Tyre question

[Nick J]

I have the Pirelli P zero standard tyres on mt car and the front ones have worn out, so I went to the tyre place and they say they have stopped making these. What do I buy now?

The main problem is that the rears are also P zero but have loads of tread on them, so do i swap them all for new tyres that are the same, or can I mix and match? and which sould I go for? Is there a replacement that is the same or similar to the P zeros?

Cheers guys

Nick

[TIPPER]

Should be lots in the archives on tyres Nick. Briefly there are three favoured options for the S1. Yokohama Advans LTS (only available from Lotus dealers and Eliseparts), Toyo Proxes TR-1 or BF Goodrich G-Force Profilers. Fronts would be 195/50 and rears 225/45 for all the above - they'll go on standard rims OK. Any of these would give a significant improvement over the P-Zeros, particularly in the wet. Not advised to mix tyres on the elise either so you'll be needing a complete set.

[zebedee]

As far as I know, and I may be wrong, only the Advan's are Lotus specific, hence the "LTS" branding. Specific tyre to a specific car (very lightweight), so my reccomendation. Also, I've had Advans on the back and P Zeros on the front for a year now, Pirellis to be replaced this year, but haven't felt any particular imbalance.

[Janitor]

zebedee said:

As far as I know, and I may be wrong, only the Advan's are Lotus specific, hence the "LTS" branding. Specific tyre to a specific car (very lightweight), so my reccomendation.

I don't 100% know either, but I think you may have something there

I have the lightweight alloys on MY06 SportsRacer and the tryes wrapped around those babies are the Advan Neova LTS ones

I also think that the tyre mix issue is a little down to personal opinion. Zeb is cool with it, Tipper isn't and I'd have to say if it was me, I'd be getting the same all round too - I've nothing 'technical' to quantify that, just me being me I guess

Hope this helps!

Edited by Janitor on Saturday 3rd June 21:30

[TIPPER]

Been some good tyre threads on Seloc recently Nick. The Advans and Bf Goodrich seem to be the most popular choices. The BF Goodriches have been summarised as offering 95% of the Advans perfomance at 65% of the price. I've recently fitted the Toyos on my MG ZT and am very impressed (I had Michelen Pilots before) and am thinking about a set for the Lotus (I do appreciate the differences in the cars and therefore tyre requirements). Piooly on here has Toyos and says the're great. Regarding the Toyos you may see 'issues' re sidewall flex. I think this may have been so with the T1-S but sorted on the T1-R.
Regarding mixing tyres. I personally wouldn't worry too much on the average Eurobox but on the Elise I would not want to mix tyres with differing grip levels and handling charecteristics. FWIW my rears (P-Zeros all round) will need changing in a couple of thousand miles and I'll go with either the Toyos or Goodrich tyres all round. There's plenty left on my fronts but they'll be sacrificed.
Anyway any of the above will give you a definate improvement over the Pirellis. Just make sure your fitters know what the're doing with your Elise.

[S works]

Advans are not Lotus specific AFAIK, BUT Advan Neova LTS are. They were developed specifically for the S1 and are the best road tyre you can fit bar none. Alternatives at less cost are the Toyo Proxes T1-R and BF Goodrich G Force Profilers.

The T1-R's suffer from more sidewall flex but are good all-rounders if you don't want to shell out for the Yoko's. The BFG's are considered an excellent bet too, but can be hard to source.

Compared to the OEM P Zero's they are all much better.

[zebedee]

S works said:

Advans are not Lotus specific AFAIK, BUT Advan Neova LTS are.

yep, that's what I meant by

"As far as I know, and I may be wrong, only the Advan's are Lotus specific, hence the "LTS" branding."

I'll let you know in a month or two if the Advans all round improve things - I suspect they might, but my point was that I haven't struggled unduly or found the car to be doing unpredictable things - at the absolute limit on a track, maybe, but then I haven't done that (It was the track work that consigned the original Pirelli rears to the bin!)

[Nick J]

Hi guys thanks for the replies as always, I think I will have a go at the Toyo Proxes TR-1 and see how I get on with them. I don't use my car on track and I think that these will do me just fine. I'll let you know how I get on

Nick

[Mr_C]

zebedee said:

As far as I know, and I may be wrong, only the Advan's are Lotus specific, hence the "LTS" branding. Specific tyre to a specific car (very lightweight), so my reccomendation. Also, I've had Advans on the back and P Zeros on the front for a year now, Pirellis to be replaced this year, but haven't felt any particular imbalance.

I've got the opposite on mine for a few months till the rear PZero's are scrap. I couldn't afford all 4 at the time with my car costing me £1700 in one month before tyres...

To be honest, it doesn't handle that bad... the back isn't noticeably over light.

[zebedee]

mine was the same reason, couldn't afford it at the time and didn't need doing, so won't do it until the fronts are shot (not long)

[S Works]

Nick J said:

Hi guys thanks for the replies as always, I think I will have a go at the Toyo Proxes TR-1 and see how I get on with them. I don't use my car on track and I think that these will do me just fine. I'll let you know how I get on Nick

A good enough 2nd option for road use. They do flex on the sidewalls but if you set the pressures a little lower than the book recommendation you should find them good.

A thread on SELOC recently addressed suggested pressures: http://forums.seloc.org/viewthread.ph

Steve Guglielmi racing (very well recommended specialist) recommends 22 psi front, 24 rear.

[Mr_C]

horizon also say 22F 24R.