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Parts

MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG MGF Technical - Tyres again

As I'll need some new front tyres in the foreseeable future, I'm beginning to think about what to get. Has anyone any experience of Falken tyres on the F? They appear to do a reasonable-looking low-profile job, and my usual local supplier (Coopers, Newmains) features them. I've got original-style Eagle Touring NCT3s on the front, and Eagle NCT5s on the back, 15 inchers.
Mike Cunningham

no direct experience on the F - but Falken fall into the budget tyre category and some think them a bit cheap and nasty. However almost anything may be better than gthe original NCT3 Goodyears which were so bad that people replaced them before they wore out or caused an accident in the wet - see the archives.
David

Mike,

I recently replaced my NCT 3s with Toyo Proxies. Changed all four to 205/50 x 15 and I'm really pleased with them. Cost me £220 fitted and balanced from Jim Dickson Tyres, Cumbernauld Village. Remember to get the car four wheel tracked as well.

David
David Clelland

Mike,

If you want realistically priced tyres you cant beat the Avon ZV1.


They are extremely good value for money, last forever and grip really well in the wet and dry.


I wouldnt buy Toyo Proxies since they are a soft compound tyre and may well wear out within 10,000 miles.

Ian



Ian

<<<If you want realistically priced tyres you cant beat the Avon ZV1.
They are extremely good value for money, last forever and grip really well in the wet and dry.>>>

blimey ian! you’re the only other person i’ve come across so far that uses them. i have to agree with all you say about them.

t
tony

I have just fitted Goodyear eagle F1- GSD3 195/50-15 to the front. Really pleased excellent grip in all conditions.
martin

Have just had F1's fitted on the back, last week and they are good, although they are still yet to be properly "scrubbed in". Just failed MOT today on the tourers fitted on the front and so having f1's fitted there also.
Have read on here they are supposed to be good.
The originals Goodyear tourers were horrendous on both ends, although good fun in the dry. being able to sling it round and slide all over.
Although fited on a trophy not too good.

Sime 9 VVC
simon

Can't go wrong with Yoko's....A539's......magic!

p.s I'm not a yoko sales rep buy the way!
Rob

Rob

I have them too.( A539's ) no complaints.

Had to send for them though, did you find your's locally? If so, where and how much ?

Grahame
( with the hard top still on... broken zip on soft top window )
Grahame

I recently changed the old F1 215/45 R16 against Toyo (mix 195 front and 215 rear)
Very pleased with them after the first 1.500 miles.

btw, In comparison I prefer handling of the smaller front against the former wider.
Paid 290 EURO all including (app 200 quid) and I think I'll get the same again.

Dieter K.

<btw, In comparison I prefer handling of the smaller front against the former wider.>....;-)
Mike
mike

I have recently fitted Pirelli P Zeros to the front, and boy, have they made a really big difference compared with the rather poorly performing NCT 3s. As one of the relatively new rear NCT 3s has developed a bulge, suffering, it seems, the same failure that my front tyres exhibited, then P Zeros may be put on the rear soon too. Car sticks like glue, and understeering tendency has gone.
Karl Woodhead

Grahame,

In answer to your question I got mine from Gramhame's tyres on leapings lane in Hillsborough. He ordered them in for me and i paid £260 fitted, although I did go through a mechanic friend of mine who got them at trade. i think they would be £280 normally but still not bad!
Rob

Hi,

I got a set of Yoko A539 from www.yresonline.net
Cost of tyres including deliver 215 quid.

Ordered Monday arrived Tuesday..fitted Thursday
for 35 quid at local motorway tyres.

Handling so far fine after 500 miles.....

