Textile Belted Tyres

[worzel]

Hi

Apologies on this- it seems a much debated subject and all answers should be available via the archives but- can anybody tell me exactly which makes/products are definitely textile belted tyres. In the past I admit I've used steel belted makes but I'd like to go back to the recommended types. Go into a modern tyre outfit and ask for textile belted and the usual response is a blank look or just why do you want them.

I certainly don't like the price of the michelin XAS ones and couldn't justify them on the low mileage I cover and I'm not even sure if they're textile belted anyway.

Regards and thanks

john

[billwill]

In the early days of owning my Elan i.e. early 70's I had Michelin XAS on the car & I scared myself immensely & vowed never to use them again.

They had fantastic grip in the dry & almost NONE in the wet.

[oldelanman]

Hi John,
Well I don't know if this is any help but Goodyear GT2's have both steel and textile.

Regards,

[worzel]

HI

Thanks for the info. Can anybody tell me just why steel belted radials shouldn't be fitted to elans- is there an issue with the way they affect the dynamics of the car/do they harshen the ride/affect the steering etc?

Regards

John

[nebogipfel]

Something deep in the back of my mind is telling me that the original fitment Dunlop SP Sports (Aquajets) as fitted by Lotus in the early 70's were textile belted tyres? but I may be wrong, it's a looong time ago.

I can say that SP Sports worked very well on an Elan Sprint

I think tyres tend to be mixed constuction these days

Bill, Michelin back in the day used to last forever and as a result were OK in the dry, but lethal when it rained.

[lotusS2guy]

HI

Can anybody tell me just why steel belted radials shouldn't be fitted to elans- is there an issue with the way they affect the dynamics of the car/do they harshen the ride/affect the steering etc?

Steel belted radials work just fine on the Elan. Just beware that they do not give as much feedback regarding impending breakaway. One moment you are carving a turn and hanging on like the car is on rails, and then you are backwards heading for the wall.

Regarding Dunlop SP -- these were original equipment on my Elan S2 (yes, I'm the original owner) and they wore out in less than 10,000 miles. Now to be fair, I slalomed about every weekend, so many of those miles were sliding sidways, but they were never my favorite tire. I long for the Goodyear Bluestreaks I used to slalom on. They provided jaw dropping traction and loads of feedback when they were on the verge of letting go.

[stugilmour]

From memory, the XAS was steel belted. They were fantastic in the dry. I found them OK in the wet until about half or three quarters of the trend was gone, and then they were diabolical. Solution was to replace them. This was on an Alpha Berlina sedan. 'back in the day'

HTH

[worzel]

Hi

Again- thanks for the comments. From (distant) memory the Avons I had many years ago were pretty good but didn't last very long. Funnily enough they had very square section shoulders unlike those normally recommended but maybe the compound was pretty soft- they certainly gripped in the wet and you could play the car on the limit pretty easily.

Regards

John