Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) Wire Wheels - Chrome to Black Options?

I like the black but love the green on green car....that old Bentley look.
Black works for everything else though.
Nick

Looks very nice with the traditional green bodywork

What is your secret mine look filthy after 5 miles especially the rears

Miklos, that looks really classy

Dove Grey and black wires

What a great choice, I see you're in West Herts so you must me close to me here in Rickmansworth

We need to arrange a pint and a photo shoot

Love my black wires, easy to keep clean

This looks very good! The black spoked wheels make your green Plus4 look much more authentic. Also the compromise with 185/65/15 is very successful. A big difference to the 60 tyres.
Another observation. You had 195/60/15 before? Funnily enough, the 185/65/15 look balloonier which is a very cool effect. And at the same time they are a bit narrower which obviously makes steering much sportier. Perhaps even the best compromise between look and performance compared to 185/70 because such dimension offers slightly less control in the curves. I'll be honest, with the silver wheels and 195/60, the car looks like a "nice car". With the black wire wheels and the 185/65, your car looks like an "I want it" car. There is one more point to this. The ratio will not be as long as with 185/70 or 195/65 tires (which may be too long). Does the Plus 4 have the same ratio as my 4/4 with the same MX5 transmission and 3.7x Final Ratio?

Thanks Heinz,

Going with the 185/65 size actually worked out better than I ever could have hoped for, from an 'in-period' aesthetic point of view the balloon look really fits the bill and the higher profile along with blacking the wheels has combined to help reduce the arch gaps to the eye which were very noticeable on the shiny stainless wheels and 195/60 tyres. Dropping from 195 to a 185 section tyre has certainly lowered the steering effort considerably and feel is vastly improved too, although a good proportion of the improvement will be because my 11 year old Yokohamas had gone as hard as wood!

The sidewalls on the Ecocontact 6 Contis are made softer to improve fuel economy, with the tyre off the rim you can really feel this too. I suspect this tyre would feel quite squidgy on a heavier modern car so they wouldn't be my choice, the most common car to use the 185/65R15 size being the 1,100kg VW Polo that tips the scales at least 150kg more than Monty. This potentially undesirable characteristic actually plays into the hands of a Morgan owner as the softer sidewall is ideal suited to a lightweight car with antiquated suspension as it serves to deliver a very compliant ride on the road.

One final element also worth pointing out when choosing tyres is the relationship between rim width and sidewall height, as soon as it was confirmed Monty runs 6" rims I knew I needed to be careful not to select a tyre that was too tall. To be honest the 185/65 size I ended up with is as tall as I'd ever want to go on a 6" rim and the 185/70 Vredesteins would have definitely been a step too far, I certainly don't want to live in fear of the tyre bead coming off a rim under hard cornering so I've ended up with a modern tyre that not only looks right, it also delivers better steering feel and a better ride while being safer too.

Choosing the 185/65 size gives me a lot more choice and the saving over the classic type tyres is not to be sniffed at either, I bought and had fitted five Continental Ecocontact 6s for £430 including valves and balancing, compare this with the Vredesteins that would have cost more or less £1000. Finally, as it turns out my Morgan speedo now exactly matches my sat nav so the Continentals have delivered a multitude of benefits and improvements at a significant saving too. Tyres are the only contact you have with the road so if you're looking to improve the ride and handling of a car it stands to reason you should start with the tyres, and if you're tyres are more than six years old they need to be replaced even if the treads have plenty of life left in them.

This is why Monty's first handling, braking and steering upgrade didn't actually involve fitting any suspension or steering hardware at all, my first step was simply to add a decent set of new tyres, and boy it worked out well

Amazing colour combo. I think some mohs look better with chrome/stainless wires, but black looks so much better here.

Agree with the above, Quicksilver's Dove Grey over black wires is an inspired choice

I was always a huge fan of Sport Grey, but Dove Grey with black wires is now my favourite colour combination on a Morgan.