Tyre wear

Tom · Post by **Tom** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 10:32 am

Discovered that my fronts have 3-4mil on the outsides and are just legal on the insides. The tracking I would think of first, but would the geo setup also add to this.? As far as I know the car has had an easy life (so far), so the geo will prob be in standard/gumbie mode.

Shug - your mega track geo would only work - i think?? - effectively on track when the tyres are under max load. (ok on the road as well

) If you drove at much lower speeds ie in towns all the time, would your geo really eat the tyres? or will i just find that my tracking's hideously out.?

Post by **Shug** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 10:39 am

TADTS. Well, if driven mainly gently.

It's a 'feature' of the standard geo that if the car spends a lot of time on motorways, or being driven gently, then the inside fronts wear. The only way to really sort it is to either fark up the handling or drive it properly

My setup is decent for the Maxsports, as they have a lot of movement in them (almost like a crossply, but not quite) to the -1.5 deg of camber plants them effectively. They do wear unevenly, but you don't notice it, because the 'tread' on them doesn't start till about 150mm away from the edge of the tyre.

Get it along to Mark at Banchory, or CLCM and get it checked and (if necessary) re-set to standard S1 values. That'll minimise it, but you'll never get the car to handle and wear evenly, unless you're loading the fronts all the time.

Andy G · Post by **Andy G** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 10:39 am

Mate

I'd get your car to CLCM anyway, and get willie to set it up for you.

Its a must, ask Ed

Rich H · Post by **Rich H** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 10:40 am

My geo was set to (IIRC)

Camber -0.9F/-1.9R
Toe OUT <0.5mm F/IN 2mm R

Get to a garage with a 3d laser align kit, they can do a geo reading quickly ~30mins and should cost ~£30. That will tell you if it's out at all. My fronts are quite low on the insides, but that was down to a dodgy pressure gauge leading to underinflated tyres.

Check each tyre for wear in the middle, the wear should gradually change from the outside to the inside, progressivly getting worse, if it doesn't seem to change gradually it could be a pressure related problem.

Tyres are consumable, along with petrol, oil, pads, disks, brake fluid, money, coolant, upgrades and lager

HTH
Rich

Post by **Shug** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 10:40 am

BTW tracking is part of the geo setup - it's another way to say toe (which should be out on the Elise - 0.2mm out total at front on standard S1 geo)

Post by **Shug** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 10:43 am

BTW - mine is

Camber: -1.5 F -2.5 R
Toe: 0.5mm out front, 1.2mm in rear
Heights 110/120

Nice and pointy - bit tail happy, but I like that

Rich H · Post by **Rich H** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 10:47 am

Should add, get the grarge to read it only, they could adjust the tracking if it's miles out, but some of those lasers are 1.8mm wide. Which is fine for your average Mundano but not so good for measuring 0.2mm.

Mark in Banchory uses fishing line that is <0.3mm thick

Tom · Post by **Tom** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 10:53 am

Thankyou all

will get it sorted ASAP. Need new tyres so I'll have to wait for payday.

Rich H · Post by **Rich H** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 6:36 pm

Get in touch with Mark, he has loads of friendly advice and tips, not Elise specific but valuable all the same.
Also it's a really good excuse to drive up to Banchory up the cairn-o-mount road then test your new geo up through Glenshee

Rich

Stewart · Post by **Stewart** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 8:01 pm

Tom
When I first got my car, my P Zero's were exactly as you describe. I ultimately replaced them with Toyo T1-S and they have worn evenly ever since. Probably not a bad idea to look to having the geo checked, but if it feels ok otherwise, I am sure there are other things you can find to spend the cash on. I find that fuel is one

Just make sure you check the wear and pressures regularly, that way you can spot a problem before the tyres are shot and need replacing before they otherwise should.

Cheers

Stewart

Tom · Post by **Tom** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 10:12 am

What cold road pressures do people run on their S1's?(aware that it's type/geo dependant). I set mine to 24F 25R for the trackday and have left them at that.

(really must buy pressure guage and foot pump faction).

offshorematt · Post by **offshorematt** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 12:19 pm

Shug wrote: It's a 'feature' of the standard geo that if the car spends a lot of time on motorways, or being driven gently, then the inside fronts wear. The only way to really sort it is to either fark up the handling or drive it properly

Gutted - my tyres have worn down on the inside over the last 3 or 4 months. I've just changed the track rods, steering rack, wheel bearings, refurbed the nitrons and now only need to change the ball joints to finish. Now you tell me I could have just driven it faster?

Nah really though. it all needed doing and once the Geo is reset, I'll feel a lot better about thrashing it again. The crazy steering wheel vibratation was a little off putting at times