Bald Tires

[pioneer0943]

I just happened to notice the rear tires (original P-Zeros) on my MY 2011 Evora are almost completely bald. This is on a car with barely 5,000 miles. The front tires seem fine. Can't understand why so bad. I have not put any strain on the wheels that I can recall.

They appear to need to be replaced but would I need to replace all four?

[lynnpreston]

Originally Posted by pioneer0943

I just happened to notice the rear tires (original P-Zeros) on my MY 2011 Evora are almost completely bald. This is on a car with barely 5,000 miles. The front tires seem fine. Can't understand why so bad. I have not put any strain on the wheels that I can recall.

They appear to need to be replaced but would I need to replace all four?

- perfectly normal. I replaced only my OEM rears at 6k miles with Hankook Ventus V12's. I do not track my car and haven't noticed a difference in handling in street driving with the Hankooks.

[invictusmaneo]

are they the corsas? no surprise... if they are the normal OE P-zeros, 5k is a bit short, but I only got 8k out of my rears and I didn't drive them THAT aggressively. There are several discussions on the subject in multiple threads if you search with google, but if you are running Corsas (the 19-20 diamond cut standard tire) you will cook those quick.

[BOFslime]

Most of the rear tire wear is due to the 1.5mm of toe-in on the rears spec'd from the factory. This is meant to keep the rear from oversteering too easily under mid corner power. I have no idea how bad or fine zeroing out toe in the rear would be, but I would be greatly interested in hearing from anyone that's tried it.

[brgelise]

If you want to experience oversteer on a street car in street conditions, zero the toe. At the track, it can be a good thing to have a little oversteer but NOT ON THE STREET!!! This car handles as it does because it uses the contact patches to its advantage. Lotus did not design their cars to run 60K on hockey puck rubber. Get 1-2 good years out of the rubber and replace with some fresh ones. Works for me

[Plackslayer]

Originally Posted by brgelise

If you want to experience oversteer on a street car in street conditions, zero the toe. At the track, it can be a good thing to have a little oversteer but NOT ON THE STREET!!! This car handles as it does because it uses the contact patches to its advantage. Lotus did not design their cars to run 60K on hockey puck rubber. Get 1-2 good years out of the rubber and replace with some fresh ones. Works for me

... or drive it like you OWN it and enjoy the hell out of the tires as they were meant to be driven

[powderkeys]

Got 9K out of mine and I baby it with Highway miles mainly...just replaced them..lots of good threads here on the subject...when the rears wear out again I will replace all 4...
Don't mix brands front/rear...

[West-of-Hethel]

Originally Posted by powderkeys

Don't mix brands front/rear...

My car has been to both coasts, roundtrip from Texas, on Pirelli fronts and Michelin rears. No ill effects.

I will be happy to put Michelins on the fronts-- they are terrific tires-- but not until the Pirellis are done.

You pays your money etc.

[Plackslayer]

Originally Posted by West-of-Hethel

My car has been to both coasts, roundtrip from Texas, on Pirelli fronts and Michelin rears. No ill effects.

I will be happy to put Michelins on the fronts-- they are terrific tires-- but not until the Pirellis are done.

You pays your money etc.

Exactly the same with mine. ZERO ill effects from PSS on the back and P-zero up front.

[powderkeys]

Sorry guys...I stand corrected...mixing brands/tread patterns is heavily slighted on other message boards I am on with my other brands...good to know in case my rears wear out again faster then the OE fronts!!

[ronny]

I also made only 6000, but kilometers on my N/A. Checked the toe-in and it was set from factory at 24'! Reduced it to 11' an will mount zeros 265-35/19 with N2 Porsche compound.

[brgelise]

My plan is same as Ronny's! Will check alignment if I have any wear concerns but it will be 8-9K miles before they're cooked. Run same tires 1 more cycle till fronts are gone so I have proper balance at track then I'll decide what to run but Michelins seem to be the top choice at present. A 60-80K car with different brands front/rear doesn't usually impress me much when I see it!

[West-of-Hethel]

Originally Posted by brgelise

A 60-80K car with different brands front/rear doesn't usually impress me much when I see it!

