[Kazi]

Getting my Exige ready for track season. After a quick look around I need to replace the front tires. Previous owner put 205/50-15 on the front and 245/45-16 on the rear.

Front is currently bulging over the rim by 5/8th" on each side and the rear 6/8th". Not sure of rim width, I'm guessing 7" front and 8" rear. I don't know much but this seems like quite a bit of bulge? The front fender liners already have a hole worn, I am now just aware of this issue after seeing the hole and searching the forums

Top of the rim to bottom of fender is roughly 100mm front and 110mm rear, front lip clearance is 90mm. A bit low, I think I am going to have the shop raise it up a bit later this week. Maybe 115 front and 130 rear? It has Nitron singles, not sure what spring rates.

I do road course driving, I believe this was setup for autocross. I'm wondering if I should drop the front tires to 195 and the rear to 225. I appreciate any input from fellow track junkies.

 

[holmz]

what brand of tires? (15/16 is not stansard)
maybe measure the rim width, if you can slide a tapemeasure in there.

 

[Kazi]

Looks like 7" front and 8" back with tape measure. Hard to tell exactly where inside bead is with a tape measure. I also ran the tires on various rims using this Custom rims, wheel tire packages for your ride - RIMSnTIRES.com until the tire bulge matched about what I measured.

Currently has Toyo R888, I was thinking of replacing with the same.

 

[jds62f]

if you've got wider rims to support a wider tire i don't see much wrong there. Adjust alignment would be the first thing I'd do.

 

[carphoria]

Hey man,

My recollection is that they are 15x7 up front, and 16x8 in the rear.

Yes it was set for my AutoX driving. There is a thread on tire-size options. Lots of track guys like 235 in the rear.

As for ride height, don't measure form the lip, measure from (I believe) the lift points. I recall setting it to Lotus recommended height for track/race. This is off the top of my head, but, ~110 front, ~115 rear?

 

[Jack]

Tire sizes are fine for a 15/16" setup and track use. Ride height is measured from the rail, as mentioned, using front and rear jacking point markers as a guide.

IMHO, 110 and 115 mm is too low and is not what Lotus recommends in the manual, if that's important to you. My recollection is that Lotus recommended the same ride height for front and rear of 120mm for track use. I'd recommend some rake for the Exige, at least 5mm.... with the front set at ~ 116 and the rear at ~ 121mm, assuming your running the standard aero.

Just make sure the alignment settings are good for road course usage.

Good luck.