Interesting repair / Rear Tyres
Discussion
if you do that you could well be heading for another tree (in fact in this weather, i would probably go for a wager with you on that right now!) ...the dunlops are nowhere near as good as the Advans, so your front end grip is going to be a lot more than the rear ...is that what you want on greasy winter roads ?
do yourself a favour and fit the best tyres and brakes you can afford in an Elise - they are the only things keeping you safe ...
Ive seen exactly the same thing on at least 3 occasions over the last 6 years...I can remember being down Sinclaires and a guy came in with a new (to him) S1 Elise ..he was so proud, his first proper sportscar..the previous owner had done the tyres on the cheap and left him with P-Zeros on the back and Toyos on the front ...myself and the guys at Sincs both told him he needed to spend £500 and get some decent rubber on there ASAP as it was near winter...he said he would be careful..3 weeks later and the first damp roundabout and it was a right off
...never scrimp on tyres/brakes - they are actually very cheap on the Elise for a performance car - put some more Advans on, and then next time when the whole set wears out, maybe consider some cheaper ones if you are that skint.
do yourself a favour and fit the best tyres and brakes you can afford in an Elise - they are the only things keeping you safe ...
Ive seen exactly the same thing on at least 3 occasions over the last 6 years...I can remember being down Sinclaires and a guy came in with a new (to him) S1 Elise ..he was so proud, his first proper sportscar..the previous owner had done the tyres on the cheap and left him with P-Zeros on the back and Toyos on the front ...myself and the guys at Sincs both told him he needed to spend £500 and get some decent rubber on there ASAP as it was near winter...he said he would be careful..3 weeks later and the first damp roundabout and it was a right off
...never scrimp on tyres/brakes - they are actually very cheap on the Elise for a performance car - put some more Advans on, and then next time when the whole set wears out, maybe consider some cheaper ones if you are that skint.
yes - the Advans were designed for the Elise and are a LTS compound ...the Dunlops were made for a 1500Kg family saloon.....well I wouldnt put them on my family saloon to be honest...I used to run them on my old Volvo though 
if you want a full set of cheap ish tyres then BF Goodrich used to do some (not sure if they still do) which were highly regarded as an all round tyre (im sure some of the S1 owners will know) or do a search on here for the model/suppliers
the best tyres that work on an Elise were designed for it - for outright performance and track use, then Yoko A048 or Toyo R888.
For all round fast road use and occasional track then Yoko AD07, or A039 (depending on wheel size) ..Bridgestone RE40 too were not bad as a road tyre on the S2
..anything else is a compromise - many people have experimented with different tyres and not really come up with many good options that work at least as well as the above and are cheaper.
if you want a full set of cheap ish tyres then BF Goodrich used to do some (not sure if they still do) which were highly regarded as an all round tyre (im sure some of the S1 owners will know) or do a search on here for the model/suppliers
the best tyres that work on an Elise were designed for it - for outright performance and track use, then Yoko A048 or Toyo R888.
For all round fast road use and occasional track then Yoko AD07, or A039 (depending on wheel size) ..Bridgestone RE40 too were not bad as a road tyre on the S2
..anything else is a compromise - many people have experimented with different tyres and not really come up with many good options that work at least as well as the above and are cheaper.
if you havnt already found SELOC then the tech Wiki over there is very useful
http://wiki.seloc.org/a/SELOC_TechWiki
http://wiki.seloc.org/a/SELOC_TechWiki
chownie20 said:
Hi guys,
chassis (luckily only wishbone mount sticky outy section, bit of pulling and some epoxy!)
Not being funny or anything, but generally, if the chassis is damaged at all, the car should be written off (According to Lotus). Aluminium strength is dramatically reduced once its been bent once, then being pulled back out again will reduce it further. The chassis can not be welded and I wouldnt think epoxy is going to be strong enough if it is being used at a load bearing area, such as the wishbone mounts. chassis (luckily only wishbone mount sticky outy section, bit of pulling and some epoxy!)
Id get the car checked out by someone who properly understand the chassis as it sounds like you could be heading for another crash when your wishbone comes away from the tub.
Well done though on getting the rest of the car sorted, sounds like youve worked hard on it.
Re the tyres, definately dont mix tyres front to back.
Edited by JTBUSH on Friday 28th December 10:50
Most of these cars are written off because they were slid into a kerb and bent the wishbone mounting point. There's nothing you can do to fix that damage. Welding can't and shouldn't be done on thin aluminium. Re-enforcing with more metal and glue is the only viable way but damn you will need to be a pro to know what you are doing.
No still not working .
Your right about the bad design of the wishbone/chassis mounts on the front ,its crazy that a low speed kerb shunt rights off the car . There should be a sacrificial section between the wishbone and chassis . Ive replaced the rear wishbones a couple of times on S1's and you have to replace the rear steel subframe as well which although expensive is no where near as bad as a chassis replacement .
Your right about the bad design of the wishbone/chassis mounts on the front ,its crazy that a low speed kerb shunt rights off the car . There should be a sacrificial section between the wishbone and chassis . Ive replaced the rear wishbones a couple of times on S1's and you have to replace the rear steel subframe as well which although expensive is no where near as bad as a chassis replacement .
Yeah, well done.
