Toyo Proxes

[supermono]

My friend is looking for some for his elise. Where's the best place to buy please? I seem to remember speaking with a bloke from a tyre van at Fighting Torque 2008, but can't remember the business name.

Could someone help please?

Cheers
SM

[Red111]

Camskill ([e-mail]), just ordered mine.

[S Works]

Event Tyres have supplied me with several sets in the past, and for a friend who runs them on his MX5. They supply, fit and take away the old ones from a location suited to you. Very good service and competitvely priced. Recommended.

[Fatrat]

Slightly O/T, but are these tyres decent track day tyres? I've got some P Zero's for everyday use but I've heard that they are not so good round a track.

[TIPPER]

Fatrat said:

Slightly O/T, but are these tyres decent track day tyres? I've got some P Zero's for everyday use but I've heard that they are not so good round a track.

I'd bin the P zeros (they must be soooooooo hard by now!) and fit a set of T1-Rs or Advans.
Toyos have quite tall tread blocks and softish tyre walls so can feel a bit 'funny' at first. They take about 1k miles to settle down and then they're fine. They tend to go off fairly quickly on track though. Advans would be the best all rounder or if you've two sets of wheels maybe T1-Rs for road and 8882/OA48s for track.

[nsm3]

Totally agree with scuffers on this - I fitted T1-R's to my Exige recently after getting fed up of waiting for some 888's.

At first I thought I had ruined the car as it "felt" less rock solid than on 048's - however, 2 months on, it seems an ideal tyre for me with my "road only" usage. The tyres "let go" very progressively and make it much more fun to drive on the road, without having to generate eyeball popping "G" around the bends as the track tyres can get up to. Gone is a lot of the crash/bang/wallop provided by the state of the local roads (appalling) as the T1's are much more compliant - they are much quieter and way better in the pouring rain.

Unless you are intent on doing a serious amount of track work (not just 1 or 2 a year), stick to the T1-R's or Advans - as an aside, they (T1's) cost the same for a set of 4 as a pair of rear 048's and I understand that they last twice as long (although I am trying my hardest to disprove this!)

[plipule]

I seem to have managed to trash a set of T1rs in 3000 miles! The middle is fine, hardly touched, but the outside edges are now below the legal limit. Mainly down to 6 Walshy days though. Have to say they are fine for that purpose and relatively cheap to replace.

[Fatrat]

TIPPER said:

I'd bin the P zeros (they must be soooooooo hard by now!) and fit a set of T1-Rs or Advans.

Sorry to hi-jack the thread and sorry to be dense but why would the P Zeros be hard by now? Have they stopped making them for the Elise? I purchased the Elise (S1) last June and the P Zeros it has now need replacing, but in the menatime I have puchased an immaculate set of S1 wheels with tyres (P Zeros). The new set have only covered about 5000 miles but must be about 8 years old at least. Safe to use? I was going to have them as my everyday set and then have a separate set for tracking but this could be extravagant as I will only be doing 2/3 track days this year (with LOT).

Would I be better off just getting some Toyo's for track and eveyday use, particularly if they give a better ride and its a daily driver?

I know tyres have been "done to death" but I would apprecaite some advice.

Thanks in advance.

FR

[mrssumner]

I would get rid of the P-zero's at the earliest opportunity. They are deadly in the wet, and not particulary good in the dry if they are old. As rubber ages it gets harder and more brittle - less grip = not good.

The best "upgrade" I ever did to my S1 was to fit Yokohama Advans - honestly, you won't believe the difference.

Just my opinion, and I have only ever used them on the road...

[TIPPER]

If you're only intending to do 2/3 track days a year then fit Yokohama Advan LTS from your Lotus dealer or Eliseparts, two sets would be overkill. If you start doing more TDs and want to try tyres like the OA48/888 then fair enough but don't forget you'll need to uprate your dampers (S2 Billies will be too soft) and fit the uprated uniball toelinks.
8 year old tyres will be very hard by now. Chuck 'em before they chuck you into a hedge.

[superpp]

I recently got rid of my P-zeros for Proxes and the difference is dramatic.
A much more comfortable ride and loads more grip (both wet and dry).
Found them reasonably priced too

[fatwomble]

Kumho KU 31s are the way to go, very good on road and more than adequate on a track day

[Fatrat]

superpp said:

I recently got rid of my P-zeros for Proxes and the difference is dramatic.
A much more comfortable ride and loads more grip (both wet and dry).
Found them reasonably priced too

If you don't mind me asking how much did the set of Proxes cost?

[rdodger]

http://ssl.delti.com/mytires/start.html

[superpp]

I went with etyres online (as I've used them before), but BlackCircles were cheapest (295 iirc, for set of 4)