175/60 tyres in the UK

[Maulden7]

I know that there have been lots of threads regarding Elan tyres in the UK, but availability etc is changing all the time, & I would like to ask the question again about experience here.

My modified S2 is mainly used for sprints & track days, but also is road legal, so any tyres must satisfy both areas.

Currently I have 4 x A539 Yokos 175/60's fitted (on 13in 5J bolt on Minilites - under 5k miles on these tyres from new - less than a year ago) but of these the fronts are now badly flat spotted (after a sprint at Marham Airfield) & all round they were melting (with marbles) after an event at Cadwell Park on a very hot day / track a few weeks ago, ......... so now need replacing.

Any thoughts gratefully received.

Dave M.

[Spyder fan]

Dave, you could try driving a bit slower you mad bugger! Having seen your commitment to hitting the apex of every corner and ensuring you carry every bit of speed possible I'm surprised your tyres have lasted as long as 5000 miles

I used to run a set of Yoko AO48's on my +2 for track days, but had the luxury of a spare set of wheels shod with Yoko C Drive for general road use. I did about 10 quite spirited track days with the AO48's and they were still good enough to be sold on for someone else to have some fun for a few more go's. I think my +2 is set up far more conservatively than your S2, the ARB, front springs and damper settings are only slightly uprated over standard, so little chance of a formula 1 style unloaded front wheel lock up when trail braking. There was a very warm day at Combe a few years back, the NS rear got a bit hot and stepped out at Quarry, but hardly any graining.

I haven't kept up with the latest tyres, like you say, they seem to change quite quickly with new stuff becoming available and old favourites like my AO48's superseded with a new pattern that they don't make in the size I want.

I think your problem is now that if you find something longer lasting that you won't get the grip?

[Maulden7]

Thanks Alan, Elan's are meant for driving, & do give their best when pushed hard ime!

I'm actually not concerned about tyres lasting very long, it's all part of the fun, but the current Yokos are now probably so hard after the treatment / result at Cadwell, that grip in the wet would be minimal (I've experienced this before & it's a bit scary - never mind dangerous)

The track surface at Marham is notoriously hard on tyres, but I've never before had threepenny bits on the front wheels (showing my age there!) & it feels / sounds very odd. On the way home from Marham I pulled over on the A45 to see what the noise was (wheel bearings .... something on the tyre??) but it was just the flat spots hitting the road.

Anyway, I'm happy to give anything a go (grip is more important than wear) so all suggestions are very welcome & will be followed up. It does seem difficult to find the best rubber in a 13in / 175 size?

[Spyder fan]

Dave,
Looks like AO48's are available again, I can certainly recommend them for grip in dry or wet conditions, but I did notice they were a lot noisier than my standard road tyres.

At the moment I'm running Kumho Ecowing tyres on the +2 and they give better grip imo than Yoko C drives. Kumho produce a high performance track day tyre that's available in your size.

http://www.camskill.co.uk/m114b0s654p0/ ... _175_60R13

Looking at the tread pattern of the Kumho versus Yoko on the above link I would say the Kumhos would be quieter

[Maulden7]

Thanks again Alan - those Kumho tyres look interesting (& not expensive) I will investigate further (dimensions are important - 175 tyres on a standard S2 bodyshell run very close to the lip)