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MG MGF Technical - Tyres for VVC Trophy

I have recently purchased a very low mileage one owner 160 Trophy, which I was delighted to see has two brand new Continental Sport Contact 2 tyres fitted to the rear wheels. The fronts are the original Goodyear Eagle F1 (D2)'s, around which the suspension was designed of course, and which although only part worn are nigh on ten years old. I am particularly fussy over tyres, am a great fan of Continental products, and would like to have both front end rear ends running on the same rubber.

This car, although I imagine would be fantastic around a track, will only be used for touring, so I don't want the last word in high speed grip, but something that will work well with the car in all normal circumstances. It does tend to 'tramline' over uneven surfaces, but I put this down to the negative camber, low profile tyres, and 16" wheels.

Can anybody give some advice please. Many thanks.
DR Wharf

I wouldn't want 10 year old tyres on my car either, whatever the brand or amount of tread was left. Lots of folk here rate Toyo's pretty highly by the way but before spending on rubber you should get all the suspension bushes and the shock absorbers checked for wear. Tramlining is not good! Get any problems sorted first, then have the wheel alignment checked. Then and only then can you fit new tyres with confidence they won't get scrubbed by worn or misaligned suspension components.

Perhaps someone else will come along shortly to comment about Conti's - I've not used them.

Jeff
J Lennon

Thanks Jeff, I have in fact had the tracking checked, which required all, but the near-side rear wheel, to be re-aligned, however I still get some tram-lining taking place. The guys at Protyre, who did the very comprehensive check of toe-in, tracking, and camber angles, did confirm that ultra low profile tyres can tend at times to give this feeling. I must say the steering is pin sharp compared to our old TF, its just this unwanted sense of everything going a tad light at times, I find disconcerting.

My midget and MGB GTV8 by comparison with a little alteration and many years of experience, feel absolutely planted on the road, the Trophy doesn't. All I can do now I guess is fit some new rubber, which matches the rear, in other words Continental Sport Contact 3, and see how I get on. I'll let you know in due course.

Many thanks again

Dennis
DR Wharf

For your information Jeff, following the chassis set up work mentioned a week or two ago, I decided, with some apprehension, to have the Continental Sport Contact 3's fitted to my VVC 160. I needn't have worried, for the transformation has been truly astonishing. The car is now well and truly planted on the the road the tyres giving masses of confidence, feel and feedback.

Hard to believe that a set tyres can have such an impact on a road car, I can thoroughly recommend the Conti's. Needless to say, I have no contact with Continental Tyres, other than that of being a satisfied customer.

Thanks again for your interest.

Dennis
DR Wharf

Thanks for letting us know about Conti's Dennis and how pleased you are with them. Do report back what they are like in the wet - some say they can be a bit slippy, so take it steady!

Jeff
J Lennon

What are your thoughts on the Conti's now, Dennis, after almost 2 months of ownership and wet roads? I need to replace the rears on my Trophy 160 (fronts have Goodyear GSD2 which seem impossible to source now)so would be interested to get your opinion.
Thanks.
Simon Davis

Goodyear GSD2 215/40 are about at the moment just been shipped to UK if that helps. I purchased 2 last week and MGF Club were expecting them in this week. Approx £120 a pop all in when fitted.
P G Smith

Just to confirm as P G Smith above, the GSD2's I ordered last December are finally in at my tyre dealer!
Mike Hall

As long as you are happy with the tyres then thats OK, but worth noting that for 16" rims the ONLY tyre still fully validated by MGR (as was) and MG Motors (as is)and tested over the long term for the TF is the Good Year GSD2.

MG recently carried out a set of tests due to the limited availablility of GSD2s which has been published in Safety Fast, th MG website etc.

As far as tests go it was a bit more trial and subjectiveness than empircal and scentific, but those that were doing the testing were experienced and knowledgable with the MF/TF family.

In short 3 TF LE500s were used on the MIRA test track on a very cold day to do the final assessments on the down seleted tyres, following some regular road assessments using a variaty of drivers from TF novices to TF experts on a wider range of tyres.

Tyres (all 16") covered were

- Michelins (proved too hard to source so were eliminated before the start)

- Yokahoma S-Drives (fell at 1st hurdle - eliminated prior to the MIRA test)
- Kumho KU31s (fell at 1st hurdle - eliminated prior to the MIRA test)
- Federal SS-595s (fell at 1st hurdle - eliminated prior to the MIRA test)

- Pirelli P-Zeros (fell at 2nd hurdle, eliminated after MIRA dry testing)

- Maxxis MAZ1s (fell at 3rd hurdle, MIRA wet testing proved their undoing)

- Falken ZE912s (recommended for F and TF)
Toyo P1-Rs (recommended for F and TF)

- GY GSD2 (fully validated for F and TF)

Contis were never used or approved by MGR for the MGF/TF. And agian to quote the full report

"the ONLY tyre still fully validated and tested over the long term for the TF is the Good Year GSD2"

Note that the recommended tyres are for both the MGF and mgtf on 16" rims
David Mills

http://mgf.ultimatemg.com/group2/tyres/index.htm

I have tried GS D3s - and since I replaced all four tyres together, I had no problems whatsoever. They're a pretty good tyre - better I think than the GS D2s. But not as good as the now defunct Bridgestone S-02. Currently have the Toyo T1R - again a pretty decent tyre. Not as good as the S-02...

Er - you may have noticed that I rate the S-02 very highly, and you're right. Such a shame they they're now N/A. Not yet found anything that touch them - and I appear not to be wearing the T1Rs out at the moment, so I'll guess it may be some while before I try out some other tyres.

Tempted to go for Michelins next time!
Rob Bell

I believe Continental tyres were fitted to some production cars from new, but if I remeber correctly these were on the 15 inch rims.
David Karle

yes David - they were used as replacements for the appalling Goodyear NCT3s on 15" rims - but were hardly much better...
Rob Bell

This thread was discussed between 18/05/2011 and 26/08/2011

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