[Plackslayer]

Originally Posted by brgelise

My plan is same as Ronny's! Will check alignment if I have any wear concerns but it will be 8-9K miles before they're cooked. Run same tires 1 more cycle till fronts are gone so I have proper balance at track then I'll decide what to run but Michelins seem to be the top choice at present. A 60-80K car with different brands front/rear doesn't usually impress me much when I see it!

Yes well - when it's moving it's hard to tell especially when all you see are the taillights.

[brgelise]

At the track, those would be mine Plack...just sayin.. (Just a little smack talkin,) And in the case of guys with 100+track days of experience, I'd be looking at theirs. You wouldn't be running street tires at a track anyway, so we'd be looking at your "stuff" in the pits. With all due respect, NOBODY with a serious clue about high performance will EVER recommend you mix brands or tire types on a vehicle in the 21st century. Please don't try to justify a choice that any tire expert would frown upon. If they said OK its because, ultimately, they know you'll do it anyway, and they want to sell their product.
I know what I do and my abilities pretty well at this point. 2-3 days at a track don't suddenly make you a master esp if you've had no training and I mean formal training, not having some volunteer instructor with you for a day or 2. TIRES ARE THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT FEATURE (SAFETY, PERFORMANCE, ETC) ON YOUR VEHICLE. Compromise on an air filter, an exhaust system (BTW how's the area under the curve with respect to midrange tq? on your system), a shifter mechanism, etc but none of that stuff is worth a cent without traction which, BTW can be greatly altered by .5-1lb increments of pressure!

[Julian73]

Agree, different brands or brand models F/R may feel alright on the street 95% of the time but they have affected the 9 to 10/10th handling. Grip ratios have changed, lateral stiffness has been changed .. the dynamics at the limits are not only unknown but may be variable. We have big money invested in these cars; while tires ain't cheap they are not an area to compromise on.

[Plackslayer]

Originally Posted by brgelise

At the track, those would be mine Plack...just sayin.. (Just a little smack talkin,) And in the case of guys with 100+track days of experience, I'd be looking at theirs. You wouldn't be running street tires at a track anyway, so we'd be looking at your "stuff" in the pits. With all due respect, NOBODY with a serious clue about high performance will EVER recommend you mix brands or tire types on a vehicle in the 21st century. Please don't try to justify a choice that any tire expert would frown upon. If they said OK its because, ultimately, they know you'll do it anyway, and they want to sell their product.
I know what I do and my abilities pretty well at this point. 2-3 days at a track don't suddenly make you a master esp if you've had no training and I mean formal training, not having some volunteer instructor with you for a day or 2. TIRES ARE THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT FEATURE (SAFETY, PERFORMANCE, ETC) ON YOUR VEHICLE. Compromise on an air filter, an exhaust system (BTW how's the area under the curve with respect to midrange tq? on your system), a shifter mechanism, etc but none of that stuff is worth a cent without traction which, BTW can be greatly altered by .5-1lb increments of pressure!

I wasn't talking about the track - just daily driving

I took your (and a few others) recommendations on the R888's for the track.

As for the dyno plots I have not done any since the last time I posted them. I have since removed the Radium CAI though so who knows. I'm waiting for BOE to finish up their work on their CAI and new tune to do it again.

[Julian73]

Even outside of the track, that last lifesaving maneuverer may bring out some uncontrolled spring (tire side wall) reactions from the differencing tire constructions..

[brgelise]

Thanks Julian. I'm just stating facts here, and have, on occasion been accused of being politically incorrect so its good to see someone else comprehends the ????? of their decisions.

[Sven76]

Originally Posted by Julian73

Even outside of the track, that last lifesaving maneuverer may bring out some uncontrolled spring (tire side wall) reactions from the differencing tire constructions..

+1

I'm absolutely sure that I'd have trashed the car yesterday without 4 good tires of the same type on all corners of the car. Had to abruptly change lanes on the Autobahn at >120 mph because another guy didn't check out his mirrors... Car drifted slightly but still controllable and over all 4 tires, no oversteer. Different tires on the back end could have resulted in a disaster.