Lotus Europa Community
Lotus Europa Forums => Garage => Topic started by: califkid_66 on Monday,June 03, 2019, 08:05:10 AM
-
I have some michelin tires they are like new
except they are old and have little cracks on the sidewalls
I want to put decent tires in 185/70r13
back 175/70r13 front any suggestions
Brand model available in Canada
Thanks for your help
-
I put Kumho tires on my Europa here in British Columbia. I used 175/70R13 all round but will likely change to 185 on the rear. It will be a tight fit on my S2 however.
-
thanks im gonna look them up i was planning to get panasport or konig rewind in the 14’s more choices of tires but i need to do research to find offset bolt pattern width to fit my S2 federal and i have a friend that needs wheels so i would send him my 13’s
but for now i have the 13’s and just want to drive the lotus a little
Thanks again!
-
I have a set of Federal 595s on order at the moment, they're 185/60 13's. A friend has them on his Europa and is pleased with them. Currently I have 185/70 13's all around, and the front's are too big in diameter (at least for my car). They not only rub the arches but they rub the inner wheel arch/toe board on full lock. I'm hoping the slightly smaller diameter tire will solve the inner arch rubbing.
-
Europas are really, really, really (ad infinitum) sensitive to tires that are out of round or out of true. Talk to your local tire shops and see what they can get for you. Explain that the tires need to be round and true and get them to show you them spinning to make sure. That way you can reject any tires that have issues and they will deal with the hassle of rerunning them, not you.
Even better is if you can find someone locally who can shave tires. Modern tires are more often out of round than true so you can have all the mounted tires shaved to the same diameter. There is no one who does this work anymore in Alberta so I'm in the middle of making my own tire shaver.
-
I have michelin on my s2 185/70r13 all around
and the back is ok but front rubs on full turn so im gonna go with 175 front and 185 back
Im gonna see if they’re out of round when they spin them to balance them
Thank for your advice
-
J B.... You say "Modern tires are more often out of round than true..." For my understanding, what is "true"? Is it side-to-side straightness, as we called it with a bicycle wheel? Do you mean "more often out of round than [out of] true"?
-
Looking at the wheel on the car: out of round is "up and down"; and true is "in and out". It's all nominal.
In the old days, round and true tires were not very common. Some brands were distinctly better than others. I worked a lot on cars with macpherson struts and they were very sensitive to tires being round and true as well.
-
A few years back I visited Banks Europa and spent some time chatting with Richard Winter - I asked him about tyres and he said the best kept secret tyres at that time were Hankook. Took me a little time to find them but have used them on all my cars since then and have had no problems - good wear and on the Cosmic wheels of my S2 they handle just fine, a lot cheaper than Michelins too!
Hope you can get them in the States!
-
Perfect description JB. As I am upgrading to 14 in. rims and tires what size is a good choice?
-
Way too many variables to give a straight answer. I use this site a lot:
https://tiresize.com/converter/
Plug in what you have and work from there.
Larger diameter rims will give you more clearance from the ball-joint/a-arms. How much? Hard to say. as with most things Europa, you have to try it to be sure.
-
I am striking out on all the major tire brands for 185/70-R13 rears, and few options for 175/70-R13 fronts. I have 12 year old Coopers on the car now, but apparently they don’t make that size any more. What are other stock-rim TCS owners using these days?
Tom
-
In my opinion the best tire out there for our cars is the Avon CR6ZZ, a bit spendy but if you want the best tire for your car these are them. I have them on my Elan+2 and they are unbelievable. Oh and they come in both the sizes we need...
http://www.avonmotorsport.com/historic/historic/cr6zz
not affiliated just really love driving on them. So much feel around the limit and the limit is high. I was attending a cars & coffee last summer up the top of a local ski mountain chasing a 2011 911 Carrera GTS and when we got to the top all he say was wow and he couldn't believe how it handled the corners.
Ross
-
Ross,
Do you know of a local source (in Van, or in Cananda) for the Avons? Or did you bring them in yourself?
-
Surf, have you tried simpletire.com? They have the most extensive list of tires at each size of any online vendor in the USA (that I have found anyway). You can get a set of 4 Hankook 175/70-R13 for $139.88. That's about half the price of one AVON CR6ZZ.
-
Toyo Extensa A/S is available in 185/70-13 and 175/70-13. They are available in Canada but your dealer may have to order them in.
https://www.toyotires.ca/tires/value-all-season-extensa
-
That would be for a TC/S. S1 or S2 I would use the same size all round.
-
Thanks guys. Rosco, Avon CR6ZZ sound amazing. Lots of good feedback on the interweb. $1k does sound like a bit of an extravagance compared to about ¼ that for Toyos. I’m guessing that as a racing tire they aren’t expected to last long, either, right?
Gideon, thanks for the link to simpletire.com. they have 185/175-70-13 compatible model combos in Toyo, Westlake, Kumho, Pegasus and Crosswind brands. (Toyo being the only brand I’ve actually heard of before now.)
JB, sounds like you are happy with the Toyo Extensa A/S? Sounds like it is between the Toyos and the Avons, depending how extravagant I am feeling when I get around to ordering.
Tom
-
I haven't used the Toyos myself. They are just an inexpensive, good quality option for the 185/175 dilemma.
