Good point.

One extra point is that Goodyear make tyres that look like NCTs all over the world but they use different rubber and different construction. In Australia the front size is made locally but its just a really cheap and nasty economy tyre with NCT pattern pressed into it. We drove the tyre guys nuts looking for the european ones (Lichtenstein) so check the "made in xxxx" moulding as well.

 

The tires can have one of the biggest affects on the suspension and handling. Lotus spent a LOT of time, money, and expertise in selecting the tires and tuning the suspension for just the right combination of properties to make the car act and handle as it does. Unfortunately tire manufacturers change the way they do things over the years. They change the way they make the tires, the compounds they use and what sizes they even make. It gets harder and harder to replicate the proper tires and to add to the problem you MUST replace the tires every 7 years. Old tires are worse than wrong tires. They get hard and don't ride well at all. As time goes on we can only expect the problem to get worse till one of the specialty tire companies like Coker decide to replicate tires for us (if ever).
David Teitelbaum

 

Lotus also has to compromise the car for a variety of drivers.

Personally I set the car up for my style, and how I want to use the car...
I went away from their under-steer inducing toe-in (on the SE's), went with 0.1deg toe-out per side.

Made my own adjustable rear upper-links (since the earlier cars were not adjustable) to be able to adjust rear camber to -1.5deg.

I went with V8 wheels and tires, and run a pressure setting that I like, and change it for different uses.

I also run adjustable shocks, and developed setting that I like on a wet skid pad and track, while still feeling nice and controlled on the street. Turns out that is a bit softer in the front than the rear.

I corrected my lean and corner weighting with the adjustable spring perches, raising the driver's side rear perch ~3mm corrected that.

I just added a Quaife LSD, and I already love that! After driving the X180-R (has a ZF LSD) on street and track, the Quaife was at the top of my list for modifications.

Definitely need better brakes for any track use, so I am putting on Brembo race brakes (in my own kit designed to be similar to the X180-R).

My point is that the Esprit isn't perfect for anyone person. If you can find a tire that YOU like, then more power to you. IF the tires that Lotus specified don't exist anymore, then do some homework and find something that will work for YOU.

Seeing how Lotus changed the cars pretty much every year and learned how to make them better, then I am going to see if any of those improvements work for me.

For comparison, I have driven several different Lotus cars...

2003 V8
1999 Sport 350
1991 X180-R (two of the 20)
Several 1989 non-SE
several 1989-90 SE's
1960 Elite (Type 14)
'60's Elan coupe
'70's Europa
'91 Elan M100 (2)
2002 Elise S2 (UK Rover)
2005 Elise (2)

They are all different, and none are perfect, but they are all fun characters...

 

Interesting series of posts.

I am presently using Toyo Proxies on my 1991 SE. I had to go with a 225/50/15 in front to use the same tires front and rear. I thought at first that those might rub on the fenders at full crank of the wheel, but they do not. Rears are the standard 245/50/16's that Toyo also makes.

I am happy with them.

I certainly agree that you can't use tires older than about 6-7 years old. I recently had a very unpleasant experience with another car. The front tires had plenty of tread on them when I purchased the car, so I forgot about it and instead concentrated on fixing other stuff. The right front tire de-laminated on the freeway. Had to change it out for the spare on the side of the road. Later,

I discovered that ALL of the "old" tires with the "good" tread were actuallu 14 years old. This by reading the markings on the sidewall of them!

Worst part was that when the tire flew apart it damaged the paintwork on the right fender and tore up the electrical connections to the headlamp and the side markerlamp, all of which also had to be repaired...

 

Is your cars' handling balance more towards over-steering now when you drive the car hard into corners with the 225/50/15 fronts when compared to the original 215/50/15?

Interesting series of posts.

I am presently using Toyo Proxies on my 1991 SE. I had to go with a 225/50/15 in front to use the same tires front and rear. I thought at first that those might rub on the fenders at full crank of the wheel, but they do not. Rears are the standard 245/50/16's that Toyo also makes.

I am happy with them.

 

This is why many times people will go to aftermarket rims. The available tire selection pool gets a LOT bigger. My car has 3-piece Fikse wheels and I can get tires from any mfger for them at reasonable prices. :clap:

But yeah... tires are where your car and the road make contact. VERY important!