With all mid-engined cars the front is lighter than the rear and doesn't require the same tyres all round. The rear requires tyres that will cope with the weight and power, whilst the fronts can be smaller as the weight is much less and they only have to cope with the normal suspension and steering. All Bagheera generally had 5.5J x 13" steel or alloy wheels with 155HR x 13 tyres front and 185HR x 13 tyres rear; since there was little difference in weight or power between the two engine options. (1300 or 1442) The spare was a 155 front tyre. Note: these tyres have no low profile designation in their specification as was common at that time, but they are in fact 82% profile, and the new 80% low profile tyres are effectively the same and can be mixed on the same axle. Neither the original tyres nor the new 80% profile tyres are generally available in that rear 185 width (although you may be able to get front tyres in that size - 155/80HR x 13). You can still get them through vintage tyre suppliers and in XVS tread pattern too, although that means they will be a little expensive, but if you want to keep it original...
The original rear tyre was the widest size you should fit to a 5.5J rim (for the tyre bead to sit correctly on the wheel rim) and if you tried to fit a later 70% profile tyre, you would need to go much wider to give the same rolling radius and therefore the correct ride height and gearing; but you should not go wider on 5.5" wheels. So if you used a 185 with a 70% profile, you would lower the rear of the car considerably, and with the front of the car still at the same height, the aerodynamics would be wrong and cause the car to lift at speed. You could of course fit 70% profile tyres at the front too, at least keeping the car with the same stance, but the car would be lower all round and the gearing now a lot lower. Better for acceleration but lowering the usable cruising speed! With only a four speed gearbox the original large high profile tyres gave the car a reasonable gearing. With 70% profile tyres the car will be under-geared. So you are stuck with vintage tyre supplies of the correct size at least at the rear, if you retain the original wheels and wish to keep the original gearing.
Bagheera tyre pressures
1.4 bar (20 psi) front, 2.0 bar (29 psi) rear (13" Michelin 82% profile tyres)
Wheel bolt torque given in the manual is 8 daNm, or 60 lb ft.
The Murena had different wheels as well as tyres on both the 1.6 and 2.2 models. Since the Bagheera had been designed, lower profile tyres had become the norm, and their treads were designed to stay flatter on the road, for better grip, which required improved suspension to enable this. The 1.6 was fitted as standard with steel wheels and 70 profile tyres, with optional larger alloy wheels and 60 profile tyres. All 2.2 models had those alloy wheels and 60 profile tyres as standard. The steel wheels and 70 profile tyres of the 1.6 were partly to keep the cost of the base model down. A standard 1.6 had a 48/52% front to rear weight distribution, whereas the standard 2.2 model had a 41/59% front to rear figure. The standard wheels and tyres were:
1.6 models: 5.5J x 13" steel wheels with 175/70HR x 13 tyres front and 195/70HR x 13 tyres rear.
2.2 models: 6J x 14" alloy wheels with 185/60HR x 14 tyres front and 195/60HR x 14 tyres rear.
(These rear tyre widths were, again like the Bagheera, close to the limit for the wheel rim widths)
N.B. There are two versions of the Murena alloy wheel. The standard one and the version for Germany/Austria, because their laws require a certain minimum quality specification for any alloy wheel, so Matra had to obtain a second version. To distinguish the two which are designed to look the same, there is a small difference where the radial fins meet the rims.
Also note: if a 1.6 was ordered with the optional alloys, the spare remained a steel 13" wheel and front 175/70HR x 13 tyre, whilst the 2.2 always had an alloy spare with a front 185/60 tyre; so in the event of a puncture the spare is a straight swap for a front wheel, but the tyre is slightly smaller than a rear tyre. However it is at least a full size wheel and tyre not a speed and distance limited 'space saver', and is perfectly adequate as an emergency replacement. However, whilst the spare is on the rear, you should drive with caution and keep the speed down as the rear tyres are no longer a matched pair, and the correct tyre needs to be repaired or replaced as soon as possible.