Now anyone who may purchase an Azure Blue S1 Elise registration
in the future knows that the owner considered bodging it and flogging it on, but has now done a really competent repair against the advice of the manufacturer.
Good for them also to know that the previous owner scrimped on one of the most important things on the car (good tyres). It kind of helps them set the scene on how the car's been used and maintained, doesn't it?
Please ask the owner of the reg if they are ok with it being posted on an open forum in future please. Thanks BB
Now anyone who may purchase an Azure Blue S1 Elise registration
in the future knows that the owner considered bodging it and flogging it on, but has now done a really competent repair against the advice of the manufacturer.Good for them also to know that the previous owner scrimped on one of the most important things on the car (good tyres). It kind of helps them set the scene on how the car's been used and maintained, doesn't it?
Please ask the owner of the reg if they are ok with it being posted on an open forum in future please. Thanks BB
Edited by Ballistic Banana on Friday 28th December 22:30
chownie20 said:
cheers, new advans i should think then!
(This wont make me popular but the aim was to bodge it together and get shot of it!)
How very nice of you. I hope it comes back to bite you and not the next owner.(This wont make me popular but the aim was to bodge it together and get shot of it!)
I'm glad you've posted this. Good luck trying to sell it.
Edited by james111s on Friday 28th December 19:53
Good on you for posting up the plate S Works.
Chownie you're being a bloody idiot but I suspect we'll be hearing from more like you as the price of the S1 gets tempting to those that can afford to buy the car but not insure or pay the running costs.
Unless that chassis were checked out by a competent independant engineer I wouldn't trust it. By beefing up one area loads will be transferred to another area in extremis and that area may not have been designed to take the loads leading to failure and load transfer to another area etc etc.
Regarding tyres: If you want to save money then Toyo T1-Rs are OK for road use BUT NOT MIXED with any other tyre. Look at the wieght distribution of the Elise and think about the handling charecteristics of a mid engined car - thats the reason for not mixing tyres. For road use then keep the same tyres all round. The BFGs referred to above are unfortunately no longer available in S1 sizes. Advan Lts are the tyre of choice for the S1.
Incidently when my car had a coming together with a kerb at speed the front and rear suspension together with the rear subframe and chassis longerons behaved exactly as they should (collapsed/bent/broke) leaving an intact chassis for my Lotus specialist to effect an economically viable repair on. I'll agree that you can be unlucky though with the wishbone mounting points.
Chownie you're being a bloody idiot but I suspect we'll be hearing from more like you as the price of the S1 gets tempting to those that can afford to buy the car but not insure or pay the running costs.
Unless that chassis were checked out by a competent independant engineer I wouldn't trust it. By beefing up one area loads will be transferred to another area in extremis and that area may not have been designed to take the loads leading to failure and load transfer to another area etc etc.
Regarding tyres: If you want to save money then Toyo T1-Rs are OK for road use BUT NOT MIXED with any other tyre. Look at the wieght distribution of the Elise and think about the handling charecteristics of a mid engined car - thats the reason for not mixing tyres. For road use then keep the same tyres all round. The BFGs referred to above are unfortunately no longer available in S1 sizes. Advan Lts are the tyre of choice for the S1.
Incidently when my car had a coming together with a kerb at speed the front and rear suspension together with the rear subframe and chassis longerons behaved exactly as they should (collapsed/bent/broke) leaving an intact chassis for my Lotus specialist to effect an economically viable repair on. I'll agree that you can be unlucky though with the wishbone mounting points.
I know very little of these things but having looked a the photos and read comments such as "stuck some self tappers on for more strength too!!" it really does not bode well 
I appreciate what you are saying with regard to what appears to be a minor repair. And to be fair on most cars I assume this would be. But, even with my limited experience I know that *any* chassis damage is almost definitely a right off when it comes to a Lotus.
It is unfortunate that your insurance is TPFT but I do not believe for one moment you found a specialist prepared to surpass and contradict the manufacturers advice and expertise who would then work in what looks like a pub car park!
I appreciate what you are saying with regard to what appears to be a minor repair. And to be fair on most cars I assume this would be. But, even with my limited experience I know that *any* chassis damage is almost definitely a right off when it comes to a Lotus.
It is unfortunate that your insurance is TPFT but I do not believe for one moment you found a specialist prepared to surpass and contradict the manufacturers advice and expertise who would then work in what looks like a pub car park!
I'm near speechless. I admire your hardwork and ingenuity, however to my untrained eye the chassis movement suggests that the damage could be far greater than you (wishfully) thought, I suggest that car should not be on the road, should certainly not be sold as a straight car to any third party and should in all probability be crushed!! You mentioned adjusting the tracking, I assume you haven't bothered with a full geometry check to make sure all the wheels are where they should be and pointing in the right direction.
I don't mean to come across as high handed, but as has been mentioned earlier on this thread the elise chassis is unique and requires specialist knowledge (which neither you nor the repairing contractor appear to have).
This is scary!!
Be safe, get the car thoroughly and comprehensively checked by an independant specialist NOW!
Neil
I don't mean to come across as high handed, but as has been mentioned earlier on this thread the elise chassis is unique and requires specialist knowledge (which neither you nor the repairing contractor appear to have).
This is scary!!
Be safe, get the car thoroughly and comprehensively checked by an independant specialist NOW!
Neil
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