Cheers

Paul;
Paul Waine

Sorry to hyjack but Ive been reading this thread with great inerest, I have the origional contenental tyres fitted to my 4 month old TF and think they are crap, I want to trade up. I used to have 195 bridgestones RE720s all round on my old F and was very pleased with them, even though I try to avoid motorways and do country roads normaly, how bad would tramlining be with 205s or 215s all round, havent made up my mind which tyres to go for, Im reading as much on them as posible

Mike
Mike

Mike In response to the original question, I have experience of using Falken tyres on my F. I have their Falken ZE502 185/55/R15 on the front and I have their 205/50/R15 on the rear. For the distance I travel each year they are good tyres. Purchased from

http://www.tyres-sold-online.co.uk/tyres_185_55_15.htm

£34 each Free delivery then just ask your friendly local garage to fit £10 a tyre usually works out a good buy.

They are more a American/Japan recognised company but some background to them is that Goodyear and Falken have an arrangement to develope production in each other's countries Goodyear in Japan and Falken(Sumitomo) in america.

Also they did recieve the "Best Buy" award from "Consumers Digest" 1999 state side.
Peter

Mike (Switzerland),

As I said above I have 205 Toyos all round and I haven't noticed any tramlining. I also have a Yaris SR(done 10k)which had 195 Dunlops on it and the tramlining was very bad. My daughter kerbed one of the tyres and I was quoted £90 for a replacement. Since I was pleased with the Toyos and my local dealer wanted £80 for two I went for them and surprise surprise no tramlining. I think the moral of the story is that it is not the size but the make that can cause tramlining.
David Clelland

Tony and Ian,

I have just been looking at Avon ZZ3s, good tread pattern and in tests conducted by Mytyre.com they beat or equalled GSD3s in all categories except grip in the wet where there was only 0.1 of a difference.

I have sourced a supplier at £61 inc VAT each and £12 delivery UK wide for a set of 4 x 215/40 R16 86W RF.

Has anyone got personal experience of these tyres or shall I be the guinea pig?

Chris

Thanks David, I did once get tramlining on my old F but that was down to tracking, but Ive heard a lot of gripes about tramlining, just wondered if anybody had any experience on the TF, as it has a diffrent set up, buy the way, if any of you are going on a Euro trip this year, ie treffin, wait till you get here before changing tyres, they are cheeper here, Im seeing thirty per cent savings over the prices you are quoting and Ive been advised to go to Germany for my next set, as its cheeper still!

Mike
Mike

I have ordered 4 x Avon ZZ3s 215 40 ZR16 RF, total cost including delivery was £256.40.

I will be getting them fitted next week so I will let everyone know how they perform shortly after.

If anyone is interested I found them cheapest at

https://www.topgear.co.uk/acatalog/Avon_Tyres.html

and the performance test stats are available at

http://www.mytyres.net/start.html

they do equal or exceed the performance of Goodyear F1 GDS3s in all cases with the exception of wet grip which was only 0.1 difference.

Hopefully they are as good as the tests seem to state, time will tell.
Chris

Keep us posted Chris - so far, Avon tyres have not had the most favourable response from MGF owners.
Rob Bell

Sorry to but in.........

Just realised I need two new rears on my 'F' and have to get them tomorrow. Big trip over Easter.

Handbook says NCT3 only (NCT5's are £75 at Kwik-Fit) but I've been offered Michelin Pilot's elsewhere for £70 (£100 at Kwik-Fit).

Which should I go for and am I taking any risks (warranty/insurance) by fitting non-recommended rubber?

Thanks,
Dave.
D R Hall

Check out Rob's tyre guide. ONLY fit tyres other people here have tried and found to be successful, as the 'F' is very temperemental about being on the right tyres (and I don't mean NTC3's by that!)

I suggest Bridgestone RE720's if you can get 'em.

Leigh
Leigh Reid

Leigh,

Thanks for the advice.
Do you have a link to the tyre guide?

Thanks,
Dave.
Dave Hall

Try this link for tyre choices:

http://www.mgf.ultimatemg.com/tyres.htm

regards

chris
Chris

Thanks for the help fellas.

Decided to play safe and go for the NCT5 (NCT3)'s. £150 ouch!!

