tyres

[timoth]

hello i am a total newbie to forums and to lotus, have had my s1 for a couple of weeks now OMG how much fun is it have never actually enjoyed the drive to work b4. i have just had the wheels balanced and was told that new tyres are in order but dont have a clue what to go for. garage can supply toyo's for £300 fitted or can stick with current neova's (225 rear 195 front) for £450 ish or are there any others out there worth a look. also while wheel was off noticed Koni shocks (red) are these standered?. The car is my wifes daily drive so need to be durable and prob not see a track for some time(maybe). balancing dident seem to fix the wheel wobble though.really sorry if this has been covered b4 as i said totally new to this, cheers guys and gals

[swilding]

do a quick search there will be loads of information on this.

[timoth]

have tried that but dosent seem to work dont no if doing somthing wrong
Type tyres-select elise/exage/340r but nothing happens????

[bogie]

Toyos are fine for daily use, but nowhere near as good at the limit as the Advan Neovas....but if its being used for commuting rather than B road blasting the Toyos will be fine

[timoth]

thanks bogi the b road blasting is my department (ref start of post the wife is away for the week) if you think the extra is worth it might just go for the yoko's.face certain death if pranged it . do you have any ideas on the shocks

[lawrence5]

Koni's are standard but not great and not tailored ti the car. they make the billiard ball noise on the bumps. Many fit S2 susp to the s1 improves things no end and can lower the ride height too.

Toyo's are a good balance of grip and cost. Yoko's incl Advans often have only 6mm on from the factory.....

[bogie]

yep - the red Konis are the std rubbish. If you are going to upgrade them in the future then the S2 Bilstein kit is widely regarded as the best option for road use - SteveB sells them over on www.seloc.org or if you are in the SE then Sinclaires www.sinclairebodyshop.co.uk also sell and fit the whole kit.

Go for Neovas then for when youre driving it ..they are the best all round tyre for the S1.

[timoth]

cheers mate think that swings it will b doin at least 1000+ miles a month so cant b havin new tyres every few months whats the diff with the s2 shocks and how much are they?

[timoth]

bogi are you sykic you answered my question b4 i wrote it (my typing and SPELLING sucks so missed your message)

[bogie]

LOL - you will generally get all the same answers to these type of question from the community

Advans will probably last you 6 months on the rear....Toyos 2x as long...depending on budget Id maybe go Toyos for that amount of miles...

[S Works]

From one Tim to another, welcome

As bogie says, the weapons of choice are Advan Neova LTS (ensure they supply LTS as these are specific to the Elise). If you go budget then get BF Goodrich G Force Profilers. The Toyo's are the outside choice, I have T1-S's and I can't wait to get rid of them.

Concur with the S2 suspension - you're looking at around £600 for that, well worth the money.

In Gloucs I dunno what your local specialist is - anyone worth their salt will be recommending you do the above though.

[shangani]

S2 suspension does appear second hand fairly regularly. Off a car with 8-15K on the clock, they will be about £250. (I just sold mine and never even advertised them - upgraded to nitron)

[timoth]

think i might sill go for the yoko's as not totally used to the car (have had (still got) 4x4's for a few years now)and the extra grip might well get me out of a "slipery" situation un scathed . was thinking maybe do a driver training/track day type thing with the wife (she's keen)as she has never driven a rear wheel drive car b4, dose anyone khow if they do this at castle coomb (my closest circuit

PS i am in the forest of dean gloucestershire(south west)

[tuscan_thunder]

make sure you get a full geometry check after you get tyres fitted. This will make a big difference to the handling of your car. If the geo is out, the car will feel unstable and 'edgy' and will also wear the tyres unevenly.

A main dealer type will be able to do it, but likewise a good local specialist should be able to do it - just make sure they know exactly what they're doing.

[cuzza]

I have the BF Goodrich G-Force Profilers on my car and they're great, cheaper than the Yokos and those who have tried both say the difference is minimal. I use the car on the road and track and they cope admirably.

I also have the S2 suspension (I can't justify adjustable stuff when I don't know what to adjust anyway!!) and it's excellent but the std Konis will be fine as long as they aren't leaking - they can get a little noisy over time though.

As for the track day/training - Combe might not be the best place to start especially if your other half isn't that confident. A trining day with Carlimits (Essex), Don Palmer (Bruntingthorpe), Cadence (no clue where they are) or similar may suit your needs better initially.

Welcome to PH!

[tvrinbfg]

What Toyos are you having put on for £300? T1-R?
Has anybody experience of the Toyo 888s on an Elise? My Toyo man recons they'll be as good as the Advans and they're really cheap!

[bogie]

R888s are very good - close to A048s and great VFM for the S1....but just as expensive in S2 sizes

[timoth]

thanks guys now instead of 2 too choose from have 4
*advans

*profilers

*r888's(not sure on these arn't they semi slicks poss not suited to 99.99% rouad use must never rule out the poss of a track outing)

*t1-r/s (S_WORKS don't know what the diff is AND can't remember which the price was for -got a brain like a sive)