Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Just been linked to this which is interesting (the XZX don't come out very well) https://classicmotorsports.com/articles/retro-rubber/

vincereynard wrote:Cheaper than XAS and original equipment once -

http://www.vintagetyres.com/item/117/16 ... --road--tl

They certainly look the part!

EDIT -

Apparently dearer than XAS!
http://www.vintagetyres.com/search?qs=L ... +1968-1973

I had aquajets on my Cooper S and they were awful.

Bahamayellow wrote:
I had aquajets on my Cooper S and they were awful.

Must admit i remember them being quite good but that was back in the early 80's so i guess tyres have progressed allot since then.

After much deliberation have gone for Uniroyal rain expert 3 165/70 13. They've been good on the Beemer so I thought I'd give them a go on the Elan. Shame they call them rain experts as it perhaps implies they are pants in the dry, however, that's not my experience.

I've just swapped my P3000's (which had started to go hard) for a set of Michelin E3B1 tyres which are on the soft side but have a very square shoulder compared to others i had to choose from so i get ok rear suspension clearance (doesn't make contact under hard cornering so i'm happy). I've only done about 50 miles on them upto now but there is a huge difference over the hard P3000's i took off.

I've gone with the Uniroyal rain expert 3's. 165/70 13. Really impressed in the 100 miles so far. I was getting a little arch rubbing with the old Yoko A drives, same size, and none with the new tyres.

yes glen!! finally someone else who's using a proper street tyre for OUR mean little machines!! the other suggested tyres are made for cars with a maximum of 80hp, so why the ..............k can anyone suggest those crappy tyres --------- OR get the appropriate car!!! sandy --- and for the real heros:semi slicks!!

Graeme what sort of clearance on the lower spring perch are you getting?

el-saturn wrote:yes glen!! finally someone else who's using a proper street tyre for OUR mean little machines!! the other suggested tyres are made for cars with a maximum of 80hp, so why the ..............k can anyone suggest those crappy tyres --------- OR get the appropriate car!!! sandy --- and for the real heros:semi slicks!!

Not on a road car...... I have Ad08r 's on my appropriate car!!! and would never recommend them for every day use (dangerous in wet road conditions). Trackday tyres are good for Dry Trackdays and not to be confused with Road tyres imho it's a basic error that will get some one hurt if you have weather like the UK.

Grizzly wrote:Graeme what sort of clearance on the lower spring perch are you getting?

Not transferrable information really as I have smaller springs and platforms on the rear and the wheels are 5.5inch revolutions 5 spokes ( unsure of offset.)
However, if the outside of the rear offside tyre used to rub on the inside of the arch on hard lefthanders, and doesn't now, it might suggest a slightly more favourable profile.

Hi Grizzly,

Exactly which 'size' are your E3Bs and are you using them with inner tubes or not? Please.

Bill, 155/80/13 on stock 4 1/2 rims and they are fitted Tubeless.... i was going to replace the original tubes (for some reason the guy that fitted the P3000's kept the 1970 tubes, that was one of the reasons i wanted fresh rubber) but the tyre fitter told me modern tubes are rubbish next to the original rubber ones so i took his word for it and went tubeless (they hold air fine).

661 wrote:

Grizzly wrote:Graeme what sort of clearance on the lower spring perch are you getting?

Not transferrable information really as I have smaller springs and platforms on the rear and the wheels are 5.5inch revolutions 5 spokes ( unsure of offset.)
However, if the outside of the rear offside tyre used to rub on the inside of the arch on hard lefthanders, and doesn't now, it might suggest a slightly more favourable profile.

Ahh ok, i thought you had stock rims.

Grizzly wrote:Bill, 155/80/13 on stock 4 1/2 rims and they are fitted Tubeless.... i was going to replace the original tubes (for some reason the guy that fitted the P3000's kept the 1970 tubes, that was one of the reasons i wanted fresh rubber) but the tyre fitter told me modern tubes are rubbish next to the original rubber ones so i took his word for it and went tubeless (they hold air fine).

Also available in 145/80/13 and I was persuaded not to fit tubes for the first time in my ownership. When my car was crashed (by an ex friend) the rim was bent but the tyre stayed inflated, which didn't help in that incident but might in other cases.

I think all my previous tyres have been 155/70/13, except my very early ones 145/?/13

Doesn't the 80 in your 155/80/13 make them a bit too big in diameter.

~~~~~~~

I've looked up what that profile figure means and it is the % ratio of the sidewall height to the width of the tyre, so 155/70 would have a sidewall of 108 and 155/80 would have a sidewall of 124.

Which if, I've got this right, would mean that the diameter of a 155/80/13 is 2*(124-108) = 32 mm bigger than a 155/70/13.