Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

LO All

I am rebuilding a 1975 Lotus Elan +2S130 and the first stage is almost complete and I am close to getting the MOT done. But I need 4 tyres 4 it. It had Pirelli P4 size 165 R 13 T on Lotus alloy wheels and the spare is a good year GT-- all these are obsolete. I am not a great stickler for that much originallity so do not wish 2 pay ?150 for Dunlop SP sports.

Any suggestion please for a resonable priced tyre that seems to be OK. Unlikely to race the car mainly touring and perhaps the odd track day.

Thanks in advance 4 help

Bob

Hi Bob,

I have had Goodyears on my plus2 for about 3000 miles (3 months) they do all that i require for road use wet or dry.
.

Ian.

Bob,

There's an advert in the latest club magazine for a company that specialises in tyres for classics, I think they were mentioning they had some old patterns remade for the Elan rather than the +2, I will look it up later, unless someone beats me to it.

Regards

Toyo 330, ?29 a corner fitted and balanced at my local dealer.

Bob,

Vintage tyres UK tel 01590-612261 web site www.vintagetyres.com they are advertising Dunlop Aquajet 165HR 13 which they describe as 'Finally the right classic tyre for your Lotus'.

Tread pattern looks nice and classic and the speed rating is correct.

hope that helps

regards

Thats a silly price Alan about 650 quid per car..and there probably made in china with all the others...


Ian.

rocket wrote:Thats a silly price Alan about 650 quid per car..and there probably made in china with all the others...


Ian.

Ian,

They didn't mention the price in the advert and I didn't bother to check. Just giving Bob an option.... perhaps he is minted....

Hiya
I got Yokohoma A Drives kast year for about ?25 each mail order and then got them fitted by a local dealer. I selected them after asking for advice on here and they seem to hold pretty damn well.

http://ssl.delti.com/cgi-bin/rshop.pl?d ... htweiter=1 for an example

Cheers

Andy

Bob, remember that the Lotus +2 has very different tyre requirements to the Elan. The Plus 2 needs 165/(82) radial section tyres to fill the wheelarches, give correct gearing etc. H Speed rating is an issue for most replacements because nearest equivalent tyre size, ie R13/80s are almost exclusively made as budget tyres for eastern european obsoletes or trailers and are T rated
Also be aware that a lot of the tyre talk on this forum confuses the fitments between Plus 2 and Elans, even when folks are talking about Plus 2.

However if you dig, you will find various ideas. One of them is to up size to 175/70 (too small) or 185/70 (about correct diameter but runs into clearance issues with inner front guards). Check my posts from earlier this year and you will find feedback from some people who managed this without any issues otherwise all sorts of problems.

Bottom line is to be clear about what you are using the car for. If its only going to be driven for its annual MOT, obviously anything will do. One extreme is some nice track day road legal tyes, with treads/compounds that will give reasonable wet grip. The other extreme is very high mileage cars where you want 30,000 miles. Gordon Lund has posted what he uses for this kind of application (around ?30-?40 per tyre). If you are spending above ?100 each, Michelin do the XAS. Handi Andi sings the praises of the "A" drive, a tyre formulated for economy cars

Each to their own.

Regards

Gerry

PS, just a quick check now on mytyres.com for 165/80R13 gives a nil result

Gerry

My selection of A-drives was based on askign the same question on here as has been asked. They do seem to hold well and I am running 175/75s and they seem to hold the road better than the drive can maage. Only time will tell though, was a move away from my usual selection of Pirelli P6000s that I use on my audis and had considered but the cost of them put me off.

Andy

Andy, tyres for the Plus 2 are one of those things where we are pretty short of real choices, compromises have to be made. I see that you have gone the up-size route (ie 175 section compared to 165 which is what the car was designed for). Internal clearance issues against the inner fender (on lock and bump) is something to check for. Some Plus 2 owners have had the guards rub right through.

Again, 175/75R13 is a very odd tyre size. Mytryes are not able to quote online for example. However specialist dealers, often Motorsport orientated (think of all those Escorts running around on 13" rims) can come up with obscure sizes, designs and compounds.

On your A drives, I'm sure they wipe the floor with my Barums (A UK sports car company fitted them). From memory, they are H rated too.

Regards

Gerry
When my old girl is back on the road we shall just have to take the two girls out an see LOL
Andy

Sorry Alan didnt mean to offend..


Ian.

I saw a set of Sumitomo HTR's going onto a Triumph GT6. The size was 175/70 R13 82H. This may not be correct size for out Elans and +2's but they may be available in other small sizes. The tread and construction look reasonably modern.
Ken

Lo All

Thanks for all the interesting info. Like most things in life not as straight forward as one might expect!! Ian ( rocket) the Goodyears you used were they 165 13? I don't really want to increase the size following the other comments on the post. Local dealer has Goodyear Dura Grip in that size for a reasonable price ?38 +vat each all balanced and fitted.

thanks for all the advise folks

regards

Bob