S2 Tyres For Everyday Use?

[Neil]

Tyres.....

 

I know there are loads of threads on here about tyres, but most of them are asking about either S1 tyres, track day tyres or both!

 

I need to replace the rear tyres on my S2 (less than 0.4mm of legal tread left ) My elise is my daily drive so I'm looking for something more durable than the usual trackday tyres. There will be the odd trackday and a Walshy day some time in the future but I'm happy to sacrifice some of the overall grip for durability and something that I'm not scared to drive in the wet. The obvious choice for me was a straightforward replacement of the Bridgestone Potenzas that are already on there, £230 from PTP. Anyone got any other suggestions?

 

Thanks,

Neil.

[steve-n]

i've found the Toyo's TR1's a great tyre in all weathers..... even standing water, ice & snow.

[Neil]

I should have asked in the 1st post, what sort of mileage am I likely to get out of a set of rears (forgetting about any track use)?

 

i've found the Toyo's TR1's a great tyre in all weathers..... even standing water, ice & snow.

[steve-n]

i've done around 20,000 still got plenty of tread on them.

[Steve J]

I'd stick with RE040s on an S2 unless you are going to swap all 4.

[Lakey]

I've done 11k on my Toyo's and love them. Still got around 1k left.

 

One small point if you change over you have to order a slightly different profile on the front

[Carlylove]

I'd stick with RE040s on an S2 unless you are going to swap all 4.

 

Same here.

[daves2111s]

I changed my rears at 14k and kept to the Bridgestones....never had a problem with them

[Carlylove]

Just got this back from Black Circles for you:

 

Bridgestone RE040 245/45 R18 Z (2) £175.08 - £350.16 Total ( fit. inc VAT)***

[Neil]

Thanks, although I'm not sure what wheels you've got..... my rears are 225/45 R17 W, £126.77 each inc fitting on Blackcircles.

 

PTP quoted me £230 for a pair inc fitting which I thought was bloody good.

 

Just got this back from Black Circles for you:

 

Bridgestone RE040 245/45 R18 Z (2) £175.08 - £350.16 Total ( fit. inc VAT)***

[Neil]

Sorry, more questions.

 

I just had a look on www.elises.co.uk which tells me:

 

"The Elise S2 is delivered with unique tyres developed jointly between Bridgestone and Lotus. These Bridgestone Potenza RE040 tyres are 175/55R16 front and 225/45R17 rear. They are only available from authorised Lotus service centres. This maybe a clever ploy by Lotus to tap into the residual tyre market but the tyres do suit the car very well and are reasonably priced. "

 

Does this mean I've got to go to a dealer to get the correct tyres. Anyone know the difference between the std and the Lotus specific ones?

[Steve J]

To get the Lotus RE040s then you will need to go to a dealer. They have LTS in the DOT CODE, which denotes a particular rubber compound used. However when driving you will not be able to tell any difference with the ones available outside of the dealership.

 

The same is true of the AO48s where there are LTS specific compounds, but outside the dealership the medium compound is indestinguishable.

 

So, if you want LTS on the tyre then you have to pay for it through a dealer. If you want virtually the same compound for much less then go outside. Your choice

[FROSTIE]

A place in Aston, Birmingham called Tyres 'r' us.

I paid £87 each inc fitting last year for Bridgestones on the rear.

I think the fronts were £75.

 

www.tyresrus.co.uk

 

they can probably get whatever tyres you want.

[Bally]

I'm in the same quandry at the moment, Peter Smiths quoted £200 a piece for new Bridgestones. I'm thinking of using Blackcircles, got the same quote as you of around £126 each fitted locally, they quote specifically for the 'lotus' tyre and I'm assuming that this is the same as fitted originally. Anyone know different?

[DunkHSP]

moschops

 

try jocks tyres in leicester, they can get about anything and they are pretty cheap, like steve said the Bridgestones that they get are no different from the lotus ones. Jocks Tyres are a bit rough arsed but good lads all the same. I had my fronts from there.