Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hello everyone.

Has anyone recently bought any new tires? I know that I can buy Michelin XAs tube type at Coker tires but these seem expensive. Does anyone have experience with modern tires which might be more easily available and/or perform better? I know that I can't use tubeless with my original rims but I have been thinking of buying some Panasports. What are wheel and tire size combinations that will fit inside the original wheel arches without flaring?

Don Fysh
Houston

As an addendum to this question, would there be any size difference between 155-80 13, 165-70 13, and 165 65 13 tires as relates to being crammed under S3 fenders?

Mike Braun

The Michelin XAS performs extremely well. I expect it is the best sports
car tire available in original Elan sizes. It is very sticky for a street
tire, has the right profile, and makes the most of the handling designed
into the car by Chapman and his team. It is a miracle that it is available
at all. $120 each is not expensive compared to what current performance
cars require.

Randall
Seattle
Elan Coupe S3 on Michelin XAS 155

Mike Braun,

Yes, the fit varies by the sizes you showed, and also by brand. No way to
tell exactly without trying.

There are other considerations. I was able to get 165's to fit my S4, but
they would NOT fit in the trunk, and they scrape in the front at some
turn/bump combinations. I had to go back and get a 155 spare, thinking that
if any of the other tires had to be put in the trunk it would be when they
were flat (not being one to rotate the tires)

Mike Roeder

I have a Panasport 13x5 wheels I ordered from tire rack, they had to be custom made and took a month or so to receive. You also have to grind 1/8 to 1/4 inch off the bottom of the rear wishbones to accommodate the wheels. Tire rack also recommended Bridgestone Potenza RE92 in a 165/65-13. That is the biggest you can fit. I cannot report on the performance yet.
If anyone happens to be at the Mount Washington "Climb to the Clouds" Hill climb and would like to meet a fellow Lotusite, I am working for Speedvision taking care of the on board cameras, I will be wearing a green Lotus baseball cap.
Morgan Segal


Betty and Michael Braun wrote:

Don,

I assume you were talking about the original Elan steel wheels. They will
take tubeless tires.

The best source for Panasports might be Dave Bean, since he will be able to
supply the correct width and offset for your car. I recall mine were 5-1/2
inches in width. I never fitted them however so I don't know whether you
will have fender or rear spring clearance problems. Bean says 5-1/2 "will
just fit without surgery.

An interesting alternative is to fit 14" rims, which Spyder sells for the
Elan in the same Minilite style as Panasports. They have a picture of a +2
with these wheels in their catalog, and I did not notice the extra inch.
This should open up the range of available tires and also provide more
clearance for outer ends of the rear A-arm, which sometimes rubs against the
inner rim. However, the wheel and tire combination will not be "original."

Regards,

Andres
Manila
Lotus 45 DHC

Erik,

I have Tony Thompson's magnesium 13x6 26R wheels on my 45 but have Dunlop
CR65 450M-13 vintage racing tires on them. They fit my standard fenders,
although I cut the inner lip away. However, I have KOs, narrow springs, and
narrow offset hubs in the rear, so my experience might not have direct
application to your problem..

I can measure the diameter, tread width, etc for the CR65s if you think this
will be useful to you.

Regards,

Andres
Manila
Lotus 45 DHC

To add to this, Kelvedon motors is producing 26R wheels to fit standard Elan
K/O and bolt on hubs, in 13-5,51/2,and 6 inch widths, with spinners to
match. He told me that offsets will be slightly more negative than stock. I
have some on order, and will give a report when they are fitted.

Mike Braun

To add to this, Kelvedon motors is producing 26R wheels to fit standard Elan
K/O and bolt on hubs, in 13-5,51/2,and 6 inch widths, with spinners to
match. He told me that offsets will be slightly more negative than stock. I
have some on order, and will give a report when they are fitted.

Mike Braun

In England we call them Tyres. I have recently fitted some Bridgestone
B320s they give really good grip (my car is mainly used for hillclimbs
and sprints) I have gone slightly over size at 175/70 /13 They just
clear the rear spring seats but can cause problems with the front wheel
arches when cornering hard. The ride height is also lowered slightly.


--
David Shiers

I have two sets of knock off wheels for my S4 Elan. The first set is
Pirelli P2000 in 165-70/R13, these are mounted on the stock steel
wheels and fit just fine (no modifications necessary). They are
acceptable performance for a street tire.

The other set of rims are Panasports 13x5 (offset 28) and I have
Hoosier Street TD tires (185-50D13) mounted on them. These tires
required that the rear spring perches be bashed in with a 5lb hammer
about 1/2". When the tire is sitting on the car you will need at
least 1/4" clearance between the tire and the spring perch to deal
with the tire distortion under cornering. Other than that there are no
needed modifications to to body. These tires are about 1" lower
radius (2" diameter) and substantially change the gearing ratio, I now
need to use 3rd gear while running through slalom courses.

The Hoosier 185-50D13 tire bias-ply tire is actually only 175 wide at
the widest point, this why it will fit. The BFG R1 in 185-50R13 is
actually 185 wide at the widest point and will not fit (I tried). The
other disadvantage of the BFG is that it weights 6 lbs per tire more
than the Hoosier. Khumo does build a 175-50R13 which I think may fit,
but I haven't tried them yet.

-Lawrence-

Don Fysh wrote:


--
Lawrence King Ottawa Ontario Canada
http://www.promobility.net/lawrence
Is boneless chicken considered to be an invertebrate?

Lotus strongly recommended using tubes on the steel wheels as a safety
factor. These rims are not the 'safety' type which had a profile supposedly
preventing the tire bead leaving the rim in a blow out.

Randall
Seattle

Randall Fehr wrote:


I agree with this. Stock Elans are at their best when the steering is light
and the tire deflection characteristics are matched to the original spring
and shock rates. I used Michelin XAS (145-13) on my S2 until they wore out
(a long time, even with some high percentage of the miles being sideways).
The tires gave good grip even without sliding but more important, the car
just felt right.

With modern tires fitted, clearance issues aside, the suspension should be
modified to match those characteristics (everything more precise and direct)
to keep the car an enjoyable system ("system"... I sound like Challman).

Rod

Rod

Thank you for the reminder, Randall. My S4 did not have tubes fitted when I
acquired the car in 1977. I fitted Dunlop SP Sports in 1982 also without
tubes, and used the car up to 1995 on those tires (very limited mileage per
year!), thankfully without incident. No slaloms or circuits during that
period, however.

Your advice always appreciated.

Regards,

Andres
Manila
45 DHC

Andres, you wrote:

Thanks, that is very interesting. I wonder if the KOs are the same offset
as the bolt ons. I guess a FAX to Tony Thompson would answer it.


Yeah, I would be curious about that. Others here might like to have that
information as a data point too.

Andres, you mentioned:

Hmmmm. You mean they have a more inboard mounting face? I didn't
realize such a thing was available. I talked to a couple people about
building something just like that, a few months ago, but they thought
it wouldn't be practical.

Who built them, and how much difference in offset do they make?

Thanks for the info, Andres,
Erik