Saw a guy at Brands using some Goodyears but couldn’t catch him to ask how they were.
RobbI had them on a 106GTi many moons ago and they were great. A colleague put them on his Camaro and he loved them too. The latest GSD3 model gets good write ups
A previous car came with Michelin Pilot Sports as standard, lasted for ages but were really treachourous in the wet, very tippy toey and gave way all at once. I eventually changed them for Goodyear Eagle F1’s and they completely transformed the car in the wet, honestly the difference was staggering. If I could afford a spare set of wheels to put some road tyres on then these are the one’s I would opt to try. Not sure how they would perform on a Lotus though, my previous car was a Z3, but would be giving them a shot for sure.
John
hello
i read this thread and im still not sure what to fit as winter tyres … im on A048s at the mo with a couple of thousand miles left.
i used my s2 exige everyday and its the only car. i dont do track days.
r888s, AO39s & AD07 i think was the choice for S2 exige. Is this correct ?
What sort or prices/life we talking about for each ?
Thanks for any advice.
Scott
i have never used anything other than A048’s on an Exige and an Exige S. Lifespan on rears between 6-9k - never replaced a front set. Wear out faster on the S. I drive back and forth to Wales/London in all weather inc snow and torrential rain and have never come a cropper. No track days. 29 psi all round. Highly recommended.
My seat is bust and the runners are on back order with no estimated time of arrivel, could be weeks/months. I was just looking for a lesser tyre whilst I am unable to enjoy the car as much as I would like.
I always swore by Toyo Proxies on my first 2 Elises very good grip and very adjustable on the limit, I’m not sure if the do them in S2 Exige sizes though.
ado7’s if it has not got lotus sport suspension,
and a0 48 's if it has,(too sticky for standard suspension)
dont be a nezzer and skimp out on [censored] tyres,
we buy these cars for the great handling ,then you read people have skimped out on proper shite cheap tyres ,and then have the cheek to moan .
whether you drive it everyday or once a month you need the correct tyres on the car,
lotus and yoko have spent a lot of time and money, developing tyres for these go karts ,
so do the right thing and put the correct tyres on,
Given what was noted in this somewhat confusing article when the AD07 for the elise was announced :
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=299985
could yokohama c drives be worth a look for exige winter road tyres as an alternative to using T1-R’s? Or Bridgestone RE050s - both of which are available as a 205/50/r16 for the front and standard sizes for the rear?
Any thoughts / opinions?
AD07 are only 175 and are to small for exige wheels.
AD07 are only 175 and are to small for exige wheels.
Yep (in the UK at least) - which is why I noticed that the article mentions Yoko C drives (available in 205) similarities with the AD07 perhaps, suited to a lightweight car? I know the 195 width AD07 is apparently available in Japan - just wondering about UK alternatives. Perhaps someone with some tyre “knowledge” could help out here.
One thing which is getting a bit blurred here… are we talking about what would make the best road tyre as an everyday compromise for all year round or are we talking about a proper winter use tyre for the yucky conditions Nov-March?
For all year use then I’m sure Goodyear Eagles, Toyos T1R BF Goodrich will all be much of a muchness. The diffence between all them will be minimal compared to the drop in performance relative to A048s.
For proper winter use you need winter tyres. When the ambient temp drops below 7�C the coefficienct of friction for normal tyres takes a dive as they just dont get hot enough. Winter tyres (and were not talking skimpy studded things here) are a softer compound. They also have a different tread pattern with much more emphasis on wet grip.
I know two Elise owners who’ve tried them and they are very impressed - both of them are nutters too who compete in the 750MC Kit car series so they know how to drive.
Yeah I see your point, the thread title does say “best road tyres” as oppose to “best winter road tyres” - althugh I think the answer to the former has been sorted and answer to the later not.
I don’t think the weather gets extreme enough thesedays for Pirelli snowsports but it does rain heavily over he winter often - and A048 are not the tyre of choice in rush hour and standing water - I think thats well documented.
I suppose in summary my question is: for the wet rainy waterlogged and miserable months of Nov-march assuming you had a spare set of wheels what would you fit if you used the car everyday, whilst retaining A048 for the summer months ahead?
