On Fri, 24 Oct 1997 20:42:36 -0500 "Darby" <darby@tri-lakes.net> writes:
>If Barney's listening, I'll wager he will have something instructive to
say.
Well, maybe and maybe not. I'm not your "normal" driver, I like a little
over steer, and if you listen to me you may find yourself in the ditch
(just ask Carol). Having posted that disclaimer, you may now chose to
delete or read on.
I have a 3/4" anti-sway bar up front in my MGA, and I find that 25 psi
all around works well for street use with 165 radial tires, and 3 psi
more in the back for trailer towing to prevent _excessive_ over steer.
Without the front stabilize you may need a few more psi in the rear,
because in hard cornering the inside rear tire will lift off the ground
and the outside rear tire ends up carrying half the weight of the
vehicle.
On the rare occasion that I go autocrossing on the 165 street tires, I go
for about 35 psi up front and 28 in the rear (give or take a few
depending on pavement conditions). Lots of hard cornering rolls the tire
over a little (especially the fronts) and quickly wears off the outside
shoulder. You need the extra pressure to keep it from running on the
sidewalls. For any spirited driving I highly recommend a stabilizer bar
up front to reduce body roll, which also reduces tire roll over
Now when I put the sticky 195-60 race tires on there and go for
competition runs, the aim is for speed and not tire life. Then I run
about 30 psi up front and 25 at the rear, looking for a big foot print,
and hang the wear on the shoulders. When the cords show through on the
edges I have to buy new tires. The wear situation would improve
considerably if I used wider wheels, but that would throw me out of Stock
class with SCCA.
And as a matter of interest, the lateral loading on the wheels from
running the sticky race tires is enough to cause stress cracks in the
stock steel wheels. Some people in the Chicagoland MG Club have
witnessed the results of this close up.
Barney Gaylord
1958 MGA with an attitude
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