It's been almost a year since I sold my '80 MGB. But, I'm pretty sure the
tires I used were all 185/70/s. The best were Pirelli Sport Touring's.
Great on dry pavement, great in snow, & great in the wet. Until they
finally wore out. Then snow & rain driving became real exciting.
At no time did I have any clearance problems.
Right now I have Dunlop D60A2's in 175/65 size on my '66 B. They're good,
but not as good as the Pirelli's were. Is it because of size, compound or
design? Don't know. Clearance? There's plenty.
The drawback to big tires on narrow rims is that the tires don't take the
cross-section shape that was intended by the designers. All tires are
designed with an optimum rim width. Installed on a too narrow or too wide
rim, the shape can be altered enough to cause performance peculiarities.
However, those of us using the original 4.5" wide wheels have to search long
& hard to find anything in the right size.
Norm Sippel
'66 MGB
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