D.
Dave Hall

No offence Dave but did u read this thread!!
The NCT's are just about the worst official/aftermarket tyres u can fit.
I've had 2 bad skid experiences with them without doing anything extreme.
I'd search the archives for NCT if you want confirmation.

final decision is yours let us know how u get on
darce

Dave,

Bad mistake. Opertunity missed.
I paid to replace my NCTs after a couple of thousand miles.
Enough said.

P.
Paul Nothard

Appreciate your comments.

I had no problems with the NCT3's which I've replaced with NCT5's. NCT5's are supposed to wear better according to GoodYear (but they would say that).

Time was of the essence and I was really after an opinion on the Michelin's, as I'd been offered a really good deal, but nobody seems to have tried them.

I also noted the 'Warning' in respect of fitting anything other than the recommended rubber.

Has anyone looked into any possible insurance implications should an accident occur when tyres other than those recommended by the manufacturer are fitted?

If you guys are right I'll be able to change my mind very shortly!

Thanks again,
D.

Dave Hall

I think the complaints about the NCT3 are a tad overdone. We have Bridgestone S02s on one of our Fs and NCT3s on the other.

The Bridgestones are definitely firmer and you feel more secure and a lot better in the wet. But please, the other F on NCTs is still great fun and I will happily push it much harder than other road users in their Bavarian Sierras, so they can't be too bad. I can also press the F on NCTs far harder than I will push the 75 estate on 17inch rims.

I confess, I will not push the NCTs in the wet but then perhaps no one should be pushing cars in the wet on the public road. While the tyres may be OK, a lot of the roads have pretty terrible surfaces.

Cheers

Patrick
Patrick Beet

I have to agree with Patrick on this one - I let my NCT3s run out their natural life, which included a couple of hard laps of the Nürburgring, BUT I must say the Bridgestons are brilliant.

Ted
Ted Newman


I'm just bitter and twisted. :-)

Have had two seperate incidents in two seperate 'Fs with NCT3s in the wet. Yes, there is less grip in the wet, but it was the unpredictability of the tyre that really surprised me. I was far from gunning it.
I'm no Schumy, but I'd like to think that I know a little about controlling the car ... and I couldn't 'cause it let go so so quickly.
The second time I was actually commenting why I was going so slowly round the roundabout when the tyres let go!! Scary!

Ok. I've had particularly bad experiences, but the general consensus on the board is that NCT3s are a pretty poo tyre.

If people are going to invest so much money in a damn fine little sports car, then why oh why oh why (think Barry Took here!) do people save a few pounds by fitting cheaper or shorter lasting tyres? They are the one thing that you can change without affecting insurance etc that will for SURE make a positive difference to your car and improve safety at the same time. That must be worth a few quid extra?

Rant over. :-)

P.

Incidentally, the unworn NCT3s went straight onto my Peugeot where I found them fine.
Paul Nothard

>>If people are going to invest so much money in a damn fine little sports car, then why oh why oh why (think Barry Took here!) do people save a few pounds by fitting cheaper or shorter lasting tyres?<<

I agree Paul. It is no exageration to say that using some decent tyres radically transforms the handling of the car (any car). It should, perhaps, be regarded as the first darkside mod!
Rob Bell

Got F1 on the F. No probs (except one new one on the back being different tyre pattern to the other!) Fronts to be replaced soon (bl**dy tracking!). Quote of £86 fully fitted for F1 by local shop.

>> I also noted the 'Warning' in respect of fitting anything other than the recommended rubber.

>> Has anyone looked into any possible insurance implications should an accident occur when tyres other than those recommended by the manufacturer are fitted?

Have a Mazda 323F Sport as proper/wife's car. Supplied on Yokohama (195/50VR16). Recently identified one of the rears had a crack (9 months/15k miles). No Yokohamas in country. Would only be supplying to UK after a month! Got told that all the tyre manufacturers withdrawing this size and rating. Had to go down to H rating (Pirelli). Insurance company (Norwich) happy as not a change to wheel, and car only spec'd at 118mph anyway (by Mazda). Considering the age of car (< year old) Mazda must have known that the tyre supply would be a problem. Won't go there again!

