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Best tires for daily driven Lotus Evora S

22K views 68 replies 36 participants last post by  dogtag114 
#1 ·
Not sure if this question has been asked before, but curious what tires the daily drivers use on their Evora. I just replaced my 2 rear tires with P-Zero Corsa at cost of $1650 CDN. My Evora S is nice weather driven only, non-tracked & approx 5000-6000 km per year. I can't imagine replacing tires every 10,000 km for daily driven cars. :surprise:
 
#2 ·
#4 ·
I just (3 days ago) got my rear Corsas changed after 12,000 km...I was hoping for 15,000 km. C$1,500 + tx for the set. The only replacement I may consider one day is the PSS Cup 2 if I can find the right size. The regular PSS are not as sticky as the Corsas. I guess I got used to the wear of my old tires and didn't find them so bad to drive but now I'm running on brand new tires, the car feels incredibly planted. When I tried the Evora 400 a couple of weeks ago, I gave it lots of credit to be more planted than my Evora S...well this might have been mostly because my tires were done and I didn't notice.
 
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#5 ·
What gets us is going distance in straight lines. All that sweet negative camber yields eye opening grip in turns but wears these 60 threadwear tires to the bands on the insides of the rears in about 8000 miles. One day you think you are different because there is so much visible thread left on the outsides and centers. Then omg there's the bands. Ouch!

Could change the camber but why not just get a Camaro?
 
#6 ·
I like my nitto nt05 275/35/20's way better than the factory corsas.. They last as long, but cost a BUNCH less. They are a bit louder, but I dump after the turbo so I can't even hear them. They aren't as good in the rain, but are minusculy less grippy on dry road than the corsas around the turns.
But they do hold better in a straight line at WOT. spin a lot less than the corsas.
At discount tire I had them duromiter a new corsa and a new nt05, nt05 was like 5 higher.
And they look damn good. The thicker sidewall fills the wheel well better, and I don't rub. Not sure what I'm gonna do when I need new fronts, no nt05's are close enough.
 
#7 ·
If you care about getting the most out of the car, the corsas are the only option

but I have racecars that make the Evora feel like a boat, so even if I drove on slicks every day I still wouldn't be exillerated by its handling. Which is a total bummer, but, I'm happy to take the economical tire route since I have other cars I'd rather push to their limits!

And I put 20k a year on it, so corsas 2-3 times a year, eh. I'll pass!
 
#8 · (Edited)
On the S, I tested the Michelin PSS, good overall perfs, personnally I really don't like it due to a lack of feeling vs the P-Zero Corsa, but it was, at least, 50% more durable than the P-Zero Corsa.

But my beloved tire since I tried them is the Yokohama Advan Sport V105 which remplaces the V103. Really fast on dry condition, better than the P-Zero Corsa in the wet, the best of all in aquaplaning. The car is amazingly balanced with these. I should be just a bit slower than the P-Zero Corsa on a track day, but more "funny" to drive, same feeling, sensations as P-Zero Corsa, but mainly better in all other purpose (rain, fast roads, durability), which is 95% of my daily "sport & fast" use.

Last set on my MY12S were still in "legal" condition after 15.000km with 2 track days in Spa and Zolder.

Hope this helps,

Michael
 
#9 ·
I only got 4000 miles out of my OEM Corsas, and when it was time to replace them, they were $3600 for 4 tires with a 4-6 months backorder, so I went with MPSS. The Michelins are very, very good tires, but they're not as good as the Corsas.
 
#10 ·
When I bought my second hand Evora S, I put 4 new Pirelli P Zero tires (stock) on it. I am a normal 'sporty' daily driver, no extreme acceleration and hard cornering. So far I put 17.000 km (10.600 mi) on it and there is enough tread (5 mm) for an extra 10.000 km (6.000 mi) I think. I must be a smooth driver :scratchhead:. Here in Holland you pay € 250,-- for a rear tire 20 inch, so no money pit for me.
 
#12 ·
everyday tires

Second set of Pilot Super Sport rear tires at 28K+ miles. The first set of Michelins lasted 18K miles vs the OEM Pirellis only 10K miles.

TireRack - $534/pair + $100 install at the dealer.

