Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing alternative tyre size 2005 4/4

Yes, they're quite pricey, now up to £120 each. But then again it's only every 5 to 7 years so not too terrible. I'm very happy paying the extra to get a classic look, I'm not a fan of modern tread patterns on Morgans.

They might be a 'basic' tyre by modern standards, but they have half the weight to deal with. My 4/4 puts out around 165bhp, and I feel very secure on the Sprint Classics, they grip extremely well under normal driving, and when you go completely mental and provoke them to break away, they let go very gracefully and controllably.

Modern tyres IME tend to hang on and on, but when they do let go it's almost impossible to catch them.

Edit to add: If you think Sprint Classics are expensive, have you seen the price of Michelin XAS? £400 a tyre, would you believe? Somebody reckons the classic car crowd have deep pockets!

I wonder how the Blockley Tyres compare to the Sprint Classic?

£99 and very traditional looking but how do they perform?

I agree entirely. Also, unlike with the originals Contis, when you encounter a damp or slippery surface, you do not go abruptly from low grip to no grip. Not cheap but worth the price.

Re Michelin, they always take the piss on price and their tyres are not always good enough to justify the premium. My Honda Civic had bias-tread Michelins on it from new and I disliked them. Grip was fine, feel was fine, but they did that annoying 'tramlining' thing on longitudinal surface irregularities. As with the Morgan, much better on Vredesteins.

I must be one of the few people who actually like the Contis.
Maybe I just don’t drive fast enough to cause issues; but I find them nicely predictable.
I have only ever found grip issues when the tyres are getting old and the rubber has hardened.

The TT2 has a modern assymetric tread. The Sprint Classic looks like a much older tread design. Whether there is a detectable difference when driving, I have no idea. TT2 are £45 each, SC are £134. Big difference!

I didn’t mind them on the 4/4.....as you say quite predictable. If I’d still got the 4/4 I would have replaced them eventually with Vredestein Sprints as I like the traditional tread pattern. Williams pursuaded me to fit wider Avon CR6ZZ which look sexy but I didn’t like them.

The Vredestein Sports are not really that expensive and certainly cheaper than the CRs and I suspect justified by the lower numbers manufactured compared to run of the mill tyres.

I must admit to being slightly obsessive about the age of the tyres on both Stanley and my DS3.(Also on my motorcycle).
Changing them when there is often tread depth remaining.
A hardening tyre can definitely be scary, especially on the bike.

Perhaps the Conti CT22s have changed recently, though I don’t see any difference in appearance. Indeed the factory still fit them I believe.

I bought my 4/4 at 2.5 years old with 2500 miles travelled, so the Contis were in good shape. The car had always been garaged so little UV exposure. However the tyres were terrible. No wet grip, sliding around roundabouts in the rain. Squealing on cornering or braking on the dry. I bought MWS stainless wires to replace the chromes, and sold the old wheels and tyres as a set. The new wheels were shod with Firestone F560s and these were a vast improvement. So I’d be very reluctant to try the CT22s again. I’m only changing the tyres due to age, not wear, so the difference in cost for a set of 5 fitted is significant.

What about 185/65-15. There is a wide choice. And they are cheaper too!

Some cars can get away with the extra width but it depends on a number of variables. Cut/fit of the wings, spring condition, the car loading, how fast you take corners…… I have 185’s but also restrain my rear suspension peak movement which prevents the very occasion kiss/contact up inside of the rear wing that I once had when fully loaded. I also have a panhard rod to centralise/optimise the axle position within the body.
But they do look nice