111S Wider Rear Track

[Ferg]

I note on the specs for the S1 111S that it has a wider rear track.

Was this acheived purely with different wheel size and offset or was there a different suspension configuration?

I'm just wondering if this is a specific advantage of the 111S or whether any elise can acheive the same improvement.

Cheers

[mwmackenzie]

I'm pretty sure it's just the wheels and 225 rear tyres but I'm not possitive so awaiting correction

[campbell]

Just the wheels. 7.5J as opposed to 7, or was it 8J as opposed to 7.5J.

No matter.

Many non-111S S1s have 225 section tyres on their original rims. Like mine. These fit fine and Lotus were happy to endorse their use. Think you need to go to 225/45 profile, as opposed to the 50 profile of the 205. Someone will correct me on this if need be.

There are handling balance tweaks to be had depending on the front and rear tyre section sizes you choose (you can also switch between 185 and 195 at the front...in fact if you really wanted terminal understeer I imagine you could stretch some 175s on too...come to think of it, 175 front and 205 rear could give an interesting winter rim setup...studded tyres optional!).

I have run 195 fronts and 225 rears for the bulk of my Elise ownership and have always been happy with the balance.

Note that the 111S and one batch of 135 Sports which had these wider rims on the rear also came with wheelarch "spats" to provide some wider shielding, not sure if this was purely to protect the rear clam edges on the trailing side of the arches, or due to build spec regulations which demand that a tyre is recessed to a min depth within an arch. Whatever, I don't have the spats and it's never been an issue at an MoT. Now I'm getting into anorak mode so I will stop there.

Campbell

[Ferg]

Do you know, I thought I wouldn't ask about the spats in case it was too much detail. I do think they were for SVA approval, seem to remember some program from years ago about it.

Great info thanks.

[Corranga]

I'm fairly certain the spats are a 'requirement' due to the wider wheels.

I run my old Mini on 12x5.5 inch wheels which stuck out beyond the wheel arch extensions. The general thoughts in the Mini community was that the wheels stuck out too much and it could have been an issue with the police. Various people told me this over the 3 1/2-4 years I run the car like that. No MOT issues, and I was never in trouble with the police.

Chris

[Baggy]

They were a requirement for sva for the ltd no of 135s with OZ 111s alloys, 111s s and 160s (victories have the same width and offsets).

As campbell says there are a lot of standard cars out there with no spats fitted with victories or similar and your MOT tester is very unlikely to pick up on it.

[BiggestNizzy]

They also cost a fortune from lotus