newbie lotus tire questions
First off I know search is my friend. I have been searching this question, but I still have questions.
First off, I'm coming frrom a Cayman R. I ran Pirelli Trofeo R's on that car. A set ran me around $1800 and 16-20 heat cycles, though I have pushed them harder. These are the stickiest tires I have ever run, meaning I have never run on slicks. Perhaps I should be considering a non slick until I get some miles in the 211?
On my Audi TTRS I ran the AD08's and thought they were a good choice.
The Lotus A005's seem to be difficult to buy in Canada. I can import them from the US, but they just get too expensive to do that as a permanent solution. I'm still working on it as they are the considered the best solution.
Thr next solution is the Hoosier A6 or R6 tires. Some guys say the light 211 is fine for track days and time attack on the A6, others say you should go R6. I have no experience with this tire or the 211, so please weigh in if you have any thoughts, experience or data. SIZES F 205/45 R16, R 245/40 R17. These bring me very close to the Yoko diameters and section width.
Of course the R888's are a possibility. Again I have never run them, but I hear so much negativity towards that tire. Its possible the heavier Porsche's have more of an issue and the light Lotus is a better match? Again thoughts based on experience and data would be much appreciated.
For cold and wet weather is there a preferred tire? I just got off the phone with someone telling me to use Toyo R1R's??? These seem like an odd choice for a track only car.
Is there another option I should be considering?
Again, sorry if this is a tired subject, but I want to make the most of my first year in the car.
First off, I'm coming frrom a Cayman R. I ran Pirelli Trofeo R's on that car. A set ran me around $1800 and 16-20 heat cycles, though I have pushed them harder. These are the stickiest tires I have ever run, meaning I have never run on slicks. Perhaps I should be considering a non slick until I get some miles in the 211?
On my Audi TTRS I ran the AD08's and thought they were a good choice.
The Lotus A005's seem to be difficult to buy in Canada. I can import them from the US, but they just get too expensive to do that as a permanent solution. I'm still working on it as they are the considered the best solution.
Thr next solution is the Hoosier A6 or R6 tires. Some guys say the light 211 is fine for track days and time attack on the A6, others say you should go R6. I have no experience with this tire or the 211, so please weigh in if you have any thoughts, experience or data. SIZES F 205/45 R16, R 245/40 R17. These bring me very close to the Yoko diameters and section width.
Of course the R888's are a possibility. Again I have never run them, but I hear so much negativity towards that tire. Its possible the heavier Porsche's have more of an issue and the light Lotus is a better match? Again thoughts based on experience and data would be much appreciated.
For cold and wet weather is there a preferred tire? I just got off the phone with someone telling me to use Toyo R1R's??? These seem like an odd choice for a track only car.
Is there another option I should be considering?
Again, sorry if this is a tired subject, but I want to make the most of my first year in the car.
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Thanks LotusCC. Thats what I'm looking for. Continually swapping tires is such a diversion. Any advice is a huge help.
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1,212 Posts
Try looking at the Hankooks. You can get them in soft or medium compund. They have an excellent wear rate and excellent handling characteristics. The sizes are only slightly off, mainly the fronts, which can be adjusted for with a minor adjustment to the front ride height. I've been using them with my car in NASA Sport Touring 2 with good results.
THey are about half the cost of the A0005's.
Al B.
THey are about half the cost of the A0005's.
Al B.
I agree! The hankooks have been really nice for me also
I'm in the same position in terms of looking for a new tire. I ran the R6 last season and I found they heat cycled out way before they wore out. I will try the A6 if I go with Hoosiers.
I'm considering full slicks ie the yokos or hankooks or maybe contis if I can get the size down.
I use the R888s as my rain tire but in the dry the grip is no where near the R6s.
I'm considering full slicks ie the yokos or hankooks or maybe contis if I can get the size down.
I use the R888s as my rain tire but in the dry the grip is no where near the R6s.
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444 Posts
I just made a comment on another thread , and then saw this thread...
I initially wasn't going to because the fronts are 620 / 24" OD as against a 580 / 22.8" OD for the Yokos [190/580] and Hoosiers [205/45]
But I ran out of options and they were all I could get in NZ at the time so went with the C7 Soft compound
When I put them on it effectively reversed the rake of the car as the front was sitting very high .. Not good ... so I played around with the ride height and geo to get it back to something like it should be.
It was all bit of a compromise .. and I didn't have high hopes .. but first time out I did my fastest lap time ever by almost .5sec .. The car did feel grippier , no doubt due to the soft compound ... with more time I think I could have dropped another .5sec..
I have done some 8000 Kms around this circuit in my 2-11 using Hoosier in the past , but to be fair they were R6 not the softer A6 , which I think would be more suitable for the 211.
