More tyre Info

[point n squirt]

I,ve been looking at past posts on tyres i only need to replace 1 rear the previous owner had a punchured sidewall and bought 1 tyre its done about 2000 miles but now the original rear is on the limit . Theres still tread in the fronts but they are over 4 years now . Am i better getting new tyres all round [was not in my budget] or replace the one well used rear. Its bridgestones on it just know ,i noticed nobody seams to recomend them . Car is used at weekends mainly and mostly dry weather , might do a track day or two next year.Car seams to understeer when pushed and its really bad in the wet is this normal handling is it tyres or is it me Cheers Ian

[Mikie711]

Me personally, would change both rears together. But that's just me I guess, don't like having different age/tread levels on the same axle IYSWIM. Can't comment on what tyres to use for road use as I run 048's and 888's which are primarily a track tyre and as such slippy in the wet is the norm for me, but I'm sure someone will be along to give you advice about that

Mike

[Shug]

Replace both rears, no question - never one on the same axle, unless the other is practically new. If you're going to chop the lot, the Yokohama AD07 is the recommended S2 tyre now and is very good. Also, 4 year old bridgies are well past their best and I'd be tempted to change the lot TBH.

I don't think the Yokos are better in the wet than the Bridgestones, just the dry. S2s are set up to understeer, you can fix that by increasing the camber on the front wheels (although this will increase inner wear) but it's usually a driver error that causes extreme understeer - not being patronising, but it's 99% of the time that you're accelerating into a corner or something, rather than any fault of the car. Also, Elises are pretty sh*t in the wet - combo of light weight and fairly wide rubber leads to that. It's a fact of life when you live with these wee cars. Again, though if the Bridgies are 4 years old, that's yer problem right there.

Once you change them, if you still feel there is something wrong, it's always worth going somewhere versed in Elises and getting the suspension geometry checked (CLCM in Edinburgh is the most common one) A tiny bit out can make a big difference.

[meatball]

If it was me I get 4 AD07's and give the car to CLCM anyway (for a geo) as you don't want to gub brand new tyres!

[point n squirt]

Thanks thats what i thought ,Saturday was the first time driving in real wet was very twitchy. It does understeer in the dry but as you say think thats down to car handling plus crap tyres . Thanks for the help at least i know what to put on my Xmas list

[Neil72]

Thanks thats what i thought ,Saturday was the first time driving in real wet was very twitchy. It does understeer in the dry but as you say think thats down to car handling plus crap tyres . Thanks for the help at least i know what to put on my Xmas list

I had similar understeer problems on mine (and I also have bridgestones) but someone on here suggested checking tyre pressures and I found they were quite a bit out. Setting them to the correct pressure made a huge difference so I would give this a go first. If you're feeling flush, a full set of AD07's should transform the car though

[Shug]

Yeah - should have mentioned - the Elise is very sensitive to pressures. 1psi can make a big difference (esp at the front)