Old Tyres / MOT advice / What now?

[Heuer]

How about the Dino, which was not badged a Ferrari and has only subsequently been refered to as one.
the current Mini?
SS Jaguar although you could debate which was the manufacturers name at the time!
C-type ,D-Type
or closer to home Colin Chapman refered to the John Player Special without mention of Lotus

Dino was a brand - they produced the Dino 206GT, Dino 246GT and Dino 308 GT4
SS stood for 'Swallow Sidecars' and Jaguar was the model
MINI is a brand with various models - One, Cooper, Countryman etc
C-Type was known as the Jaguar XK120C (C = Competition) and D-Type got its moniker because it was next in line. The race car was known as the Jaguar D-Type and the road going version as the Jaguar XKSS and badged as such.
JPS is a cigarette brand sponsoring Lotus and used because Colin Chapman knew a good way of making money when he saw it.

The E-Type was badged and marketed by Jaguar with the model name taking precedence although arguably it was because the press and public labelled it as such and Sir William Lyons, like Chapman, knew a good opportunity when he saw it. The early cars only had 'Jaguar' on the boot lid, later cars had 'E-Type Jaguar' although I doubt many people even to this day need telling that.

[elansprint71]

[Heuer]

Wow, that adds value.

[elansprint71]

Wow, that adds value.

As did the tone of the immediately preceding post. Welcome to the Lotus Elan forum.

[Andy8421]

So,

For those who care, the most recommended choice I could find on this forum and others is Michelin 155HR13 XAS FF. Not cheap however at ?150 a corner from Longstone tyres.

The 165/70/13 Grand Prix H I have been running have been catching the inner edge of the bottom lip on the front wing on full bump, I am hoping that moving to 155 will solve that problem.

Thanks for the help.

Andy

[UAB807F]

?600 a set - gee, that is eye-watering. I wonder if it's because they are HR rated ? It seems a hefty premium to get over the T rating (118mph) of the Firestones. Or maybe they just stock them for elan owners, off hand I can't think of many cars technically requiring a 118mph+ rating with a 155x80x13 tyre.

Anyway, the reason for posting is to say I'm sure 155's will clear the bodywork/etc. I run those on my S3 which looks to have less clearance than the S4 shell and it's been fine.

[Heuer]

The Michelin tyres are very high quality and are produced for Formule France racers, hence the FF designation. This means they are of a fairly soft compound which gives phenomenal grip in both wet and dry. Expensive, yes, but probably on par with a set of tyres for a modern sports car and those four patches of rubber do define the driving experience. They really are superb if you decide to spring for them.

[Galwaylotus]

What about Uniroyal Rain Expert? Anyone tried them?

[Andy8421]

The helpful man at Longstone Tyres said that the Michelin 155HR13 XAS FF need to have tubes. Is this correct? I thought that the Sprint steel wheels were designed for tubeless tyres.

As ever, thanks for any help.

Andy

[Jeff@Jae]

A couple of things to remember. Not all 165/70-13 tires are really the same size. Some may rub others may not. I am using some 155/70-13 Vredesteins that are inexpensive and have worked out well on my S2 Elan. Maybe their 165/70s may end fitting your S4 nicely. Warning, these tires were seriously greasy at first but after lowering pressures and scrubbing them in they've worked out well,wet or dry. The other thing to remember is if the tire is well constructed and speed rated with a fairly low wear index a street Elan will handle well.

[Heuer]

The helpful man at Longstone Tyres said that the Michelin 155HR13 XAS FF need to have tubes. Is this correct? I thought that the Sprint steel wheels were designed for tubeless tyres.

As ever, thanks for any help.

Andy

Andy

Yes they have tubes but that is not a problem with the steel wheels, means you can run with them or without for more modern types of tyres. My S4 has been wearing them for the last 12 months. Ditto my E-Type shod with 185VR15 XVS and also fitted with tubes.

David

[Allison]

Hi all,
glad someone mentioned Uniroyal The Rain Tyre 'cos that's what we have. Used them for the last 30 years (well ok 1982) when we were in Germany. These are 145 size and the only thing I would add is tyre pressure. Initially we ran then at 18 front, 23 rear - they were awful - car span and squealed round corners. Put them up to nearer 30 all round and the car is much happier, feels solid on the road and the tyres are working.

Peter

[Galwaylotus]

Hi all,
glad someone mentioned Uniroyal The Rain Tyre 'cos that's what we have. Used them for the last 30 years
Peter

I hope not literally the same tyres on the car for thirty years!!
I'm assuming you mean Uniroyals but different sets over the years.

[AHM]

:roll:

Indeed![quote="Heuer"]

Dino was a brand - they produced the Dino 206GT, Dino 246GT and Dino 308 GT4
but as per your original post it was manufactured by Ferarri!

"SS stood for 'Swallow Sidecars' and Jaguar was the model"
I believe that one version version was the Jaguar SS-100 and that while the company was still SS cars the prominence of the Jaguar name was increased to the extent that the Jaguar moniker appeared above the SS moniker on the grille badge.

"JPS is a cigarette brand sponsoring Lotus and used because Colin Chapman knew a good way of making money when he saw it."
Referee! The cars were manufactured by Lotus, some carried no reference to Lotus and were refered to by the founder of Lotus as The JPS - JPS very clearly took precidence over the manufacturer

What about the Aston Martin Lagonda - Manufactured by Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd - Model ....Lagonda

or the Moon Rover - Not manufactured by Rover but by NASA! and the only car on the moon!

[69S4]

Hi all,
glad someone mentioned Uniroyal The Rain Tyre 'cos that's what we have. Used them for the last 30 years (well ok 1982) when we were in Germany. These are 145 size and the only thing I would add is tyre pressure. Initially we ran then at 18 front, 23 rear - they were awful - car span and squealed round corners. Put them up to nearer 30 all round and the car is much happier, feels solid on the road and the tyres are working.

Peter

That's what I've been using for many years (but 155s) on my S4. Similar issues with pressures and squealing and by trial and error ended up using 26 front and 28 rear. Pressures around 18psi that I used happily with the previous Googyears also gave really heavy steering - not quite the Lotus experience. Never had the spinning problem though.

When the last set of Uniroyals wore out a couple of years ago I wanted to replace like with like but the local tyre depot came up a variant marked "rainexpert" instead. Not knowing any better I used them but they're not as good as the older ones - they seem to move around a bit more and don't feel quite as secure. I'll probably keep them on the car but look a bit harder next time when they wear out.