Tyre Failures?

[drdoom]

The question of whether or not to carry spare wheel/tyre has been pursued with considerable interest in one of our threads here lately. I wonder whether there are any who would relate experience of having had failures? Modern tyres are formidably well constructed in my view and a Lotus does not burden a tyre the way that heavier, less well designed cars do. Let's hear from any who can say they've had failures.

Cheers 

[Escape]

Never had a tyre failure on a Lotus, but do carry a spare on longer journeys just in case. Only had it happen a few times on other cars over the years, but always very inconvenient and always happy we had a spare...

Filip

[ramjet]

My Esprit has never had a flat in it's 51,000 kms travelled.

[Jeanvm]

One with the Excel but it was the valve not the tyre.

[NeilP]

Had a failure on a C350E, 2YO and 25k Miles as I was entering a car park at Heathrow.

tried the sealant gunk (in the hope I had a nail) but the tyre had blown the inner sidewall so it came out as quick as it went in.

long story short - Mercedes (RAC) recovered the car from short stay, took it to the valet parking place where the parking company sorted a set of tyres.

[LotuStuart]

Reminds me I need to see if a rear wheel fits in the boot of the V8 esprit, otherwise not sure how you are meant to continue your journey with a passenger and a spare wheel in the cabin...

[Bibs]

The boot is shaped to fit the wheel in. 

[Kevin Wheeler]

I hit a pallet on the motorway in France a couple of years ago and bent my front nearside. I could only carry on with my spare.

This was when I found out that only the spare would fit in the front boot and the front tyre had to go in the rear boot. I had to take all my packing out to put the spare in the rear, then repack everything in the front. So, if you are doing the same sort of trip make sure that you factor that in with the size of bags that you are using.

I drove around for a fortnight on the spare and had the front wheel fixed when I got back to the UK.

Thank goodness for a spare wheel and for a mate who had a tyre brace (I had a jack but no brace - I have fixed that now!)

[LotuStuart]

On 05/03/2019 at 13:35, Bibs said:

The boot is shaped to fit the wheel in. 

That's what I thought!, but I'm sure I was told that the rear didn't fit. 

Well I can categorically confirm that the v8 rear wheel does fit in the boot. The curved firewall is needed to lay the wheel flat, then it /just/ slides under the rear lip enough for the boot to close down on top of it

if you put the wheel face down, there's space inside the wheel for some stuff  

I'd suggest carrying plastic bin liners if you are going to be carrying luggage because it will be a tight fit around the wheel and in the front boot where you try to stuff all your luggage now that you have a puncture!

 

[Vulcan Grey]

Had a Pirelli PZero Rosso front tire start to fail in the middle of a 900 miles trip home from a Lotus Owner's Gathering.

It was actually a manufacturing defect, the tire plies hadn't bonded properly.

Held till I got home!

 

Now I have my Brembo Race brakes with 328mmx35mm rotors, so the spare won't fit anymore.

My friend has blown several tiers on his X180-R Esprit on the street and track.  One front tire blew at high speed and also cut his front oil cooler hose.

I've had a puncture and a slice (at the same time) on my daily driver with low profile tires. Tire got so hot it was hard to hold.