Dunlop stickies?

[cyberface]

No, I promised NO MORE WINTER TYRES threads.

This one's about summer stickies. The Exige comes with A048R 'LTS' marked trackday stickies. I've got a couple of years experience with my old VXT on 888s, which also worked well.

However I used to run Dunlop SSRs on the old blown 993. They were rather good, they 'looked' treaded but the tread depth was very low. Looking at Dunlop's offerings, it appears that they have a more 'cut slick' tyre for Exige sizes, the DZ02G, which is claimed to be a 'road legal trackday tyre'. They seem to be cheaper than both 888s and A048Rs - with rear 225/45R17 at £138 and front 205/50R16 at £104 (yeah need to go a bit wider at the front, couldn't find a 195/50 - but if that's unbalanced then the rear is available in a 235/45).

They apparently look like this:


Anyone tried these out? Once I've worn out the A048Rs it's unlikely I'll stick with 48s, purely on an availability basis - with the LTS tyres being sold by dealers at silly prices and stocks often run out, the 888 is a well-known and adequate alternative (I liked them on the VXT). But these Dunlops seem good value and also have a circumferential groove which ought to make them less susceptible to aquaplaning than the 48R / 888 type groove pattern...

[tlracing]

Isn't that being replaced with the DZ03G?

[S Works]

You may get a better response on SELOC where there are more trackdayers, or even on the LoT forums. Would going to 205 on the front apply additional stress to the components therein and dull the steering feel?

[cyberface]

I always try here before SELOC due to the amount of cockery posted there, it gets incredibly tiresome after a while... but you're probably right

They came up in a random search - if they're 'old' model tyres then that could explain the price. I'm a bit wary of changing the front tyre width on Elise type cars because they're usually so damn balanced as they are (putting Exige size tyres on the VXT transformed the handling, true, but it was artificially understeery and soft to begin with).

[bogie]

I remember some of the guys I used to sprint with ran dunlops like that in an even softer compound than the LTS Lotus A048 and cheaper, so it can be done, you will need to sort your geo out at the front and run stiff springs ...or just cut your arch liners out, as its quite close already with 195s - other than that no issues

[cyberface]

Good point - one of the guys on the last trackday had his nearside inner arch liner fall out after the first session - the plastic liner was all torn and melted from tyre abrasion. This was a performance pack Exige S - he'd swapped the brakes for ally-bell jobs but AFAIK no suspension changes. Looks like the tyres can generate enough grip to pull the suspension far enough over to rub, so even more grip would require stiffer suspension (or anti roll bar) - not sure I want to go too far esp. rock-solid suspension because I enjoy driving on the road as well, it's not just a track car...