Tyre Quandry - New Elise

[Guido]

I went to see a ‘new’ Lotus today. It was bloody lovely. It’s a 15 plate so around 8-9 years old. Fitted to it were Yoko Advans AD07 front and rear. The front ones were 175/55R16 which you can’t get anymore (195/50R16 seems to be the option for fronts). Either way, by my man-maths, the tyres must be as old as the car. The date stamp on one of the fronts and one of the rears was 4814 so made end of Nov ‘14. The previous owner tracked it a lot so I’m assuming he used a 2nd set of wheels/tyres and these ones clearly hardly ever got used as there is loads of tread left. 
I my mind, all 4 need replacing by the seller as the rubber will be well past it’s best.
 

Am I right?

[Daveb99]

It really depends on how much grip / fun you want to have.   Older tyres, providing they are OK in terms of tread, cracks etc, can be a bit more fun as you can slide it around a little bit sometimes.

I had an Elise a few years ago with 2007 tyres on it.    Didn’t worry me one bit if I’m honest.   For track days clearly you’d want better tyres, but if it’s a road car, you could drive it for a few weeks and then decide?

[Guido]

I just don’t want to find myself in a position where so have to buy 4 new tyres in a few weeks time. Especially after paying £38k for the car!!  

I’m just unsure where I stand because visually, the tyres are absolutely fine. 

[DeanB]

I would want to change tyres that old, particularly if you plan on using it in the wet and cold. I would be using it as a haggling point on a £38k car. 

That's a lot of money by the way!

[Daveb99]

Crikey yes I think I’d be looking at private V6 Exiges at that kind of money - they do pop up now and again under £40k….

Dean makes a fair point.  The car I had with old tyres was rarely driven.  If you’re going to be driving it regularly and spiritedly then I’d definitely want new tyres on it.

Edited April 17 by Daveb99

[Martin 111S]

58 minutes ago, DeanB said:

I would want to change tyres that old, particularly if you plan on using it in the wet and cold. I would be using it as a haggling point on a £38k car. 

That's a lot of money by the way!

Agree with all of this !! 

I changed the tyres on my S2sc to Ad08 in 2013 - 205 on the front and were fine.  -At the time the AD07 fronts were virtually non existant, Lotus would have had stock for new cars, but their supplies were running out. 

 

I suspect the previous owner had another set of wheels/tyres and ran those. When they shifted the car they would have sold their other set of wheels, unless they bought another elise. Is there pleny of tread on these ? Whats the car milage  ? 

[Guido]

1 hour ago, DeanB said:

I would want to change tyres that old, particularly if you plan on using it in the wet and cold. I would be using it as a haggling point on a £38k car. 

That's a lot of money by the way!

My thoughts exactly!!  I just wanted to sense-check whether I was being unreasonable!

It's lovely car.............  It's either this or a S2 Exige S240.  Not much in it price wise and this one is a bit newer so doesn't feel quite as bad!!

26 minutes ago, Martin 111S said:

I suspect the previous owner had another set of wheels/tyres and ran those. When they shifted the car they would have sold their other set of wheels, unless they bought another elise. Is there pleny of tread on these ? Whats the car milage  ? 

Yes.  There is plenty of tread on these.  I've contacted the previous owner.  He would have had a 2nd set of wheels as the car spent most of it's time doing track days.  Mileage is 29,000.  The last year the car has been sat in a garage.  Driven a few miles every week just to keep the car ticking over.

I have discounted V6 Exige as running costs are too high.  I could insure and tax this one for less that it costs to tax the V6 Exige (£695/year)

Edited April 17 by Guido

[Martin 111S]

Great looking car -  on those forged wheels you will easily be able to put some 205s on the front, or 195s depending what you go for  😎

[Daveb99]

3 hours ago, Guido said:

My thoughts exactly!!  I just wanted to sense-check whether I was being unreasonable!

It's lovely car.............  It's either this or a S2 Exige S240.  Not much in it price wise and this one is a bit newer so doesn't feel quite as bad!!

Yes.  There is plenty of tread on these.  I've contacted the previous owner.  He would have had a 2nd set of wheels as the car spent most of it's time doing track days.  Mileage is 29,000.  The last year the car has been sat in a garage.  Driven a few miles every week just to keep the car ticking over.

I have discounted V6 Exige as running costs are too high.  I could insure and tax this one for less that it costs to tax the V6 Exige (£695/year)

Always makes me chuckle a little when someone is spending £40,000 ish, but the extra £250 (or whatever) a year in tax is a deal breaker.  It’s £20 a month.   I had a V6 once, decided to cut back on takeaways and the weight saving makes the car go faster too !!

[Phil Hutchins]

Price does seem a bit chunky relative to others out there…but if you’re set on Toxic Green that thins the field! Certainly use the aged tyres as a price-bargaining tactic, even though I’m sure the existing ones would be fine for your new car  ‘learning’!
Is that the Chesterfield one…wonder who the ‘pro-driver’ previous owner was?

Edited April 17 by Phil Hutchins

[Guido]

9 minutes ago, Phil Hutchins said:

Is that the Chesterfield one…wonder who the ‘pro-driver’ previous owner was?

Yes. it is.  Previous owner was a chap called David Pittard. 

[Guido]

8 hours ago, Daveb99 said:

Always makes me chuckle a little when someone is spending £40,000 ish, but the extra £250 (or whatever) a year in tax is a deal breaker.  It’s £20 a month.   I had a V6 once, decided to cut back on takeaways and the weight saving makes the car go faster too !!

This is true!!  With any purchase you have to weigh up the pros and cons.  The V6 Exige will cost more to insure, more to tax, more to run and more to service.  Having driven both, the Elise is much more up my street. 

Edited April 17 by Guido

[Jonathan E]

Might be worth asking on the Elise Cup Facebook group, someone will know the car, it’s the only reason I have a FB account😂. To be fair it’s at the low end price wise if your after a Cup so I guess it’s not going to be perfect.

They’re a fantastic car, I’m sure you’ll be very happy with it if you do buy it. For the record my Cup was fitted with AO52’s from the factory, I got just over 2.5k out of the rears with no track days🙄😃 

Elise can go places those big old Exiges can’t get 😉

Edited April 17 by Jonathan E

[DeanB]

The V105 Yoko tyres that Lotus fitted on the late model 220 Sports aren't that expensive and last pretty well - I have them and like them, so does Dunc on his cup but I know DaveB isn't keen on them!

I think they are still less than £400 for a full set and are a lot better in the heavy rain and cold than track day type tyres like AO52s and Toyo 888Rs (although they are awesome in the dry warm weather).

[Guido]

3 hours ago, Jonathan E said:

Might be worth asking on the Elise Cup Facebook group, someone will know the car, it’s the only reason I have a FB account😂. To be fair it’s at the low end price wise if you’re after a Cup so I guess it’s not going to be perfect.

I got an email from the previous owner. He’s given me a lot of info about the car. Rad has been replaced and upgraded. Upgraded brake pads (Pagid RS14), Dot 5 brake fluid. Aircon was recently overhauled. Degassed and new seals. Gear cables have been recently replaced and gearbox mounts have been upgraded.  New windscreen 500 miles ago. 

He’s a qualified motorsport engineer, so all consumables were checked and replaced at very regular intervals. 
 

He’s moved abroad to work, hence sale of the car. He’s given me his contact number so I can call him tomorrow and get any other questions answered quickly. 👍