MG Midget Forum

Walmart has them on sale for $27 a tire. I bought 4 and don’t care if I only use them for one season. Reviews (outside of walmart) give them good ratings. Anyone already own these?

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Thomas (Count) Basey
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“With each replacement of parts, my British car slowly becomes Chinese.”

tom- thanks for the post.....no sense in overpaying for tires.......!.....

they have 175/70/13 for a dollar more. I'm tempted but wanted Generals and wally doesn't handle them anymore.

Saw similar ones as well, but I’m testing something this go round...

Believe it or not, I’m running 185/70r13 on my midget now - they actually do fit, but i can barely get my fingers between the wheel and the non-arched rear fenders - it’s tight (over 7” wide). I used the chart below and according to it the 155/80 should be the same height as the 175/70 (actually marginally higher) but much narrower (6” and some change). I’m not going for any racing grip, I want more roll and less drag. I didn’t feel the 175/70 would be a big enough change from my current tires to notice anything. It’s a “big swing” on this change, but a great price to try it.

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Thomas (Count) Basey
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“With each replacement of parts, my British car slowly becomes Chinese.”

Took off the old tires yesterday (2 at a time) and took them in to a local shop for mounting. When I removed the rear tires I found something interesting...

For everyone who said you can’t put 185/70r13 on a Midget (even though mine have been on for at least 3 years) well, you were right! Never noticed, but apparently the tires would occationally rub the inner fender wall (see pic below). Hey... I didn’t put them on, the PO did. (I can finally use the DPO excuse).

In any case, the 155/80r13 fit great, and I’m noticing quite a bit more roll. I’m very pleased with my decision to down size.

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Thomas (Count) Basey
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“With each replacement of parts, my British car slowly becomes Chinese.”

What width rims are you guys running?

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Iceman

Atlanta GA

71 MG Midget

62 AH MKII
67 Midget
71 Midget

I have the stock Rostyle which are 4.5 inch. Even the mechanic who mounted the new tires said that the 185s should have not been mounted on my rims (5” minimum for those tires - they were 7” wide at the tread).

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Thomas (Count) Basey
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“With each replacement of parts, my British car slowly becomes Chinese.”

Thomas, yes, that's the reason I asked you what width rim you were running. Too much tire on too narrow a rim chances the profile and can even be dangerous. I'm surprised your tire dealer would mount the tires on your rims.

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Iceman

Atlanta GA

71 MG Midget

62 AH MKII
67 Midget
71 Midget

I’m noticing quite a bit more roll.

Do you mean less rolling resistance, or in turns you are getting more sidewall flex?

Bob

Iceman - Note the order of the comments above (I might have confused things). I never mounted the 185’s - the prior owner did. My mechanic who removed the old 185’s and mounted my new 155’s said HE would have never mounted the 185’s that were already on the rims - no tire place should have. I think we’re in agreement.

Bob - sorry I used a common performance term like “roll” out of context. I just mean less resistance on the road. When approaching a stop sigh at 45mph I can drop the car into neutral and continue to coast 1000 feet at speed to the intersection now. It was much less before. The car is also less “bouncy” over small bumps. To be totally honest, there is no difference in exceleration though. I know some folks like the look of tires that “fill” the wheel-wells. Personally I think my Midget looks more like a Midget now with closer to original size tires.

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Thomas (Count) Basey
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“With each replacement of parts, my British car slowly becomes Chinese.”

Thanks, I was pretty sure that is what you meant.

I'm facing replacing the tires on my Midget. Think I will follow the same route that you took regarding tire size and selection.

Bob

Have you noticed much difference in your speedometer? I'm just trying to get data to figure out why my speedo reads 4 to 5 mph slow. I'm running 155/80R13's, but the difference in diameter between the 145 and 155 isn't enough to account for that much difference.

Bruce,

The prior 185s and my current 155s are almost the exact same diameter. In both cases my speedometer (compared to GPS speed on my phone) is at most only 1.5 to 2 mph off. Definately not 5.

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Thomas (Count) Basey
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“With each replacement of parts, my British car slowly becomes Chinese.”

Thanks for the info. My car seems dead stock, so maybe it's just the speedo.

And down the rabbit hole we go...it looks like I have an MGB speedo. SN 5230/12 1000. Might be why I'm having issues. I have the 3.9 read diff according to my VIN. I'll have to check that out as well. And the Transmission pinion gear.