Unfortunately the g-box gave out and I haven't been back to the track , but hopefully not far away now .. decided to do a few extra mods while the GBox was getting fixed ... as you do ..
Its winter here now so hard to get tyres temps up when the ambient is pushing to get to 14deg C/ 57F at midday.
http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f163/hankook-ventus-f200-slicks-172890/#post3098506
I initially wasn't going to because the fronts are 620 / 24" OD as against a 580 / 22.8" OD for the Yokos [190/580] and Hoosiers [205/45]
But I ran out of options and they were all I could get in NZ at the time so went with the C7 Soft compound
When I put them on it effectively reversed the rake of the car as the front was sitting very high .. Not good ... so I played around with the ride height and geo to get it back to something like it should be.
It was all bit of a compromise .. and I didn't have high hopes .. but first time out I did my fastest lap time ever by almost .5sec .. The car did feel grippier , no doubt due to the soft compound ... with more time I think I could have dropped another .5sec..
I have done some 8000 Kms around this circuit in my 2-11 using Hoosier in the past , but to be fair they were R6 not the softer A6 , which I think would be more suitable for the 211.
Unfortunately the g-box gave out and I haven't been back to the track , but hopefully not far away now .. decided to do a few extra mods while the GBox was getting fixed ... as you do ..
Its winter here now so hard to get tyres temps up when the ambient is pushing to get to 14deg C/ 57F at midday.
http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f163/hankook-ventus-f200-slicks-172890/#post3098506
I used to run R6s. They were great, but wanted something a bit softer so was going to switch to A005s. However, I was able to get the Hankook Z214 DOT slicks in C71 (soft) compound, for about 1/3 the price of the Yokos. I actually really like these so far, but have not run them in really hot weather yet. As long as they hold up for summer track days I will probably stick with them...
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678 Posts
anyone try korean cumho's? i wonder how sticky those are :O
R6 is not short lived it just heat cycles pretty fast. They barely wore on my car just got harder and harder. Trying to find a tire with grip that wears out before it heat cycles.
I think most of us are trying to find a good track tire.
OK how do you know this? Did you run them on an Elise or something heavier?
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1,091 Posts
I talked to a guy at the track running A6 on a Time Trial S2000 with heavy mods yesterday. I'm not sure, but I think he said the car was around 2600-2700 pounds. Very fast car (350HP Custom SC) and he seemed to really like the A6s on the track stating that they "last most of the season".
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85 Posts
I just ran R6's on my 2-11..... And they are far far better than the heat cycled old A048's.....
Having said that. I'm switching to the yoko A005's soft compound. Tracking these cars should never be about saving money on consumables. The R6 doesn't come up to temp fast enough and I found it hard to bring it up to temp in a 20 minute sessions at thunderhill this last weekend. The temp probe told us that the A6 would be fine because it will take 230* and we only were seeing 180's... Now if you factor in that 20 minutes is only 10 laps. You just spent 3 laps trying to build heat!!
If you can get A6 in Canada. Run those and buy them already heat cycled like you can from tire rack here in the US.
Once you make the switch. You'll need to ditch the stock oil pan. Which u should anyway... Get the moroso baffled pan. Talk to jack about suspension settings and ride height. I will not publish his info. But the tires and his settings made the car a f'n hoot!!!!! I'm running the monoballs - and the billet oil pump too. Plus I added the 5 element carbon fiber diffuser And the car runs 2:00's on the 2.866 16 turn thunderhill configuration without hardly trying.
Also. If you haven't already. Upgrade your motor mounts. It made a huge difference!!! I was missing shifts with the stock super soft versions.
Having said that. I'm switching to the yoko A005's soft compound. Tracking these cars should never be about saving money on consumables. The R6 doesn't come up to temp fast enough and I found it hard to bring it up to temp in a 20 minute sessions at thunderhill this last weekend. The temp probe told us that the A6 would be fine because it will take 230* and we only were seeing 180's... Now if you factor in that 20 minutes is only 10 laps. You just spent 3 laps trying to build heat!!
If you can get A6 in Canada. Run those and buy them already heat cycled like you can from tire rack here in the US.
Once you make the switch. You'll need to ditch the stock oil pan. Which u should anyway... Get the moroso baffled pan. Talk to jack about suspension settings and ride height. I will not publish his info. But the tires and his settings made the car a f'n hoot!!!!! I'm running the monoballs - and the billet oil pump too. Plus I added the 5 element carbon fiber diffuser And the car runs 2:00's on the 2.866 16 turn thunderhill configuration without hardly trying.
Also. If you haven't already. Upgrade your motor mounts. It made a huge difference!!! I was missing shifts with the stock super soft versions.
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85 Posts
Only using a Durometer is going to tell that kind of info.... Because that's an "it depends" on way too many factors.
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