Scottish Elises

I will be needing a pair of tyre on the front within the next few days. However i need a bit of advise on tyre size. I have Lotus Victory alloys fitted to the car, and a few comments have been made that i should put bigger tyres on these type of alloys ?????? At this time i have 185/55/15 Yokohamas advans. I was thinking about 195/55/15 Toyo TR1, as they seem good value for money. Any comment from you guys would be great.

Lotus tyre sizes/type

Normal tyres std car and 135
Front 185/55 VR15
Rear 205/50 VR16

Normal tyres 111s/Sport 160
Front 185/55 ZR15
Rear 225/45 ZR16

Normal tyres 340R
Front 195/55 ZR15
Rear 225/45 ZR16

Normal tyres Exige
Front 195/50 ZR16
Rear 225/45 ZR17

Do not use 195/50/15 on the front unless you have 225/45/16 on the rear. the car will try to kill you if have the wide option font and the narrow std rears... trust me....

In my opinion, dont mix tire types, you should have the same type all round. (maybe a slight change in compound F/R)

What do you have on the rear?

I have 195 fronts with 215 rears. Seems fine

As part of my recent Shed experiences......Beginning to think that you do not need to worry too much about tyre types and mixes

KH did its usual last night with pissing rain for 40mins.......dry line developing .........then fully dry for the last 30 mins

I am running "Welsh spec" P6000 on the front and Goodyear Eagles on the back with no obvious problems other that a bit of understeer till they get warmed up/I get braver!

Tut was running some ridiculous combination of shagged 38's on the front and some 6 YEAR OLD rubber of unknown origin on the back........and he was flying!!

tuscan_thunder wrote:I have 195 fronts with 215 rears. Seems fine

Thats just asking for trouble.

IAINBOAG wrote:As part of my recent Shed experiences......Beginning to think that you do not need to worry too much about tyre types and mixes

KH did its usual last night with pissing rain for 40mins.......dry line developing .........then fully dry for the last 30 mins

I am running "Welsh spec" P6000 on the front and Goodyear Eagles on the back with no obvious problems other that a bit of understeer till they get warmed up/I get braver!

Tut was running some ridiculous combination of shagged 38's on the front and some 6 YEAR OLD rubber of unknown origin on the back........and he was flying!!

Aye, but yersel and the Tutmeister have a little experience with these cars, no?

John Reid wrote:

tuscan_thunder wrote:I have 195 fronts with 215 rears. Seems fine

Thats just asking for trouble.

If you lean on it yeah. Gonna have a load of grip at the front and mid corner lift off (panic, road situation) could see a moment (of hedgelike proportions). I'd have to say, if you're mismatching, I'd suggest that oversize the rear before oversizing the front.

Shug wrote:

John Reid wrote:

tuscan_thunder wrote:I have 195 fronts with 215 rears. Seems fine

Thats just asking for trouble.

If you lean on it yeah. Gonna have a load of grip at the front and mid corner lift off (panic, road situation) could see a moment (of hedgelike proportions). I'd have to say, if you're mismatching, I'd suggest that oversize the rear before oversizing the front.

What he said.. ask Craig (lotustype116) he was behind me when I had my little moment.. int the wet, not pushing hard, only just caught it, could have been a head on death type moment.

So far (in a year) it's only kicked wildly once at the rear but that was due to diesel on the road.

The wider front, I find, actually has less grip at the front than before and that it will understeer slightly earlier - this is particularly true in the wet.

Giving it death then yes, there is slightly more ultimate grip at the front and it has a 'tail-led' balance - as soon as the nose is turned it it's a case of controlling the rear which suits me fine.

Breakaway isn't too bad at the rear - it's fairly progressive: up to about 1/3 to 1/2 a turn of opposite lock it'll stay faithful.

I believe that having slightly more toe-in at the rear helps a lot.

John Reid wrote:In my opinion, dont mix tire types, you should have the same type all round. (maybe a slight change in compound F/R)

What do you have on the rear?

I have Yokohama Advans on the rear 205/50/15

Better with a 195 50 15 on the front,the 55 is a bit tall.

Stu

Has anyone ever tried 225/50 16 on the back? to give a little more compliance...