I liked the Goodyear replacement rear tires when I had the Elise - also much better mileage then the OEM Yokohama.
 
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#13 ·
Sumitomo HTRZ3's have been a favorite of mine for all around public use for years. I really love them on my 2011 S. 285 rears!
 
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#14 ·
Appreciate everyone's input. When it comes time to replace all 4 tires I will try something other than P-Z Corsa. Problem in western Canada seems to be availability of size. Tried several different venues but no one had anything in 275/30/20. Finally, located a set of Corsa's at Lambo dealer that were ordered for someone else.
 
#16 ·
Even In Toronto they are hard to find. I got my new Corsas from the Lotus dealer...Corsa LS, right size and the cheapest price I could find. If you're in Calgary or Vancouver, maybe you can get them from the dealer. Tirerack is an option but with the exchange, shipping and duties, it gets up there. Good luck!

Sent from my SM-T700 using Tapatalk
 
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#17 ·
Time of the year (again) when I need to start thinking about the replacement of my Corsa rear tires. @KCZ, you mentioned that you didn't like the PSS as much. Did you install size 275 or 285?

Everyone, I'm interested in your in put on my 2 questions:

1. After 20,000 km, my front Corsas now have 3/32" left. Do you think they will last another season (about 10,000 km)? Feels like a stretch to me but I thought I would get your views.

2. The new Michelin PS4s are tempting...a slight improvement over the PSS in dry conditions but a significant improvement in the wet apparently with less road noise. For me, the important aspect is to minimize understeer. I'm just afraid that I'm going to be worse off vs the Corsa. But the 400 is set up on PSS so perhaps the PS4s won't be so bad?

The PS Cup 2 is another option but the more I read about them, the less interesting they are. They seem to be a tire for tracking more than anything, to be absolutely avoided in wet conditions.

I'm not really considering other models at this point. Thanks in advance for your input!


Eric
 
#18 ·
I'd also be interested in what people think of the PS4s for when its time for me to get new tires. I've currently got Continental Extreme DWS for winter and Bridgestone Potenza for summer on my daily driven S. Pleased with both so far. 10,000 miles on each set with tread remaining. Not tracked.
 
#22 ·
I just ordered a set of PS4s from Tire Rack. Rears are currently back ordered. I will try and post my thoughts on them after I get them on my Evora S. But first have to actually start to drive my car again..... probably at the end of April beginning of May!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#19 ·
Continental Extreme DWS!!! I've had them on all three lotus's I've had as well as my 996 and C63 AMG…love them!!! (And the cars :grin2:)
 
#20 ·
After considering thread wear, cost and so on, I'll be sticking to Pirelli Corsas. Would going to a size wider on the front help reduce understeer?

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#21 ·
Wear is due to too much toe in not camber folks. Maybe a tad less stable but turn in much better at 0 toe front and about half factory in rear. See my other posts on alignments. Car was set up for the underprepared.
 
#23 ·
Discount tire price matched tire rack for me voluntarily and I told them that I had a $100 off of $450 somewhere in my email. They didn't even ask to see the email and I ended up with the PS4S rears installed for $500 including taxes and extended warranty. I have about 300 miles on them. I haven't really got to drive on much dry road but they have been great on the cold wet roads so far and for the price they're unbeatable imo
 

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#24 ·
I haven't really got to drive on much dry road but they have been great on the cold wet roads so far and for the price they're unbeatable imo
Great. Did you have the Corsas before? How would you compare them to your previous Pirelli?

I wanted to go for a new set of Corsas but I think I'll give a shot at the PS4 which are an evolution of the PSS. The Evora 400 comes with PSS. To compensate for some of the extra stickiness of the Corsas, I would go a size
up (285 at the rear and 245 at the front which will keep the diameter ratio identical to OEM).

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#26 ·
Same profile (285/30/20 and 245/35/19). The diameters will be 0.3" longer but the ratio rear to front will be identical. My speedo will slightly understate my actual speed. I don't think the diameter difference is material. My appointment is on Friday so I'll certainly be settled by then.
 
#27 ·
I have a 2010 NA Evora with the Pirelli P Zero's. I was wondering if anyone has tried the P Zero Nero GT's? They are a slightly less for a set with a higher wear rating. Maybe the Michelin PSS's are a better option? Which would offer less road noise?

