't mean it's a great tire nor does it mean having a name like Sumitomo or Kumho on the sidewall mean it's crap, just go for a good traction rating, A being the best, B pretty good, anything less don't buy, but for me I only use A traction rating tires, I think way too much of my car and my ass to buy anything less. A good rule of thumb is to remember is no matter how strong of engine you have or trick suspension, the tires are what translates all this to the road.

Hard to test them all, but Tirerack is very involved with motorsport and has their own test track. Here's how the Sumitomo HTR200 stacks up, beating out the more expensive competition in it's class (Summer, High Performance).

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=HP&width=175%2F&ratio=70&diameter=14&tireSearch=true

Dan,
I run the Khumo 185x65x14. Circumference is very close to original equipment.

If your going to continue with the rostyles make sure you've got some method of balancing by the bolt pattern, either on the car or with a bolt-pattern adapter because rostyles are not hub-centric.

I'm not ordering tires online as long as there are some good mom and pop tires stores in business, you'll need them in the future for something and they won't be there if you don't purchase tires from them, I rather pay $100 more for my tires and get free balancing for the life of the tire. Sometimes cheap ain't cheap in the long run. Try getting an adjustment online. My local tire store, gives me feebies all the time, free dismount and mount on the Superlite prototypes, because I don't balance them for fitment test, lets me take over the exhaust bay and use them to design a custom race exhaust, do my own alignment on their machine for the normal charge, it goes on and on. I've developed a friendship and a good working relationship with these people, you can't develop a working realtionship with a computer or a online shopping cart.

ClayJ Wrote:

Hi Clay,

Khumo 185/65/14? Can those tires be had at a tire-store or online only? Do you have the Rostyle wheel on your B? Yes - I'm going to use the original Rostyle wheel on my car - repainting the currently - almost finished.

Balanced by the bolt pattern? So do I understand that when wheels are usually balanced, they're on that spinning maching, without the bolts? Thus, the actual balance can't be struck - unless the weight of all for lug-nuts needs to be met with the adaptor?

I would then tell the installer at the tire-store about the wheel not be hub-centric? Please explain? (I think this might mean - the wheel isn't balance from the center? No?

Thanks and let me know, Dan



Dan,
I run the Khumo 185x65x14. Circumference is very close to original equipment.

If your going to continue with the rostyles make sure you've got some method of balancing by the bolt pattern, either on the car or with a bolt-pattern adapter because rostyles are not hub-centric.

Centric refers to how the wheel is centered on the axle or hub. If the wheel is hub-centric (IMO the best and only real way to assure concentricity), the hub has a face machined on it that is concentric with the bearings, so it is impossible have the center of the wheel dffer from the center of the hub.

MGB's unfortunatelately (again IMO) use the inferior lug centric method of centering wheels on the hub. This method depends on the cones of the lug nuts seating correctly in the cones of the wheel to assure the wheel and hub are concentric.

Dan,
As Hap noted, I would purchase tires from a trusted shop with whom you have a good relationship. I've rarely purchased mail-order, only when my shop can't get the exact tire a want.
My shop got the Kumo 732 Touring Plus. It wasn't the exact Kumo tire I wanted, just slightly up-performance, but very close. I knew he would make it right if I'm not happy.

The only way to balance a bolt-pattern centric wheel is static (poor), with an adapter that turns the wheel into a hub-centric (fits onto standard balancer), or balanced on the car using an old-style balancer. Some shops that service medium trucks and vans have the on-vehicle balancing machines.

After fighting the rostyle balance for about two years I switched to the Minators. Other folks have had better luck than me.

Hap or someone that's worked in the tire business could explain the balancing much better I'm sure. (or correct my information)