Matra made a mistake though when they fitted the 14" alloy wheels and 60 profile tyres, because the car was designed to sit correctly on the 13" steel wheels and 70 profile tyres and they forgot to make sure the car remained the same on the 14" wheels and 60 profile tyres. They made no attempt to correct this mistake either, otherwise there would have been an alternative setting in the workshop manual or they would have issued a technical bulletin update, but there was never any such notification.
The front ride height on 13" steel wheels with 175/70HR tyres was 1mm lower than when the 14" alloy wheels with 185/60HR tyres were fitted. However, the rear ride height on 13" steel wheels with the 195/70HR tyres was 7mm higher than when the alloys with 195/60HR tyres were fitted! So a 1.6 on the optional alloy wheels and tyres, or any 2.2 model, had the rear now 8mm lower than the front making the relative ride heights all wrong. I have since found that a more ideal front tyre for this situation is a 185/55HR x 14 which was a size not available when the car was new. On these 185/55HR x 14 front tyres, the 2.2 front ride height drops to 8mm less than the car on 13" steel wheels and 70 profile front tyres, so with that 8mm drop at the front and a 7mm drop at the rear the 2.2, or any 1.6 on the optional 14" alloys, has virtually the same horizontal attitude as the original design on steel wheels. The slightly smaller 55 profile brings the relative ride heights back to the correct original design and improves the steering, handling, and even improves the aerodynamics too, without really affecting the speedo accuracy. I have run these 55 profile front tyres for years and can verify the car is much better. Many other owners who have followed my recommendations will also testify how the car is better too.
These cars use a 4 bolt fixing (12mm x 1.5mm pitch) with 98mm P.C.D. (pitch circle diameter) 29mm offset, and a hub spigot diameter of 58mm. This is where the wheel locates for concentricity. This is the point where wheels can stick after they have been on for a while so people often put grease here. Please do not use copper grease - copper and aluminium react because of their positions on the Galvanic scale. You should use Alumslip made by Molyslip who also make Copaslip. Alumslip is the correct grease for this purpose but a small amount of LM grease is better if you don't have any Alumslip. The P.C.D. of 98mm is the same as on many Italian cars (FIAT, Lancia, Alfa) but they generally have a greater offset of around 38mm and fitting any of those to a Murena will make the track 18mm narrower and the tyre will be closer to the suspension. Now when you consider the 2.2 has a rear track 20mm wider than the 1.6, if you uprate the 1.6 with more power or fit a Peugeot 1.9 and bring the power up to a level closer to the 2.2 but you still have the narrower rear track, the last thing you should do is fit alloy wheels from one of those Italian cars which will make the track a further 18mm narrower too!
The Murena rear wheel arches were made large enough to take much larger wheel and tyre combinations without modifications, since I speculate, it was planned to put more powerful and probably larger engines in it, if it had continued in production. I have seen 15" and 16" rear wheels with 215 and 225 width tyres at 50 profiles or less and they appear to fit comfortably. However, I do not recommend changing the wheels and tyres to something larger because the first consideration should always be to the ride heights and particularly the relative front to rear relationship, to keep the cars angle at the same as originally designed. Furthermore the front wheel arches are not really designed for larger wheels and any extra width would restrict the turning circle even more as the tyres would foul the inner body on full lock. Second, for any change in wheel diameter you need to find suitable tyres for both front and rear that would give the same ride heights front and rear or at least keep the same relationship from front to rear. Now I have checked a number of times and there are simply no readily available tyres that would give you the correct rolling radius, front and rear, and if you cannot get the correct tyres, then it is pointless changing the costly wheels. So before anyone considers changing the wheels to something different, you should always check what tyres are available for those new wheel sizes, and their rolling radii, because you may find you cannot obtain anything suitable. Also with any alteration in wheels and tyres you must always check the suspension clearances and expect movement under hard cornering reducing the clearance a little from the static figure. One final thought on larger wheels and tyres - where would you put a much larger rear wheel with a punctured tyre, especially if it is wet and dirty, as it won't fit in the front!