Call me frugal, but for daily driving and/or Sunday cruising I would not spend $3000 on a set of 4 tires. IMHO it would be more cost effective to have a second set of rims to be able to swap tires on the car.
 
#30 ·
I run Nitto nt555's on the car. They have proven to be very sticky, moreso than stock at my power level. I run 10mm wider than stock on the front and back, and +10 on the aspect ratio front and back.
 
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#31 ·
I replaced my 4 Pirelli Corsas of my Evora S and have been running the new Michelin PS4s for a week now. I went a notch wider on both front and rear (245/35/19 and 285/30/20) to compensate for the fact that the PS4s is a less aggressive tire than the Corsa (the PS4s is more comparable to the Pirelli P Zero). As there is limited information on these new tires installed on an Evora S, I thought this little write-up would be useful. If you want to know the bottom line, well go the bottom line of my post.

On the first drive, what’s striking is how comfortable the PS4s are compared to the Corsas. I didn’t find the Corsas so bad but the PS4s reduce a lot the vibration on rough pavement and make street driving quite smooth. Plus the road noise is much lower, almost quiet. Unlike the Corsas that tend to carve into the asphalt with a lot of kickback, the PS4s behave much better on imperfect roads like we have in Toronto. But then I got worried that they might be too soft and I would lose the magic of the Lotus handling…not a chance, but there is a compromise.

In selecting a replacement for the Corsas, I thought that what was important was the traction in general, especially the rear wheels. The PS4s have plenty of traction and the wider tires feel quite planted. The compromise is not the traction but rather the rigidity of the sidewalls in general, especially the front wheels. For 90% of my daily driving time this week, I got the benefit of a smoother ride without any compromise on traction and handling. The steering feel is a bit more filtered in a good way as it removes the bad parts (kickbacks, rough pavement, …) without losing much on the good parts. All good. But under aggressive cornering or hard acceleration, although traction is still there, I can feel the tires flexing while the Corsas would never give a hint of the g-force. For example, on a 270 degree ramp, the Corsas feel that they would never let go no matter how fast I go. With the PS4s, the tires are flexing which increases the roll and made me nervous at first as I thought I was losing traction…nope, traction was still good. Interestingly, although they flex more under load than the Corsas, I couldn’t make them understeer (within reason on legal streets), something that was not that hard to do with my Corsas even when they were new! Thanks to the extra width? At the rear, the softer sidewalls translate into a bit of squatting at the back under hard acceleration, something the Corsas would never do.

To make the sidewalls harder, I’ll be trying to increase the tire pressure by a couple of PSI and see if it helps. Talking about tire pressure, I noticed that it tends to increase by 3 or 4 psi after only 10 minutes of regular city driving vs about 2 psi with my previous Corsas (current outdoor temperature here is between 10 and 20 C) ... does it mean they get warmer faster?

My next step is to further explore the traction limits of the PS4s on the track, which is scheduled at the end of the month. I’ll report back at that time but I suspect this is where I’ll see the biggest compromise with the Corsas.

Other pluses for the PS4s over the Corsas include:

  • Wet: I haven’t driven the car in the rain but another strength of the PS4 is supposed to be superior traction in the wet, something the Corsas are not good at.
  • Cost: Here in Canada, the PS4s are about half the price of the Corsas and will last at least twice as long so this is a factor of 4+.
  • Look: It’s odd to talk about the look of a tire but the PS4s have beautiful sidewalls highlighted with velvet finish to add some contrast. Because I went wider with the same profile, they are only a notch taller than OEM but they look much bigger from a side view, nicely filling the gaps with the fenders (see pics below).

Bottom line, except for aggressive corners, the PS4s is certainly a better tire for daily driving than the Corsas as it provides extra benefits without losing the magic handling and steering. For aggressive corners, is it a matter of progressively gaining confidence that the car won’t break lose when the tires start flexing or is it the limit of these tires? I hope it’s the former (because I like aggressive corners!) More to come after my next track day.

Note to self: make an appointment for an alignment as my new tires are wider and taller.
 

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#33 ·
Not at all. Plenty of room.
 
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