Plus 2 Restro - Tyres

[Matt Elan]

I'm thinking about tyres for my restoration of my Plus 2S. As we all know, the 'standard' fit on Lotus alloys is 165x13. Looking at Blockley tyres I see they have a classic looking 165 HR 13 which is very reasonably priced - see:
http://www.blockleytyre.com/page2.htm

I'm really quite tempted but has anyone tried them out?
Looking forward to hearing of other's experiences...
Matt

[MarkDa]

Personally if staying at standard size id fit a modern mainstream tyre at c?45 fitted perhaps after a iscussion with insurance company about T rather than H rating.
Obviously if you go up to 185/70 you can get H rating.

[PhilatHooton]

After much deliberation and searching last year i opted for some Kumho Solus KH17 165x80 R13 T for my +2S130. and they have proved excellent. Great grip and feel in the dry. Can't comment on wet weather performance !
All four fitted for under ?190

[Orsom Weels]

+1on the Kumho's, I have them on my +2 & can confirm they are good in the wet too, in fact I'd almost say they are better than the Uniroyal rainexperts on my S4, however, that could be down to the fact that the +2 handles better than an Elan anyway . The Kumho's look better as well, more like a period tyre, whereas the Uniroyals look a bit too modern.

Regards, Tim

[theelanman]

I've got the Kumho too........
Another happy user......

[JonB]

Yeah me too on the Kumhos but I think they are weak in the wet. I haven't yet driven them in the dry but I had an uncomfortable front wheel lock up on a section of 50mph dual carriageway as I was overtaking someone and they decided to just pull out without indicating. It actually took a second for me to realise the front has locked (unusual for me) as there was so little noise or other warning.

I would not put "classic" tyres on my car as the tread design is so old. Modern tread patterns are better at shifting water and gripping the road, in general.

[MarkDa]

Blockley will say that they use a fairly soft compound but let's face it modern tyres from premium brands are light years ahead of where we were 50 years ago.
Unfortunately some Chinese brands are doing their best to rival the performance of a 50 year old tyre!

[Matt Elan]

This is quite interesting - I've just done some back of a fag packet calculations and I think that a 165x13 tyre (i.e. 100% height to width ratio) has 6.5 inch sidewall height and a circumference of 81.6 inches. A 165/80 x 13 has 5.2 inch sidewall and a circumference of 73.5 inches which is about 10% less - so using 165/80x13 tyres lowers the gearing by 10% - or am I missing something?

Re tread pattern - I'm not overly concerned about having a 'modern' design - in fact I think it detracts from the overall 'classic' look of a car like the Plus 2. Another couple of reasons are firstly if there was an optimum pattern for water dispersal then all the manufacturers would be using it and secondly as I'm certainly not planning to go flat out in the wet when water dispersal becomes an issue.

There is also a massive range of reviews for the Kumoto tyres ranging from brilliant to rubbish!

On the whole I'm inclined to take a closer look at the Blockleys.

[MarkDa]

I think what you are missing is that 165/13 is an 80% tyre.
There are loads of tyre size calculators on the web where you can feed in sizes and get % differences and rpm data etc

http://www.etyres.co.uk/how-to-change-your-tyre-size/

[Matt Elan]

Thanks for that - I didn't realise that a 165x13 from the 1970s was the same as a current 165/80x13.

Mind you I've just had a look at the very old tyres on my rolling chassis and they are 175x13.....

Confusing this....

[PhilatHooton]

Here is everything and more you want to know about tyres.

http://www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible.html

[Matt Elan]

Brilliant - thanks for that, I've been trawling t'interweb trying to find something that explains tyres and there it is!
I am now suitably educated!

[JonB]

Hang on, and sorry for resurrecting an old thread.

Are we saying that 165/80R13 is the original specification tyre size? I am running on Solus 165/70R13 tyres and they don't fill the wheel arches very well. If so, my speedo will be over reading somewhat.

[vincereynard]

https://tiresize.com/comparison

There you go!

[Orsom Weels]

Yes Jon, should be 165/80 X 13.

Regards, Tim