I’ve driven quite a few cars on winter tyres from Seat Toledos and Merc A Class up to an Audi S4 4.2. These are always hire cars from Munich airport when I have to visit Audi. There is quite a difference in winter tyre performance and on some cars you find they start to weave gently as they walk about on the tread blocks but this is only at high autobahn speeds. Since then I’ve been using them on our tin tops. The best of the bunch (according to tyretest.com) is the Conti Winter Contact TS810. On our Golf GT they are great, they dont make any significant increase in road noise and they dont weave. To be honest they’re not far off the dry performance of the normal Sport Contacts so I’ve left them on for the summer! But wet weather grip is like nothing I’ve ever experianced. They cut through standing water really well and in the slime you have much more confidence to press on. If it actually snows then the fun really starts, you can take the p!ss out of 4x4 owners as you not only have great traction, you can also steer and brake on snow too which they dont appear to realise their 4x4s dont have any benefit over std cars. Neighbours who got stuck in the big snow not long back have actually stopped my wife in the street and asked her what tyres she’s got.
The two Elise owners I refered to earlier have both just finished their second winter season on them.
There’s loads of talk about which tyres should be tried etc etc but BIG PROBLEM, for a Mk2 Exige, I can only find 1 other type of tyre for sale that actually fits!!! That is the Michelin Pilot Exalto IIs. I had these on my corrado and they are SUPERB in the wet, the best tyre I have ever used. I am seriously considering them for winter as they are super-soft so should work well on the exige.
Are there ANY other tyres that actually fit an S2 Exige???
Most suppliers do 195/50R16 for the front. I think my Contisports are only V rated though but thats fine up to 149mph.
Kumho Ecsta Sport KU31 are a good tyre and dirt cheap. I’m going to use them on my naughty splitty camper. We used the on a 300BHP Audi engined kit car recently and they worked ace on track.
There’s loads of talk about which tyres should be tried etc etc but BIG PROBLEM, for a Mk2 Exige, I can only find 1 other type of tyre for sale that actually fits!!! That is the Michelin Pilot Exalto IIs. I had these on my corrado and they are SUPERB in the wet, the best tyre I have ever used. I am seriously considering them for winter as they are super-soft so should work well on the exige.
Are there ANY other tyres that actually fit an S2 Exige???
Actually not so BIG PROBLEM - the front size seem the hardest to get to match, 195/50/16 - there are over 20 options for these(I admit some rather crap ones in the list) using the search feature on mytyres.co.uk, many of which have been discussed here, Eagle F1, T1-R, The conti’s, dunlops, Kumhos etc etc, the probelm is deciding which one. Hence ask for other peoples opinions.
I’m yet to experience a long winter with the A048, but I’d be tempted to leave them on if it wasn’t for the risk of aqua planing.
I like the lack of grip when the roads are wet and the tyres are cold. It gives the chance to play with the fantastic handling of these cars at lower speeds. Encourages the driver to feel for the limits, and I need all the practice I can get !
There’s loads of talk about which tyres should be tried etc etc but BIG PROBLEM, for a Mk2 Exige, I can only find 1 other type of tyre for sale that actually fits!!! That is the Michelin Pilot Exalto IIs. I had these on my corrado and they are SUPERB in the wet, the best tyre I have ever used. I am seriously considering them for winter as they are super-soft so should work well on the exige.
Are there ANY other tyres that actually fit an S2 Exige???
Actually not so BIG PROBLEM - the front size seem the hardest to get to match, 195/50/16 - there are over 20 options for these(I admit some rather crap ones in the list) using the search feature on mytyres.co.uk, many of which have been discussed here, Eagle F1, T1-R, The conti’s, dunlops, Kumhos etc etc, the probelm is deciding which one. Hence ask for other peoples opinions.
How many of those front tyres are also available in the rear size? I can only see the Michelin PE2’s… oh and it looks like the sport contacts.
mytyres.co.uk says there are 166 options for summer tyres alone for the rear so I’d reckon all of the above.
The nice thing about mytyres is that each tyre option comes with a link to tyretest.com so show the overall customer satisfaction for that tyre so you’re much less likely to buy a dud.
Bob you are indeed right, a helpful site - Thanks for your thoughts thus far.
southamptonfc - I’m not sure what you are searching under, a very quick search of mytyres.co.uk shows that at least the following options are available in both 195/50/16 and 225/45/17:
Toyo Proxes T1-R
Yokohama C Drive
Conti Sport Contact
Goodyear Eagle F1
Dunlop Sport 01
Michelin Pilot Primacy
Michelin Exalto PE2
Kumho Ecsta KU31.
Someone must have tried these on an exige (other than the Toyos and Bob’s conti’s?)
I still say to go with the Toyo, I doubt anyone would be upset, plus they do seem to do the sizes and thay are cheap to