[Ess El Emm]

It's time for new tires. I have a 2005 Elise, but the last owner put wheels on it that look like the ones in this thread:

http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f95/fs-lotus-exige-euro-y-spoke-wheels-w-tires-83358/

So, I guess they're Exige wheels? I'm not even sure what the diameter of them is. Somehow, the last owner managed to squeeze 225/45/16s on the front and 245/40/17s on the back, which is larger than any tires I've seen on an Elige. (Surprisingly no rubbing though!)

But, this leaves me without a good basis to go off of when shopping for new tires. If I stick with this size, I'm limited to pretty much either A048s, or Toyo R1Rs.

It has A048s now, but I don't want to keep them. I don't plan on tracking it, and will maybe only do the occasional auto-x. They wear way too fast for how I use it. I'm tired of cleaning tire dust off of the back of the car after every drive (I think it's tire dust???). So, I want something that doesn't wear quite so badly. The R1R seems better, so I'm not sure if I should just get those or explore the possibility of going to a completely different size to open up my options to other tires.

Any recommendations are appreciated.

 

[bri3d]

16/6.5 front 17/7.5 rear, same as LSS wheels.

Just search "LSS tire choices" and you'll find what you're after.

I'm slightly surprised 225s fit on the front too - normally, they'll rub against the liner when turning hard or when the suspension is fully compressed. Are there spacers in there, or are your liners reshaped or trimmed?

I have LSS wheels with R1Rs 205/45/16 and 235/40/17 on them. A bit shorter than stock front and rear, but seems to work well.

 

[Nessal]

I'm running 205/45/16 and 245/40/17 Toyo R1R

Works well but the driver side is very close to rubbing in the rear.