Paul,
I can't speak from LBC experience, just my experiences with my totally stock
1972 VW Beetle park 'n ride car. When I switch between my 165R-15 (78 series?)
winter tires on 4.5 inch wide rims, and my 195/65-15 summer tires on 5.5 inch
wide rims the difference in acceleration (in 1st and 2nd anyway) is highly
noticeable from a seat of the pants aspect. The summer tires make my tired old
VW feel MUCH peppier. I think big, wide tires look really great, even if they
don't provide much performance increase for the buck. I have 195/60-15s on 6x15
Panasports for my MGB GT.
Just as a suggestion, I think a 4-cylinder MGB running on 195 or larger width
tires is considerably over-tired for the available horsepower, and will reduce
your top speed significantly over, say a 185/65-14 tire, and will contribute
very little increased grip. Tire compound will make more difference. Even a
relatively gummy street tire like a Yokohama AVS ES100, however, won't do well
against real racing tires. You really need 2 sets of wheels and tires (hey,
it's only money, right?).
Check out Barney Gaylord's pages on "Mags and Stickys":
http://www.mgaguru.com/picmg/magwhl.htm
...and Tire Tech:
http://www.mgaguru.com/mgtech/tires/tt101.htm
~Jerry
> I need some help with how the overall tire diameter of
> my tires will affect the overall gearing. <Big Snip>
> 60 or 55 aspect ratios and their correspondingly
> smaller ODs will help the car accelerate? Is it
> something that will be pretty significant, or a
> relatively minor change? <Yet another Big Snip>
|