On Sat, 28 Feb 1998 10:04:23 EST WSpohn4 <WSpohn4@aol.com> writes:
><< IMHO for serious high performance driving, Wires aren't the way to
>go.
>Under
>the best of conditions, the wires will exibit greater flex than even a
>set of Rostyles. Wire wheels look aboslutely great on a LBC and they
>give
>the car that special something. But for spirited driving, they leave
>quite a bit to be desired. >>
>
>I remember a friend who insisted on using wires on his race car
>sending his
>pit crew to find the front wheel that had suddenly left him in the
>middle of a
>turn. When they towed him in, the car, and MGB, was OK except that the
>disc on
>one side was worn down to the hub, as he had locked the brake on,
>understandably, when the wheel left.
>
>Steel wheels (unless you are the Stones) aren't the answer either. I
>had a TR
>6 wheel part company from my MGA when racing at Portland, leaving the
>centre
>of the whell bolted to the hub. I then went to magnesium wheels that
>improved
>behaviour under braking no end. Under race conditions, seldom
>experienced on
>the street (if you often go into a corner at 120 mph, wondering if 119
>wasn't
>the maximum you could go and come out the other side, and climb on the
>brakes
>trying to take off every iota of speed without locking a wheel, fine -
>just
>don't be doing it near me) the feel of the mag wheels is much better -
>dead
>solid and no flex. You never realize how much a steel wheel moves
>under that
>sort of treatment until you try the alternative.
>
>Having said all that, I went back to the steel knock off wheels (very
>expensive but pretty strong) a few years ago, as I decided that the
>car and I
>would stop running CASC/SCCA races and stick to vintage events.
>
>By the way, I run factory competition B wires (5 1/2 x 15) on my TR 3
>and they
>hold up just fine on the street.
>
>Bill S.
>
You've got a real good point there. The Magnesium is the ONLY way to go
for out and out competition style driving.
What I was getting at was that the wires, for hard driving, (not
neccessarily on the track), were less desirable than even the OEM steel
wheels (we'll leave of the early pressed steel wheels which exibit all
the stiffnes of a beer can- an empty beer can)
were a much better choice.
To carry it one step further, for an OEM wheel, the LE alloy is
generally regarded as the strongest wheel MG ever put on the B.
For my street car, I'm running Rostyles, which is a quantum improvement
over the pressed steel types, shod with 195/60x14 Pirelli P600. When (!)
the body work and paint is finished, I want to go with an alloy 5.5"/6.0"
with 205/50x15 with just a tad less back set than stock. (as I'll have
flares front and rear ala. "MGCGTS" rub shouldn't be a problem.)
while on the subject of tires, what tire are you running in Vintage?
Right now we are running a set of Goodyear T/A competiton compounds. My
driver says he loves the "sticktion" he's getting, but looking at the
tires after a few hot laps, I'm not so sure we couldn't do better. Of
course the Yoko A008's are an option, but I'm trying to get a sense of
what else is out there.
Rick Morrison
72 MGBGT
74 Midget
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