Hello all… I’m new to the site but was wondering the best place to get A048’s repaired in or around the London area. I’ve picked up a couple of nails in tyres that have only covered a few hundred miles. Would taking it to a Lotus dealer be the best / only option?
Hmm - it’s a fairly specialist tyre. Lotus will want to sell you a new one. The likes of Kwik-Fit et al probably wouldn’t want to touch it for repair, but worth a go.
Thing is - would you trust a repaired tyre when hanging on to a corner or giving it full bananas?
Brooke K in Bicester, Eliseparts etc will courier you a replacement for less than a dealer.
Depends how much you push your car and your mix of track / road driving. I wouldn’t want to run on a repaired tyre on track…
This was discussed a while ago with the conclusion that getting it repaired is generally not considered an issue. I have run on a repaired 48 and gone on to do trackdays without issue. I suppose it depends where the nail is,…as long as it is not in the sidewall you should be OK.
I’d be surprised if the rubber didn’t melt back together on track (assuming you can get it up to a darn good temp).
Ian
Cheers guys… I really want to try and get them repaired if I can as they have only done a few hundred miles. I’ve already tried the kwik fit option and they wouldn’t touch them. Does anyone know where I can try and get them repaired?
If I can’t get them repaired I suppose I’ll have to get some mail order (don’t really want to pay dealer prices again). What’s the best place to get A048’s from and where do you fellow exiger’s go to get them fitted?
Probably Plans, BookaTrack or Eliseparts, but that’s not going to save you much, as they are an offical Lotus part and they hype the price.
You’ll find somewhere to get them fixed.
Ian
Try an independent tyre fitter, they’re usually a more helpful bunch when it come to something out of the ordinary.
FWIW i did 3 trackdays on a repaired tyre (S1 Elise rear) with no problems.
Tim.
If I was in your situation I could repair it, but will also check the tyre pressures very, very often, like before and after every drive. Or if in track, after every session.
Just to know if the patch is still holding Ok.
I agree with Uldis,and have done the same thing with a virtually brand new tyre,will race with it next season without any worries.Don`t get another tyre from anyone but Lotus as they are slightly different to the ones from anyone else
Don`t get another tyre from anyone but Lotus as they are slightly different to the ones from anyone else
You should be alright as long as they have LTS stamped on the side, that’s the Lotus spec (do a search on LTS for more background).
Ian
dont know what side of london your on but sinclairs
http://www.lotusrepairs.com/news.asp
did a nail repair for me, did activity day and 4,000miles on it and no problems…ok not tracked so not put under great strain. If its important to you, they are careful of the alloys coating.
Cheers samanda, I’m in SE1 so I’ll give Sinclairs a call.