New Tires

[Paul S]

Well the time has come to put new tires on my 2002 Esprit and I am having trouble finding replacements for the stock sizes??? Any suggestions from anyone who has been down this path????

Currently running the original Dunlaps and they are just too old to feel comfortable with under any sprited driving conditions...Still lots of tread after 14k miles...

[ESPREE]

I'd recommend looking at the Michelin Pilot Sport (PS2) tires. Pricey, but very grippy.

Tirerack.com has some good options.

[ksgrimsr]

Originally Posted by Paul S

Well the time has come to put new tires on my 2002 Esprit and I am having trouble finding replacements for the stock sizes??? Any suggestions from anyone who has been down this path????

Currently running the original Dunlaps and they are just too old to feel comfortable with under any sprited driving conditions...Still lots of tread after 14k miles...

I subjected the original tires on my '02 Esprit to some spirited driving with less miles on them than you have and one tire failed quite dramatically. Notice in the picture below the bottom tire has a bulge on it that goes all the way around the tire where the tread separated from the core (at least it held together instead of flying apart and tearing up my wheel well). You're definitely due for new tires even if you have lots of tread left.

For a streetable track tire, I use the Nitto NT05's. These are best for dry conditions only and I wouldn't recommend them for daily driving that includes much wet driving. For me they work well as a tire that I can drive around on the street with and then take to the track without having to change tires.

Knut

[jtrealty]

I have a set of Michlen Pilots that I would sell cheap. They have never been mounted but they are getting old.
David Teitelbaum

[lotusespritse]

I am running the Falkens 452 in stock sizes with great results. I don't track the car, but the grip is great and ride/noise is very good.

And it's nice that they were less than $800 shipped for the set from Discount Tire on eBay.

[89.5 Esprit SE]

I had Nitto05s on my Novas. Awesome tire for the money, way better than anything else I've had. I did track them once
But pretty soft compound and likely not great in the wet.

[Gixxer]

I got a set of Michelin Pilot Super Sports on my V8.
Good ride, fairly quiet, good steering, stick like a sumbitch.
The 245 width front fits just fine.

[jtrealty]

I remembered wrong. The tires I have are Yokos and according to the date codes are about 10 years old. I would not use them on a track but to sell a car or drive it on the street they should be OK. They were never mounted and were stored in a cool, dark place, my basement.
David Teitelbaum

[lotusespritse]

They say tires are good for 10 years if you use them, and only 5 if you store them.

[CarSalesman]

Dave - I am not a tire buyer now, would have been a few months ago. Unless there are visible problems, I would not be afraid to use them. Good deal for somebody. We sell thousands of tires every month, been doing so for many years. Other than tires exposed to the sun in southern climates, I've never seen a failure due to age that was not preceeded by obvious cracking.

Guess who wrote the recommendations on replacing purely due to age. The tire companies! I can't imagine why they would do that....

[lotusespritse]

Originally Posted by CarSalesman

Guess who wrote the recommendations on replacing purely due to age. The tire companies! I can't imagine why they would do that....

Because they know tires and they know that they never stop curing and they know when they are going to be unsafe... Like the tires in the pics above...

[Alansglide]

I'll second the recommendation on the Falken 452's.

Fantastic grip on dry road.

Alan

[irox]

Originally Posted by Gixxer

I got a set of Michelin Pilot Super Sports on my V8.
Good ride, fairly quiet, good steering, stick like a sumbitch.
The 245 width front fits just fine.

Ditto on this; I went 235F, 295R for around $1200 and change...

[carbuff]

Originally Posted by CarSalesman

Guess who wrote the recommendations on replacing purely due to age. The tire companies! I can't imagine why they would do that....

Really Old Tires have Low Rolling Resistance. Folks pay extra for that in a tire these days, don't they?

Really Old Tires = ROT


I'm so cheap I often squeak, but I can tell when a tire has outlived it's usefulness...and yeah, it's about 6 years on my daily drivers. That may be due to the number of heat cycles, not just age (long-term curing).



Furthermore, don't I remember that at least one manufacturer (initials M-B) recommends staying away from the track until their car's tires have a couple heat cycles in them?



++++++++++++++++++

They say tires are good for 10 years if you use them, and only 5 if you store them.

lotusespritse, can you cite a source?


+++++++++++++++++

The tires I have ... are about 10 years old. They were never mounted and were stored in a cool, dark place, my basement.

David, Were those tires ever used as bumpers in the Back To The Future pinball machine that's in your basement?

[lotusespritse]

Sorry I don't bookmark every web page I read, so you'll have to do your own google.


Sent from AutoGuide.com App

[carbuff]

Originally Posted by lotusespritse

Sorry I don't bookmark every web page I read, so you'll have to do your own google.

Sorry, please don't think I was trying to give you a hard time. But your statement is the opposite of all I have read (and no, I don't have sources to quote)

[Gixxer]

Originally Posted by lotusespritse

Because they know tires and they know that they never stop curing and they know when they are going to be unsafe... Like the tires in the pics above...

+1 on that.
Absolute truth.
I pitch the tires on my Lotus's every 3 or 4 years. You can tell when they go "off" first, in the rain. Then they start spinning in 2nd gear in the dry, etc.
It's a shame too. They have lots of tread left. I tell my tire installer the old tires have gone hard and he should drive an ice pick thru the sidewall to destroy them -but I'll bet he re-sells them to some kid in a Mustang who doesn't know any better.

[Ruff Ryder 6]

Originally Posted by ksgrimsr

For a streetable track tire, I use the Nitto NT05's. These are best for dry conditions only and I wouldn't recommend them for daily driving that includes much wet driving. For me they work well as a tire that I can drive around on the street with and then take to the track without having to change tires.

Knut

Gonna follow with what he said. Haven't taken it to the track yet, but from what spirited driving I've done on the Tail of the Dragon, it'll get the job done. Haven't driven in the wet either though...

[irox]

Originally Posted by Gixxer

+1 on that.
Absolute truth.
I pitch the tires on my Lotus's every 3 or 4 years. You can tell when they go "off" first, in the rain. Then they start spinning in 2nd gear in the dry, etc.
It's a shame too. They have lots of tread left. I tell my tire installer the old tires have gone hard and he should drive an ice pick thru the sidewall to destroy them -but I'll bet he re-sells them to some kid in a Mustang who doesn't know any better.

well, that explains a lot then
when I replaced my Sumi's with the PS2, the difference was considerable; more than I expected. bet it was the age of the "hardened" Sumi's that was a lot of the cause...

[MidLifeZ]

Keep couple of old ones, put on set of wheels, go to Lowes and get round piece of plate glass and use as a table. Can get wheels which are damaged on the inside even and thus cheap!