Finally, tyre sizes and pressures are always important but especially so with a mid-engined car, and the pressure disparity between front and rear are often much greater than a normal car. Equally the front and rear sizes should be different. The size that is correct for the rear is too big for the front, and the front size is inadequate at the rear. Those who have fitted the same size tyres front and rear will testify to how dangerous the car can become, so don't do it. Always make sure the tyre pressures are correct too if you wish to drive safely, which means checking them regularly as alloy wheels are known to lose pressure! The pressures are in the handbook and the cars also had a sticker on the drivers door near the lock mechanism, as an easy reminder. Early handbooks had a mistake and often had one of the door stickers over the originally printed settings. If you're not sure if yours are correct or have lost the handbook/door sticker, these are the correct original figures:
Murena tyre pressures
1.6 models steel wheels - 1.8 bar front 2.1 bar rear, any brand tyre (13" originally Michelin 70% profile tyres)
1.6 models alloy wheels - 1.8 bar front 2.4 bar rear, any brand tyre (14" originally Pirelli 60% profile tyres)
2.2 models alloy wheels - 1.8 bar front 2.5 bar rear, any brand tyre (14" originally Pirelli 60% profile tyres)
Since you are likely to get up to 70 mph on any journey on an open road or motorway, I always recommend using the pressures above and ignore those given for low speed use as they are unrealistic as most owners don't do all their driving below 50 mph!
[2016 Update] Note: Although it is now impossible to get 185HR x 13 rear tyres for a Bagheera or the 195/70HR x 13 rear tyres for a Murena 1.6 on steel wheels without using someone like Vintage Tyre Supplies, this may be about to change. I was contacted by someone at the Restoration Show that is involved in re-making tyres for the popular sixties and seventies classics so they have some 13" and 14" already and more are coming, and at reasonable prices. So you may have to use Vintage Tyre Supplies at present but watch the classic press for further announcements. Also note that tyres change so quickly that what is available one moment may not be the next!
I strongly recommended 55 profile tyres on the front of the Murena on alloys i.e. 185/55HR x 14 front with the normal 195/60HR x 14 at the rear. (see my technical article on tyres) Presently (December 2025) Vredestein do an all-season Quatrac 5 in these sizes. Also having now used winter tyres for the past few years I can recommend these because they are softer and have terrific grip at low temperatures and yet they don't wear out quickly on dry roads or a U.K. summer. They might not have the ultimate braking in the dry of a proper summer tyre so you need to consider your particular usage. Since the Murena is light at the front, a set of winter tyres used all year round would probably still last 40,000 kms or more! If you want an 'H' rated winter tyre in 185/55x14 there is a Nankang (SV-3) with this rating and whilst this brand may not be that well known I have used Nankang on my Espace for 5 years, and they are really good. If you prefer to stick with well known brands there are Continental, Uniroyal, or Kleber in 'T' ratings, and Vredestein do an asymmetrical summer Sportrac 5 in both recommended sizes although the 195/60 rear may now becoming difficult to find. Tyres change so rapidly it is always difficult to keep up, so you have to check at the time you need them. One final point, I don't recommend low energy 'eco' tyres or low rolling resistance tyres as they simply don't have the grip of the normal tyres and it is grip that is the important criteria.
Also think about the spare wheel and particularly the tyre. Since the front and rear tyres are different, and the spare needs to be available for use either end and either side, it would be best to stick to a non-directional tyre, and one of the original size so that it can be used in any position. I keep a used normal 185/60 HR 14 on my spare, which is in between the front and rear sizes (slightly larger than a 55 profile front and smaller than the rear, so is suitable for either in an emergency). Why carry around a brand new tyre that is only going to be used occasionally on the rare occasions you might get a puncture? If you have a half worn tyre that is fine (and better than a skinny space saver IMHO).
Murena wheel bolt torque
Workshop manual states 6.3 daNm, (48 lb ft) or up to 7.5 daNm
However, I would say even the same as the Bagheera: 8 daNm (60 lb ft) is fine.
Back to top