So don't think it is a problem changing rubber. Go for a good make (used to have Pirelli on my midget. Excellent grip) and at a rating exceeding the top spec of your car.
Martin

>>Got F1 on the F. No probs (except one new one on the back being different tyre pattern to the other!)<<

Oops! Martin, check the small print on the tyres. I suspect that the new one is a GS-D3 whilst the older one is a GS-D2.
If you've not noticed any problems, then fine, but otherwise you may want to consider replacing the older tyre to the latest spec GS-D3 to avoid any imbalance caused by different specification tyres on the same axle.
Rob Bell

>I also noted the 'Warning' in respect of fitting
>anything other than the recommended rubber.

Did you read the advice sheet? Very carfelly worded say that changing the rubber may effect the handling, but fails to say if it changes it for the better or worse ;-)


>Has anyone looked into any possible insurance
>implications should an accident occur when tyres other
>than those recommended by the manufacturer are fitted?

I had trouble with a repair, the garage were really sh*ty with me and decided to forward the advice sheet to the insurace co. they ignored it and payed up (I only know because i requested all the info the insurance co had on the repair).

Will
Will Munns

Hi guys,I have been following the tyre thread and the archive material about MGF tyres and ,in all honesty,the upshot seems to be that nobody seems to agree on any definitive best buy,except that NCTs aren't much good.Well this morning I had a good pre-MOT grovelling session under the F and found the front NCTs worn well down on the inside tread(the outside looked ok).As background,I use the car very little(just a holiday car really,say 4k p.a.)but a couple of k ago "did" (east)Germany and Poland.Many of the minor roads were truly awful,The car has settled a bit and the plan is to have it pumped up then MOT'd.But now I need new front tyres.Car is 1997,28k only in otherwise brilliant nick and yes I am one of those "boring old farts" that actually ,more or less,sticks to speed limits so the car is never thrashed(maybe that's why I have a clean licence after 37 years and 8 MGs).Anyway,before I start the ringing round ritual,has anybody any up to date recommendations for a tyre that would fit my bill? Thanks Mose
PS.having read just about all the threads,do the MGOC do dictionaries?
mose

>>>>recommendations for a tyre that would fit my bill?
===given the usage profile you describe, I'd say it doesn't matter.
David

I've had F1's all round (215/40 16) and apart from the expected tramlining they have really done me proud. Of course I have no other tyres for comparison, but I have rarely had a grip problem.

I now have GSD2's on the front and 3's on the rear and whilst I am experiencing a handling anomoly I think this is down to a dodgy camber setting rather than the tyres (hoping to get it techspeed'd in the near future :-D ).

In the wet, the F1's are almost as good as in the dry.

So is it true that 195/50 R16s are being discontinued across the manufacturers? or did I read that wrong?


Chris
Chris George

>>Well this morning I had a good pre-MOT grovelling session under the F and found the front NCTs worn well down on the inside tread(the outside looked ok).<<

Mose, this is the classic tracking problem (see http://www.mgf.ultimatemg.com/tyrewear.htm )

Raising the suspension will not necessarily help. But clearly, you do need to get your car over to a tracking set up centre. Go for either standard settings, or go for parallel (0 degrees) toe setting at the front.

