Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) Replacement tyres for Plus4

I recently bought a plus 4 2010 vintage. (10,000 miles covered)
It still has the original Yokohama C tyres (195/60/r15) with plenty of tread left. Visually they look good no cracks or signs of perishing. I am sure previous owner will have garaged the car.
Do I need to change these?
If so what are current thoughts as to suitable replacements, (would increase to 65's for a little extra clearance)? Spirited driving but not track days in mind
Thanks Neil

If the date serials confirm that the tyres are the originals (2010) they definitely should be replaced. I would stick to 60 profile.

Unless you have ground clearance problems like many Plus 4 owners. The 60 profile tyres give the lowest (not compliant with the regs in some countries) ground clearance of the who trad series. I, and may others, have fitted 65 profile tyres to gain a valuable 10mm of ground clearance.

Peter,

Did you notice much drop in performance with bigger tyres? On another car I went from 205/55/r16 to 235/45/r17 when I needed new wheels (son crashed into a gutter ) and the performance felt shocking, the car was really sluggish. The tyres were 7mm more in diameter, I ended up replacing them with 235/40/r17 which is 6mm smaller than the 205/55/r16 in diameter and the car felt fine again.

Chris

Neil,
When I had my '89 Plus 4 serviced/MOT'd by BHM earlier this year they reminded me (again) that although my tyres were fine, no cracking, etc, they were pretty old and should be changed for safety sake - 42k on the clock - just advice, not an MOT risk.
My front ones were 11 year old Yokos and the rear 13 year old Avons. The car was originally built with Avons.

I have since replaced all 5 with new original spec Avons and it feels much sharper, somehow, better in the corners, with all tyres the same make.
I may be old school but if the factory originally spec'd to a specific tyre then that is good enough for me.

By the way, my spare tyre was the original Avon - unused, 30 years old, no cracks....but it had to go, just in case.

Geoff

It probably means that I tend to use a lower gear in some situations but on the other hand it has slightly longer legs when up to cruising speed. The difference in circumference is 3%. So that means 3% less in wheel revolutions for a given distance. Around town I tend to stay in 4th gear when at 50 kph.

I understand your point, Peter, I think the '65s are also more aesthetic. But on the other hand, it's not a real compensation to shift down a gear. If the final ratio gets longer, then each gear has less leverage at each rpm and the car feels more tired. Personally, I will keep my 4/4 at 3.7 final ratio but this is due to the lower weight of the car plus the extra power and the high costs to change it because my MY needs a complete new rear axle. And thats with 80 tyres but the same final ratio than the Plus 4.