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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Sprint Tyres

I was looking to have a go again at sprinting this year but Jinping and China put paid to that.
Can anyone advise me on tyres for running in road going class most likely List 1A although some allow List 1B. Ideally keeping to 175/65R13 as I don't want to lower the ride height as I also want to do some Historic rallys as well. There are some tyres that work better with negative camber.
Just one more quick question: has anyone any experience with the Peter May front lowering kits?
Peter King

Hi Peter,

I haven't used them, but if I were in the market for tyres I would swap to the Conti Eco 3.

The reason being that the Contis have the lowest "UTQG Treadwear Rating" of the 1A tyres in that size. This is an American system to measure how quickly tyres wear and is thus proportional to the softness of the compound and thus the grippiness of the compound.

Track special tyres tend to be in the 40 - 80 range. List 1B tend to be in the 100 - 200 range. The contis are 240. Next is Avon ZT5 and Yoko BluEarth (always liked) @ 300. Hard, long life tyres then fall into the 400 - 600 range. Toyo Nano3 for example is 420 (Nigel? always hated them and said they were too hard).

A lot also recommend the Uniroyal. I can't find info on these, but as they are part of the Conti' group I postulate they follow a similar design philosophy of soft compounds.

It is obviously not as cut and dried as this, but it is the best objective measure I could find.

HTH
Malc.
Malcolm

Peter Don't rush into buying tyres before the 2021 'Blue Book' is issued. This lists the tyres in List 1a and 1b for the year but will also indicate with a red asterisk if they are likely to be deleted the following year.

It's the manufacturers rather than MSUK that decide which ones to list. Avon and Conti seem to be perennials that you can trust to stay on the list but other makes (Toyo, Yokohama and others) seem to de-list tyres more frequently. My Yokos became 'illegal' after just a year and a half's use as they were only listed for a relatively short time. (Fortunately nobody took much interest in my tyres and I got away with running illegal tyres all last year!). This, of course, depends on how many events you plan to do in a year, and how vigorously you drive! I only do a few events each year and expect my tyres to last for ever!

I'll need a new set for next year so I'm thinking it will be either Avon ZT5s or Conti Eco3s as I'll be going back from 165s to 155s (Nigel will probably approve!).I will be staying with 1A tyres, partly from choice but also because there never seem to be any 1Bs less than 175 section, if you stick with 175s you should have a bit of choice.

Malcolm, Thanks for the UTQG figures. I've wasted hours trying to track them down for certain makes, do you have a convenient link to somewhere that lists them all? I think American figures have to be used with caution as I believe there may be differences between US and European tyre compounds for particular tyres.

Colin
C Mee

No one source Colin, just hours of snuffling around the internet and peering at the sidewalls of tyres in car parks etc.!

Good advice on the blue book. They do notify you if they are to be removed and sometimes they are listed as to be removed next year for several years.

I have found the scrutineers aren't too fussed about the details (such as correct tyres) as long as your car has brakes etc. Although if I was winning they might take a closer look!
Malcolm

And there I was hoping that you had found the source of all tyre knowledge!

I too have wasted hours wandering the internet without ever actually managing to track down a rating for the Contis, so thanks for that figure!

I agree about the level of scrutiny, I probably got away with it as there's not much chance of me winning anything except slowest car of the day!
C Mee

Malc,
just to clarify, it was only the (Toyo) 350 tyre that I found unsuitable for my road going midget and Colin found they weren't good for hillclimbing, I'm sure they'd be very poor for sprinting too.

A mate likes the BluEarth but his Sprite is really for road use (5.5" x 13" wheels IIRC).
Nigel Atkins

Colin,
yes full approval, go with the flow on them and with practice you may have more consistent momentum on your runs and end up with quicker times (as if I know more than SFA about racing and driving).

When/if I can afford it I'd love to swap tyres again, definitely going back to 155 to suit the 5" rim more and though I'd like 70 ratio I will get 80 because of the state of the roads in our 2nd world country.

I'm saving Malc's post here as a reminder for if I ever get any.
Nigel Atkins

For peoples information.

Part of a Mascot article that was never published! :-o

:-)

Malc.


Malcolm

Thanks for the spreadsheet Malcolm.

I was sure I'd created one with the wear ratings that I'd found but I can't find it!
However, I have got one giving Wet and Dry % ratings for grip from a Tyre Review website.

Here are some of the 2020 List 1As. Unless otherwise marked, these were for 165/65.

ZT5s = 82% dry, 67% wet
Eco Contact 3 = 80 / 70
Eco Contact 6 = 97 / 90
Toyo Nano Energy 3 = 83 / 73
Nankang AS1 = 79 / 68
Semperit Comfort Life 2 = 90 / 100
Yokohama Blue Earth AE01 = 80 / 74
Yokohama Blue Earth AE01 = 78 / 73
Hankook Kinergy Eco (155/70) = 83 / 77
Hankook Kinergy Eco 2 = 90 / 90

I also looked at prices for my likely contenders and there was often quite a difference between list/target prices and actual fitted prices with good deals to be had by shopping around.

Colin
C Mee

Colin,
I'm not knocking your figures just asking, did those reviews relate to only the tyre size you want and on lightweight small sports cars?
Nigel Atkins

Nigel, As stated, the reviews related only to 165/65s - 13 inch, of course, apart from one that was also available in 155/70. It is also the best part of 12 months old, so there may be new tyres worth considering.

The information came from http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/
It is not filtered to make it small sports car specific. All of the comments submitted related to current modern heavy-weights and often front wheel drive but I found they were still worth reading if only to provide food for thought!


Colin
C Mee

Peter - as mentioned, don't part with any cash until the 2021 regs come out. Then check the regs - there's a massive difference in a 1A and 1B tyre in terms of general all round usability.

Are you looking to have a separate set of tyres for sprints?

I run Extreme VR2 in soft compound, I think the number that Malcolm is on about is 40. They are very very soft - I managed a total of around 30 miles on mine before they were toast.

They are also very grippy; enough to get the car up on two wheels under serious provocation.

However, they are a shocking road tyre. Harsh, uncommunicative and extremely prone to tramlining and very little grip on a greasy Yorkshire road.

If running road tyres I'd use Continentals, though my Uniroyal Rainexperts are a great road tyre they would struggle with sprint use because of the soft sidewalls and the very mobile tread blocks. If it was wet though, they'd be great.
Rob Armstrong

According to Motorsport UK they think that there will be no or very little change next year due to Covid-but we'll see.
I'm not intending to do anything yet just wanted opinions so thanks all.
I also need a new helmet so I'll see what the FIA standard next year.
Peter King

According to Motorsport UK they think that there will be no or very little change next year due to Covid-but we'll see.
I'm not intending to do anything yet just wanted opinions so thanks all.
I also need a new helmet so I'll see what the FIA standard next year.
I run Rainexpert 3 on the road, great for running round on but very soft sidewalls, funny enough I have seen them on HRCR Clubmans events.
Peter King

Colin,
sorry, yes you clearly put the size, there was a gap between me reading your post and reply and in that time I'd forgotten.

I know the Tyre Reviews site and have linked to it in posts in the past. If you look hard enough you might find reviews for MG Midgets, at least one or two from me.

Cheers.

Nigel Atkins

This thread was discussed between 11/10/2020 and 13/10/2020

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

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