Elise S1 tyre choice - road, occasional track

[campbell]

Views?

I'm a Toyo T1R fan but willing to broaden my horizons.

Surprise me with real life experiences pls

[woody]

Campbell, my thoughts on AD08R having used AD05/06 LTS advans previously:

• Excellent in the wet

• Very good dry grip

• Approx 50% worn at 7000 miles Vs never having more than approx. 6k from a seat of rear LTS advans.

• Circa £400 fitted Vs in excess of £700 for LTS 2 years ago

• Available easily locally vs main dealer or Elise parts only (no wait I for delivery or tyre place grumbling at having to fit)

• AD08 aren’t sided (AD05/06 are, hence numbering) so can be changed singularly instead of in pair if a tyre is damaged.

• Feel probably isn't just as good as with LTS.

Drove a couple of S1s on T1Rs, didn’t like them much. IMHO 048s are overkill for the road (certainly for me) & everyone advises rose-jointed toe links for them, which I’m not so keen on for the road environment.

[mckeann]

T1R's are sh*t. Buy something else. That's the best advice I can give you.

[Kinger]

As per Woody for the AD08'r, I had them on for a very wet Trip down to Oulton / Cadwell. Brilliant on wet motorways and great on a wet / drying track.

I'll be using them again.

[rawsco]

I've just stuck a set of AD08r's on Campbell love them, cracking tyre and pretty cheap too! You'd be welcome to take her for a spin and get a feel for them but it's quite a different motor....

[Dominic]

Toyo T1Rs are fine for road use (quite enjoying mine on the road just now) but are not good on track - they over heat and lunch themselves after a few laps.

I was contemplating a set of the Avons that everyone is raving about for my track wheels.

Advan nueva LTS spec are good on road and occasional track use, but the prices of them have gone silly recently.

When I bought my car it had Kumho ecsta sports on it. Kenny and Mike (previous two owners) seemed to quite rate them IIRC. I continued to use them as my tyre of choice for a few years. They are fairly cheap, good on road, fairly decent on track, very good in the wet on track and last well. They offer a reasonable amount of grip on track and are nicely progressive at the limit. I think Stu Pollock and the nice Mr Ape seemed to quite like them too.

Personally, I think with an S1, you don't want the most grip possible. It's more fun to have the car moving around a bit - it's what the S1 is all about. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying go get tuppaware tyres but the super sticky track tyres take something from the S1 experience,.. and give the car more abuse. Just my personal preferences of course

[mckeann]

The reason I didnt like the T-1R's at all as that they squirm and move around on the tread block. I'm all for the car moving around but I prefer the whole car to do it and didn't like the squidgy tyre losing all the feeling. Of course, maybe toyo have improved them since I last tried them about 6 years ago

[Dominic]

The reason I didnt like the T-1R's at all as that they squirm and move around on the tread block. I'm all for the car moving around but I prefer the whole car to do it and didn't like the squidgy tyre losing all the feeling. Of course, maybe toyo have improved them since I last tried them about 6 years ago

I'd say they are still the same as you describe, on track.

[campbell]

T1R's are sh*t. Buy something else. That's the best advice I can give you.

In a moment of weakness I may well be about to take your advice!!

I want something firmer to sharpen up the handling without making it hard to drive safely in the wet.

[Dark]

AD08Rs are excellent on the S2.
Demon Tweeks are also competitively priced and deliver next day.
http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/top-100/p ... ad08r-tyre

[StiflerMR2]

AD08R'S on mine and they have been excellent in all weathers on and off track.

Highly recommended.

[Ferg]

I ran T1rs for 4 years being quite happy with them for road and even did Spa on them but when I got a set of yokos I was amazed at the difference and felt like I'd missed a trick not changing sooner. Get it done!

[campbell]

Feeling like AD08R then boys.

The end of a long relationship with Toyo. We've had them on Elise, Golf and Skoda. Top marks from me.

[robin]

Campbell, check out valuetyres.co.uk - I just got a complete set, delivered including VAT for 355 for Egor. I imagine S1 would be a bit cheaper to smaller tyre sizes.

BTW, I asked Craig to keep the 17" Pirelli's that came off for use on the Skoda

Cheers,
Robin

[Stu160]

Another yes for AD08,s . I still have old school AD08,s on the 160, thats 5 years now, and they are still going strong. I have AD08r,s for the 211, and they are great, good wet grip, not fantastic on standing water, bit not sure if any tyre would be on an elise. I still think they are as quick in the dry as ZZR,s and 048,s . Best value for money all round tyre by far.

Stu