Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms Wider Tyres

I'm running 205 on a 5.5 rim. No issues.

6.5 is recommend, but 5.5 to 7.5 is acceptable.

Any new modern tyre will have a better road grip than a 7 year old rubber

The main thing to look at is the clearance between the top of the tire and the crosshead. Many years ago I lost two new tires by not checking.

Sorry, but beg to disagree. The 60 is the aspect ratio of the tyre which is the percentage of width to give height of tyre. So as the width is increased, so too is the overall diameter, even though rim size and aspect ratio are the same.

A change to wider tyres ought to have a reason (as any change....)
Grip: most likely better in the dry, worse in the wet. And as said here, anything new will be better than your existing tyres.
Handling: heavier in all conditions, but specially going slow and above all when parking etc.
Looks: a wide tyre might give a mean, racy look, but will not be in harmony with the car's classic appearance (IMHO).
Fuel consumpition: somewhat higher, but might be negligible in a Morgan with low mileage.
Beware of conflict with chassis, wheelarc, stays etc.

I have 205/55/16 om my Roadster, as original. Optically it looks nice and correct with the wider wings, but they do give a heavy handling when going slow.
My preference with the neat 4/4 would be to stick to the original 195 and use the possible difference in price to something else use- and beautiful (some good mirrors for instance....)

Some premium manufacturers make a specific 'rim protector' spec in most sizes (has a sort of lip in the sidewall) you just have to check what their order code is & check the tyre monkeys order the correct ones

Michelin, Continental & Pirelli, certainly do them

I was surprised about the handlng of mine. With the 165 tyres I found the steering a little heavy and ran at about 26psi to try and lighten it up. I was expecting it to be far worse with the 195 front, 205 rear set up, but actually found it lighter, and run at a much lower psi (about 22 I think).

Styling is obviously a very personal thing - I'm a fan of the 'big tyre' and thought the original pram wheels spoiled the look of my old 4/4.

Can't say I've noticed any detriment to the handling, but I tend to bimble rather than hoon around.

Agreed. When the stainless 7 x 16" rims were spec'd on the Roadsters instead of standard 15", they dropped the tyre aspect ratio from 60 to 55% to compensate and so maintain similar circumference.

Oops! Yes. Brain fade.
Did the calc and 6mm difference in section height.

IMHO wider tyres serve no purpose on the Plus 4. It is quite probable that you will get reduced grip on dirty or wet surfaces, steering will probably be heavier (that is why so many Roadster owners opted for power assisted steering. Also it is possible that the tyres could be outside the mudguards. Is that an MOT failure in the UK? I doubt mudguard extensions are available for the Morgan

I have fitted 195/65 15 tyres to get better ground clearance. if you want better grip just get the correct tyre size in a good sports compound.

Regarding Speedo calibration you may find no change is required because the standard setup under reads the speed and distance. You can calibrate the speedo after travelling an accurately signed distance (say 10 miles) and compare that to the odometer distance. Calibration is not difficult and instructions can be found on the Smith's website