>>>Stan, I am curious as to which street tires you'd suggest as an alternative to the A048. I have ordered Kodiak wheels from Sector 111 and was going to put the A048s on them...my car does not have a Sport Package. <<<
AO48s are excellent tires...but back to back against normal street tires such as the AD07s really shows their rough edges. They have lots of tire tread noise which varies according to the road surface. You can hear it on the highway over all the wind noise and so can cars next to you. It's not overwhelming but it's there. They are also stiff on irregularities. They do grip very well, especially when warmed up.
I'd love to be able to use the Michelin Pilot Sport 2 or G-Force KD on the Elise but the proper sizes are not available or likely to come out. Those tires are amazing. The KDs are roughly as grippy as the AO48s but are quiet and comfortable and last longer. I've gotten about 15,000 miles out of KDs on my M3.
You can also fit the Falken Azenis onto the Elise..they are cheap and as grippy as the tires mentioned above. But they run very heavy and have harsh characteristics.
In terms of what is available this minute in good sizes, check out the Toyo T1-S and the Goodyear GSD3. Both are great tires and are in the max performance category which is a step above the base ADO7 tires. I'd lean toward to T1S since they are very light tires. They tend to run 2-5 pounds lighter per tire and our cars LOVES things like that.
In January the T1-S gets upgraded to the T1-R in Canada. No it is not an r-compound tire. Europe already has them and the US should get them later in 2005. Both the T1-R and T1-S come in stock sport sizes and also some plus zero sizes if you want to go wider on stock or larger width wheels. You can read about them with a search.
