Tyres for elan

[GrUmPyBoDgEr]

[quote="Elanintheforest"]I've had experience of a tyre falling apart at speed, and it had done about 500 miles and looked brand new...or at least, the other 3 did!

I had fitted 4 top of the range 'R' rated Michelin tyres to my XJS, which was little used, and they were just over 9 years old when the tyre exploded...at about 100mph on a cool day.

The tyre guys examined it, and thought that the walls had de-laminated over time, with some perishing on the inside of the tyre. They cut open one of the other 'good' tyres, and found the same. Another of the tyres was sent back to Michelin and they confirmed that the tyre was starting to perish due to age.

I don't think that there's a cut-off date when tyres have to be thrown away, but there certainly seems to be a lot of evidence that tyres will 'go off' after a period of time. Tyres are designed for cars that are regularly used, and that usually means that they will be used up within 3 years or so. Doubling that to 6 years due to light use seems OK, but it seems that even if you store them in a cool, dark place, flat and with no weight, they will start to deteriorate anyway.

I would certainly advocate others driving on 15 year old tyres though, as the potential for an accident must increase, which in turn will yield more spares for the rest of us.








I see a pattern here, that being the perennial problem with Caravan's (RV's) blowing out their tyres on Motorways.
The relative lack of use, age & the effects of weather does seem to be quite drastic.
However I am not overconcerned about the tyres that I fitted to my S4 10 years ago. The car is used regularly from Spring to end of Autumn & is always garaged. During the Winter I move the car regularly to present different parts of the tyres to the ground & ensure that the pressures are correct.
The Tyres are "Continental" & have so far worked very well except in the wet, as was always the case.
I have to take it easy then to avoid aquaplaning.
I would expect the "Stickier" types of tyres to show earlier signs of
ageing earlier due to the higher %age of plasticisers in their compound.
However, maybe I should be looking more carefully at the condition of my Elan's tyres.


Cheers
John

[Elanintheforest]

Trouble is, John, you often can't see any problems. There were absolutely no cracks in my tyres...in fact they still had that new 'sheen' to the rubber, and looked absolutely perfect. The car was always kept in a garage, never left in the sun.

It's a similar thing with hydraulics I guess, in that the seals are sevice items. I wonder who has a brake master cylinder on their car with 20 year old seals in it. The brakes work fine...what could possibly go wrong?

Mark

[twincamman]

here tires blow because they are over inflated in the winter as the air compresses with the low temp and are kept a 30 pounds ---THEN when the summer hits road temps go up to 100 plus degrees and --there are gator backs and passenger car blow outs everywhere ---ed

[CBUEB1771]

here tires blow because they are over inflated in the winter as the air compresses with the low temp and are kept a 30 pounds ---THEN when the summer hits road temps go up to 100 plus degrees and --there are gator backs and passenger car blow outs everywhere ---ed

Hmmmm, that is why I check my tire pressures every week.

[saildrive2001]

Ed I'm a little confused by your temp V tire pressure remark. As temp rises so does the pressure in your tyre. When the temp gets colder then the pressure in your tyre reduces. This is why you should check the tyre pressure before you use the car, since driving increase the temp of the tyre thus increasing the pressure.

[twincamman]

did I not say that?????? sorry ill try again -----winter COLD air pressure --molecules contract resulting in reduce pressure so people add air --summer HOT increased tire pressure -and increased road temp causes air molecules to expand greatly thus increasing your pressure and the tire blows the as ambient road heat softens the tire rubber and the air expands -best to check air pressure after you have driven and the tire is hot and reduce air pressure then ----then as tire heats up you have 30 psi ---v is a speed rating of the tire ---ed

[pamitchell]

In my attempt to keep this thread on track, has anyone installed Vredestein Sprint + 155 R 13s on a S3/4? Comments?
TIA

[twincamman]

I have tried to maintain the thread subject ----even new tires fail if the proper operating pressures and temperature s are not adhered to --it leads to separation of the winding materials and failure of side wall and tread -bonding material -etc etc --ed

[saildrive2001]

I don't know whether he is a member of this, list but a fellow S4 owner in my area has the Vredestein Sprint + 155 R 13s & is very happy with them. I'm seriously thinking of using them on my S4 when it is completed.

[ianf]

I fitted the Vredesteins to my car 6 months or so ago. They replaced Michelin Classics which were 9 or so years old and which had become very unpredictable in the wet. I went on a tour of Wiltshire & Somerset soon after fitting them and can confirm that they worked well in the torrential rain that was last August! They are noticeably "softer" than the old tyres and the only issue is the speed rating for those who use the car to its full potential. I had intended to go for the Michelins but was offered 5 new Vredesteins at a price I couldn't refuse and I may well stick with them.

Ian

[pamitchell]

Ian;
What size did you fit and was there any change in the speedo accuracy?
I currently have 175-70-13s on my S4 and the speedo reads correctly based on GPS check.

[guerrilla garage]

So I read this thread through yesterday and then went looking for the tires mentioned. The Michelin XAS FF I can buy for $223 each and the Vredesteins I can buy for $56 each. So by the time I buy 4 and pay for shipping, mounting, balancing etc. we are talking about a price differential of roughly $750. Is the Michelin really a race tire or what? For that kind of money I can buy a new set of P Zeros for my BMW! Are the Michelins really worth that kind of money? Somebody please explain how you can justify $223 a tire, for a 155 x 13? Are you guys sure you're not simply being impressed with how expensive they are?


the other question I have about the Michelins is, how long is the compound going to last for before they turn to stone?
-Steve

[ianf]

Phil,

The tyres state 155 R13 78T so probably v slightly low profile 80's?

Steve,

The Michelins will wear out before they turn to stone which is what I hope my tyres will do this time. The old "Classics" still had tread left after 38 and a bit K miles which is great if you're driving 20K a year but not at 3-4.

Ian

[ianf]

Phil,

Sorry I missed your first question - my speedo was b******d by the chap who dropped a 3.7 diff@ in the broken casing replacing the 3.55 which the car was built with. When I have a few ?'s available I will reverse the "error". I think the Vredesteins will maintain the original gearing.

Ian

[msd1107]

The question of speedometer/odometer calibration has come up before. A previous thread discusses this.

http://www.lotuselan.net/forums/viewtopic.php?p=90037

There is a downloadable spreadsheet that allows you to determine the optimum transmission drive gear. This should be suitable for most of us.

David
1968 36/7988