Tyres – That age old question

[ste7en]

First off some background, I drive an Elise R maybe a couple of track days this year but mostly road use and the current state of my licence restricts how spirited my road driving is! The car is on standard wheels shod with LTS AD07 rubber (175/55 R16 & 225/45 R17). The tyres are reaching the end of their life so time for a replacement.

There are endless posts on various forums asking the same question regarding road tyre selection for the Elise and given the limitations of running 5.5” wide front wheels the consensus would seem to be, stick with the AD07’s.

But.........

And here we go again with the tyre question.

I am considering a set of T1R’s (185/50 R16 & 225/45 R17) for a couple of reasons and would like some feedback before I possibly waste my money.

Firstly, cost makes the T1R seem attractive. Are they in any way dangerous on the Elise? Am I going to find myself heading arse first into the nearest field? AD07’s are more than double the cost of T1R’s but (and correct me if I am wrong) I can’t believe they offer twice the performance. I'm not too concerned about the ultimate performance of the tyre as I am a firm believer, in most cases, you get what you pay for so would expect the AD07 to be better but provided the T1R progressive and provides some feedback warning that the limits are being reached I can live with less ultimate grip.

Secondly, but most importantly, and the real reason I’m considering an alternate tyre is that we plan on heading to Europe this summer for a bit of a road trip. With my luck I will get an un-repairable puncture so I am thinking a replacement T1R would be far easier to come by than an LTS AD07. Is this a correct assumption?

Oh, I also fancy doing a Walshy day this year and would rather not destroy a set of expensive rubber in the process.

[Shug]

T-1Rs are fine.

The one issue you'll come up against is different feel and perhaps having to play with tyre pressures (up them a bit) to get them feeling okay. And they do feel horrendous for the first thousand or so miles until they firm up a bit. They introduce a vagueness that isn't there with the AD07s as they are quite soft (construction)

All that said, they are pretty far from dangerous. They do the job perfectly well and if you can't stretch to the best then they are a working substitute. In terms of progressiveness, due to them being squishier (technical term) they will actually move more and give more warning - at the expense of less overall grip.

And Walshy days don't destroy tyres unless you keep spinning and keep the boot in. In other words, unless you're trying to destroy the tyres. Less wear IMO than a 4 hour track session by far.

HTH

[Rich H]

I loved my T1Rs as they were awesome in the wet.

[Ferg]

T1R's here too, and althought I've not known other tyres I find them very informative on the limit.

[BiggestNizzy]

Always run them and agree the first few miles are terrible you can feel the car squirm about on them but they soon sort themselves out.

[Tom]

Agree with all above, they are absolutely awful for the first thousand miles. As Shug said up the pressures (to somewhere around 28-30psi I'd have thought to start with - think I found 27F 28R worked ok on my S1 after they'd been worn in). They are very good in the wet too.

[CubanGav]

I just put 195 T1R's on the skinny rims

No problems and, as stated, very good in the wet. I understand many will say they are too wide for the rim but I have neither the talent nor the experience to comment otherwise. They fit, look good and feel good.
Apparently Lotus don’t recommend putting sticky tyres that wide on 5.5 rims as they risk leaving the rim at track speeds. Plenty people have 195's on and I couldn’t find anyone saying they had a problem. 185 would have been the smarter move though but the tyre fitter had them on mine before I noticed.

I haven’t played with the pressures yet but I will this weekend.

Width is more important than you'd think (that’s what the ladies in the bars tell me anyway)

Gav.

[campbell]

T1-R is a fine tyre offering adequate performance and excellent value for money.

Not ideal for hot summer trackdays, but for all the other occasions when you need a tyre to work at its best (ie chilly and/or rainy days), it has to be hard to beat.

Fiddling with pressures can deal with "feel" issues, such as they may be, and in my experience it takes only a couple of tankfuls of miles to "scrub them in". All new tyres need this to some extent, although the Toyos maybe more than others...so what.

If money is an issue, they are a sound choice.

I have run these, and their predecessor the T1-S, since Bridgestone stopped supplying the SO-2 (previous fave of many) early last decade. Approx 60-70k miles of the 90k on my S1 have been done on Toyos. Their wet weather ability gave me the confidence to use the car on days or in places I otherwise would not have done, and I've thoroughly enjoyed it as a result.

Campbell

[Edin430]

Another for T1R's!

[dirkpitt]

hey steve!

T1R's

whats this road trip to europe? inquiring minds want to know

[ste7en]

hey steve!

T1R's

whats this road trip to europe? inquiring minds want to know

Early stages at the moment, but thinking of doing a bit of an alpine tour this summer. Just searching back through previous threads on the subject and sticking pins in the map is as far as we've got so far but starting to get quite excited about the prospect the more I read about trips others have made.

[campbell]

Early stages at the moment, but thinking of doing a bit of an alpine tour this summer. Just searching back through previous threads on the subject and sticking pins in the map is as far as we've got so far but starting to get quite excited about the prospect the more I read about trips others have made.

Steven,

If you have the funds to do it - don't question it, just get on with it. It's the kind of thing that every genuine Elise owner should experience at least once before their car moves on. All the know-how you need is right here on this forum

Campbell
(4 European Sorties faction)

[vxc]

Early stages at the moment, but thinking of doing a bit of an alpine tour this summer. Just searching back through previous threads on the subject and sticking pins in the map is as far as we've got so far but starting to get quite excited about the prospect the more I read about trips others have made.

Steven,

If you have the funds to do it - don't question it, just get on with it. It's the kind of thing that every genuine Elise owner should experience at least once before their car moves on. All the know-how you need is right here on this forum

Campbell
(4 European Sorties faction)

i am in for anything in future planning, as i have just got exige so looking to similar!

[dirkpitt]

Early stages at the moment, but thinking of doing a bit of an alpine tour this summer. Just searching back through previous threads on the subject and sticking pins in the map is as far as we've got so far but starting to get quite excited about the prospect the more I read about trips others have made.

Steven,

If you have the funds to do it - don't question it, just get on with it. It's the kind of thing that every genuine Elise owner should experience at least once before their car moves on. All the know-how you need is right here on this forum

Campbell
(4 European Sorties faction)

i am in for anything in future planning, as i have just got exige so looking to similar!

that makes two of us steve, you know me.......im always up for some road trip.....keep us posted of your plans mate.