-
Between toyo and kumho
Im gonna go with kumho solus
There available in both size i need
There not expensive and the speed rating
is higher than the toyo
-
Hi Rod,
We ended up getting the straight from Paul Matty already mounted on new Plus 2 rims. Before that combo deal I was going to get them from their US distributor, very similar pricing. I think this was the first place I was inquiring from.
http://www.sascosports.com/tires_search_results.asp?tire_manufacturer=Avon&tire_model=FIA%20Rally-CR6ZZ-DOT&tire_size=&std_rim=&rim_diameter=13
Ross
-
Hey Surf,
They are spendy but to me they more than offset by the experience. I am a very spirited driver and to me the tire is a make or break item. That being said for someone wanting a good touring tire that never sees more than 70% grip levels what the CR6ZZ offer may not be for you. I have a set of the Federal 595 for my Europa Special. I think I may have bought the very last pair of 205/60R13s out there as I haven't found any since purchasing mine so I have a staggered set for the car. Once those are worn out I will definitely be buying CR6ZZs for the Europa special.
Thanks guys. Rosco, Avon CR6ZZ sound amazing. Lots of good feedback on the interweb. $1k does sound like a bit of an extravagance compared to about ¼ that for Toyos. I’m guessing that as a racing tire they aren’t expected to last long, either, right?
Gideon, thanks for the link to simpletire.com. they have 185/175-70-13 compatible model combos in Toyo, Westlake, Kumho, Pegasus and Crosswind brands. (Toyo being the only brand I’ve actually heard of before now.)
JB, sounds like you are happy with the Toyo Extensa A/S? Sounds like it is between the Toyos and the Avons, depending how extravagant I am feeling when I get around to ordering.
Tom
-
I have stock factory 13" rims on my TCS and have Toyo Proxes R888r 205/60-13 on the back and 185/60-13 R888r in the front. No rubbing.
-
I have a 73 tc special with alloy wheels.
I bought tires for it about a year ago and the only h rated, street tire in 185-70-13 and 175-70-13 I found were made by Achilles, BSW tires. I purchased from tires-easy.com for about $50 each. They are very good. H rated tires are what were oem originally (130 mph rated).
-
I'm really happy with my Kumho tires. They provide good grip while being decent in bad weather as well. I have thought about going to a stickier tire om my second set of rims for the summer months but the Kumho's provide a great all season alternative.
-
Speed ratings are for sustained speeds. If you take a T or S rated tire up to 130 for a bit, it will not explode. Run it for 1/2 an hour and that's another matter. Are you guys really finding places to take your Europas to maximum speed for long periods?
-
Jb the reason im going kuhmo insted of toyo
Is that 175 and 185 have the same speed rating
T and toyo 175 rating S 185 rating T
I figure it would be a better choice to have same capacity
Tyres especially for dot inspection
-
I have stock factory 13" rims on my TCS and have Toyo Proxes R888r 205/60-13 on the back and 185/60-13 R888r in the front. No rubbing.
I’ve heard that the 205/60-13 / 185/60-13 combo is a viable option. No rubbing you say? Any chance you could post some pics of these tires on your car Wes?
-
When I got new tires several years ago I went with 185/60 front and 195/60 rear thus preserving the original width difference. No rubbing, but it seems like the supply of 195/60's has dried up lately. I'll probably go with 185/60's all around next time.
-
Tom
The close-up shots were taken a few minutes ago. Unfortunately it is raining now so the full size photo shots were taken before I lowered the springs in the front end.
(http://)
-
Tom
The close-up shots were taken a few minutes ago. Unfortunately it is raining now so the full size photo shots were taken before I lowered the springs in the front end.
(http://)
Let me first say that is one damn fine looking car!
I really like the stance of the 205/60 rear 185/60 front. The Proxes also have a lot of good feedback as a track tire. They are about 30% cheaper than the Avons too. Realistically, how often will I be driving to the limit of tire performance? Whenever I can, which is almost never, but it would be nice to do so when the opportunity presents itself.
Other than a 2.5% speedometer error, is there any reason not to go with wider, lower aspect ratio tires?
FYI - This is a handy tool for understanding tire dimensions: https://www.rimsntires.com/specspro.jsp
Tom
-
I have stock factory 13" rims on my TCS and have Toyo Proxes R888r 205/60-13 on the back and 185/60-13 R888r in the front. No rubbing.
Have you ever run these tires in the wet? I've been curious about the R888R for a few years now, but have been concerned about getting caught in the rain. I wonder if they would be totally useless (re: dangerous) in the wet. I also wonder what kind of wear one can get from them? Do they wear ridiculously fast when subjected to road use?
-
Thanks Tom!!
I have been caught in the rain several times and really didn't have a problem. I even have hit a couple of puddles at highway speed and never hydroplaned or lost contact with the asphalt. The Toyo website lists the tire as Dry/Wet. The 60 series lowers the height of the car by 1/2 of an inch in the rear and almost a full inch in the front (9/10ths) compared to 175/70/13 front and 185/70/13 rear. https://tiresize.com/height-calculator/ So with shorter springs, the front end gets it to a very low but streetable height. If my memory serves me correct about 6 inches. The car does not lift as much at high speeds. So definitely less drift.
-
Cheapest tires I could find. Actually I needed to rebuild the body dolly. Full story and more pictures later on my rebuild thread soon.
-
LOL. :FUNNY: best response yet!
Cheapest tires I could find. Actually I needed to rebuild the body dolly. Full story and more pictures later on my rebuild thread soon.
-
It looks like the steering wheel is in the wrong position. I think you should check that.
-
LOL! All I need to do is connect the steering wheel to the pull handle.
-
Are Yokohama AO48's available? - used to fit these to the HSCC race cars that we built and prepared at Banks with no clearance issues and they are a good quality performance tyre.
I can vouch for the Toyo r888's being a very good performance tyre, have run them on the Caterham for many years now and they work very well on the road with little heat in them and fantastic on the track with lots of heat in them! - you can also get different compounds which is worth bearing in mind if longevity is something that you prefer over performance. They do work ok in the wet and I've never had any issues with standing water as per Literarymadness has said.
Jon