Best tyre? Without doubt the Bridgestone S-02. Sadly, this tyre is no longer available for 15" wheel fitments :o(

My next choice would be the Goodyear F1 - either the GS-D2 or GS-D3 (former for 15" the latter for 16" fitment).
Rob Bell

Chris G, I have the identical setup as you, with halfworn 2s on the front, brand new 3s on the rear, the handling was most peculiar for the first day or three. My wife tells me that now there's a couple of hundred miles on them it has settled down. I'll check it myself at the weekend...
David

I spoke to my MGR dealer today about replacing the Eagle F1 rears on my Trophy. They only have GSD3s available in the right size. I told him I'd heard of problems with the GSD3s, so he contacted both MG and Goodyear to see if there had been a reported problem. Within minutes he had a response from MG, which said no problem with GSD3s, but under no circumstances should NCT5's be put on an MGF. There are serious handling problems with these tyres, and all dealers are currently being instructed NOT to fit NCT5's to the cars.
Paul
Paul

I too have heard bad vibes about GSD-3's. I called Goodyear technical 01902 327070. They say MG asked them to specifically tune the compound of the GSD-2's and the car suspension has been set up to match them. At the mo MG are testing and as yet MG do not approve fitting GSD-3's. Thus GY don't recommend fitting them on a TF 160. I also asked my dealer to ask MG too. The answer came back as 'fit GSD-2 as that's what the car is designed to work with'. And 'MG have no control mover what customers fit as that's a personal decision but we have found more wheelspin with GSD-3's.'

That to me implies the GSD-3's are a harder compound; with better wear but maybe less grip.

I had some GSD-3's in the garage ready to fit but I'm in the process of exchanging them for GSD-2's. As for the original GSD-2's. They are fantastic but 13k mls life is a bit expensive!!!

Ian

Ian Walker





Rob Bell,thanks for the website tip which I read (excellent info,shame about the English, the spelling is appalling).New tyres being fitted soon(Falkens),then pump-up/MOT,then tracking man if I can find one who really knows what he is doing!!That's the plan.We shall see,hmmm.Bye for now,Mose
mose

Just my observations but original F fitted with 215 Goodyear all round, generally no problem but tramlining was the only cause of concern, the new TF ( 5 week old now ) 195's front, 215's rear F1' again, none of the tramlining is obvious but cannot be sure if this is due to tyres or the different suspension of the TF, but I am more confident with the new setup.
Art Jacks

"thanks for the website tip which I read (excellent info,shame about the English, the spelling is appalling)"

You cheeky b a s t a r d!! You ask for some info, get given a great web-resource on the problem/query you have then you proceed to pull it apart!

Suggest Rob doesn't bother next time.
Jumping Jack


Rob Bell,I have now had a chance to study the website you recommended about tracking (and an associated one about suspension ride height).I think that I may have caught my tyre wear problem just in time as it is nowhere near as bad as the poor guy's car in the photo on the website.But it seems you may well be right.What a rigmarole!The whole business of F suspension/front wheel geometry seems more of a black art than a straightforward technical procedure.No wonder MG have ditched it for the TF.My F has now assumed the usual MG position ie up on jacks,whilst the wheels are off for tyre fitting.Tyreman took one look at the present tyres and pronounced "tracking" regardless of the suspension situation.So,plan is now:wheels back on tomorrow,suspension pump-up/MOT next week,then tyreman says give it 1k to all settle down then come in for tracking check/adjust if necessary.Seems to make sense and he didn't think much of the chances of a main dealer getting it right as they seeme to rush etc,etc .Well he would say that,wouldn't he?Anyway ,thanks again for the info.We shall see how it goes.Mose.
mose

I have Goodyear D3 F1's fitted on the back of my Trophy and have not experienced any problems at all other than they need 300 miles to scrub in. Oh and tyre pressures are 28psi all round.
Blue Pocket Rocket

Must say I have to echo the words from Jumping Jack - after all the main concern on this BBS is to give useful information and IF we are to make sure that our grammar and spellings are perfect before posting I rather suspect that the BBS will shrink dramatically.

The other point is that one of the main reasons for MG to change from HydraGas suspension was the supplier Dunlop wishing to cease manufacturing the units AND to encourage MG to change they put the price up (or so we have been told).


Ted
Ted Newman

This thread was discussed between 29/03/2003 and 08/05/2003

MG MGF Technical index

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