Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hi everyone,

I took my 1967 Elan series 3 DHC out for a drive the other day and everything went fine, except for the journey back home which took place under light drizzle, For the first time the rear wheels of the car slid as I was driving up a right hand slip road onto a motorway and I got the impression that if I had been going any faster {I was doing 30km/h) that the car could have done a 180 degree spin. I experienced the same problem also at low speed driving round a bend which was also to the right.
The road was slightly damp, so this might have been the problem, but I drove back across Europe last year in very wet conditions and had no trouble and have also replaced the tyres..So I was wondering whether this might be a problem linked to worn donuts (which I can't inspect without getting the nuts and bolts off) or whether I should be searching somewhere else?
Thanks for any advice you might have.
Philip

Diesel on the road? Comes to the surface when it rains.

Old tyres? Tyre pressures out? Years ago I found a NOS set of Dunlop SP Sports, they weren't too bad in the dry but in the wet I would tiptoe around because there was no grip.

Worn bushing?

Good luck!

My initial thoughts would be road surface or tyre pressures

This happened to me with severely worn bearings. Whatever the cause, it sounds like a sudden change in toe on one side. Mine did spin right round at relatively low speed.

HTH

Mazzini wrote:Diesel on the road? Comes to the surface when it rains.

Old tyres? Tyre pressures out? Years ago I found a NOS set of Dunlop SP Sports, they weren't too bad in the dry but in the wet I would tiptoe around because there was no grip.

Worn bushing?

Good luck!

I hate to see people using NOS tyres for anything other than static displays. They are lethal. Besides the rubber hardening to reduce grip, the internal aging can often result in delamination with catastrophic results.

[/quote]
I hate to see people using NOS tyres for anything other than static displays. They are lethal. Besides the rubber hardening to reduce grip, the internal aging can often result in delamination with catastrophic results. [/quote]

I know that now! Twenty-five years ago I was at the bottom of that learning curve

Twenty-five years ago I guess I was too!

yep, tyres without a doubt. Elans are very skittish on old tyres, especially in the wet. Even cheap modern tyres are vastly superior to an old "as new" Dunlop SP sport.

Nigel F.

In the UK we occasionaly get very local bad patches of asphalt which are lethal in the damp and wet with all tyres. You can't see them and in the dry they are normal.

There was one on my regular little chicane for years which I tamed in my (FWD) 205GTi but forgot that important difference one day when I slotted the Elan through in the wet with the same power management as the Pug i.e. applied the power while the rear wheels were still on the soap.

Maybe the EU has them too.