Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) Roadster handling

Has anyone any idea whether a Roadster running on wires handles differently from one running on alloys?

Check whether the track width is the same. I was able to feel the difference between original wire wheels and dayton wire wheels (the latter giving a few mm narrower track) on a 4/4 with camber reduction plates. It could be due to different tyres, but with dayton wire wheels the turn-in was slower, but the car was more relaxing and comfortable to drive.

Harald

Hi Harald.

My 2007 4-4 has stainless wires which I noticed still have the labels on each inside edge - made in India.

I have no previous experience of Wire Wheels so who are Daytona and why are their wheels so different??

The Dayton wheels http://www.daytonwirewheels.com/ are made in the US. The deliver stainless wire wheels to a lot of different cars, and for Morgan to 4/4, +4 and +8 (15x4.5, 15x5, and 15x6). While Dayton claims that they make the only maintenance free wire wheel in the world, I am not in the position to judge if this is true or not: I have only short term experience with their wheels. I bought a set of 15x5 wheels to my previous Morgan 4/4 4-seater and was very satisfied. At 150000 miles the original wheels wires were in need of trueing. I noticed that the Dayton offset was a few mm different from the original wires giving a slightly narrower track. It made the car less nervous and more comfortable to drive but a touch less reactive on turn-in. The difference was small, and it might also be due to different tires.

Harald

Thank You Soleng for sharing your experience

Roadster with 15"alloys or 16"wires...quite differant cars in my humble opinion!

15" alloys for me every time if it's about handling/road holding and general behaviour on the road.

By all means call me if you want an in depth chat about it.
01738 44 4004.

The alloys are narrower, so there should be a bit less friction and air resistance. And therefore, they will probably provide a better handling in the wet.

Unfortunately I have no experience with those, as my Roadster is on wires.

Sunny greetings from rainy Luxembourg,
Ivo

The alloyed Roadster is slightly narrower in the track. The lighter wheels will make a difference to acceleration and bump deflection, so it should be a smoother ride, even though that's relative!!!!!!
I wanted wires because I like the look of wires more, and don't mind spending time with a rag. For a road car it only matters if it matters to you. The easiest way to reduce the 0-60 time, after throwing out the passenger seat, heater and spare wheel is to lose some weight. A couple of stone would probably be noticeable. I reckon that as a 10.5 stone 'athlete' , I could keep up with a 15 stone bloke on alloys.
So there.

Well said Dave! But before throwing out the passenger seat, throw out the passenger!