Tires for 1988 Esprit

[frank.fine]

Can anyone suggest a good replacement set of tires for my 1988 Esprit Turbo? What would be a fair price?

[Kato]

Lotus were looking at the Good Year Eagle GSC P245/50ZR16 a while ago as a replacement. Also Dunlop SP Sport 9000 215/50ZR15 for the front, although they don't do a matching rear. Toyo tyres might do something, SWLC can normally to you a good deal on tyres. Also see what BlackCircles can do in the sizes. Both SWLC and Black Circles do a discount of ClubEsprit members.

Tyres are going to become more and more difficult to find for these wheels. You could consider purchasing a set of GT3 wheels, as more choice of tyres are available.

[rogerch]

I can't advice you on price, I live in Australia, but bought the car in the UK last year. In recent very wet conditions I tramed it pretty hard, to find at what point it break away, it didn't, so I highly recomend Pirelli.

Bees knees.

Roger

[Bibs]

Just for reference, from what I can tell Frank is based somewhere near Toronto in Canada.

[Mark Blanchard]

Unless you've replaced your rear wheels with SE wheels, the rear size for the 1988 Turbo should be 235/60VR15.

[Bazza 907]

I have some good original rear (but old) Goodyear NCT 235 60 ZR 15 tyres (for the rear) spare which I'm thinking of selling.

[Autocross7]

Tire Rack has Goodyear tires in 195 front and 225 rear. thisis what I have doe with my 88. The original rears were 235, so 225 is a very small difference and to tell you thetruth the car seems to like them just fine as I have not had any handling issues. At any rate, the tires match front and back...

Cameron

[abrussich]

Frank,

Not sure of the sizes for your 88, should be the same as my 89. I changed the rear rims to the later 16" and got a set of Khumo tires. A set of four mounted cost me a little under 500 U.S. They drive very well, are quiet, and hold the road every bit as good as any other tire I have had on there.

Ony have a couple of thou on them so I cannot speak of longevity, but so far so good.

Got mine through Discount Tires in the states.

Al B.

Edited April 18, 2008 by abrussich

[Dan]

Good question, since I'll be faced with this soon too, although as I'm about an hour away from SWLC I think i'll take the lazy option and pop down there to get mine sorted out.

My rears (Pirelli P600s) are now down to just under 3mm after 17,000 miles. What's a good mileage for tyres on an NA?

To be honest I'm surprised at how well they've lasted, but the P600 does have a reputation for being a hard compound. Since the Goodyear NCTs were in such a cracked and crazed state - not to mention 10-12 years old - when I bought the car I changed the tyres pretty much immediately and so can't compare the handling, but I have not found the P600s to be badly behaved. They were the only credible brand I could get in the right size at the time, yet they seem unavailable now of course!

Edited April 18, 2008 by Dan

[t70]

Guys... Frank has an 88... which means he has a citroen box, which means it's quite an ordeal to upgrade rims, as the offset difference is immense (somewhere around 2 inches).. So, he can't swap out rims.

[abrussich]

Yes, depending which 88 you have it could make a difference. I based my information on him ahving the same wheels as on my 89. I know of a gent in Jersey who has an 88 with identical rims. If Frank's is an early 88 then he may have something a bit different.

[Dan]

forgot to mention - there's a couple of handy references available regarding tyre choices that come to mind:

LEW's page on tyres

EFF's Lotus Technical Service Bulletin regarding tyres

Hope that helps

[bogle]

Hello Lotus group members,

 

I need to replace the tires on my 91 Esprit Turbo SE.

 

Has anyone been successful finding tires for their Esprit?  Just wondering if there's any updates.

 

I might be able to put Michelin Defenders, but I'll probably going to have Gator motorsports in Indianapolis source the tires.

 

Any suggestions would be great.

 

Thank you,

Bill

[Qavion]

Bill, I will be fitting Dunlop Sport SP 9000 (215/50/15)(front) and Toyo Proxes 4 (245/50/16) (rear) shortly (to my SE). Original sizes, but I couldn't match the ZR rating..

 

I couldn't find a tyre dealer to ship the Dunlops from UK/Europe to Australia, so used the services of P.U.K. Esprit Racing in Germany (contact Marcus). The dollar/Euro exchange rate should be pretty good at the moment.

 

Cheers

Ian.

[Escape]

I also have the Dunlop SP 9000 up front, for about a year now and very happy with them.

At the rear I have BF Goodrich Sport Comp2 in 255/50R16. Also available in 245/50, as is the BFG Super Sport A/S. I had some trouble getting them to Europe, but it was well worth it.

[benjamincalleja]

if you are happy not going above 180km.h the BF goodrich radial TA comes in the proper sizes, 195/60/15 and 235/60/15 but you need to inflate them to 31-34 psi not the 21 or 25 it says in the handbook given these tires are so much newer.  they ride really well, have excellent dry handling (average in the wet) but its nice to have matched axel sets.  white lettering too if you like that thing.  after a massive long search this is all you can get in the original sizes in matched axel pairs.  ive had them on my 88 turbo for years now and they are great.

[rogerch]

BF goodrich is a tractor tyre.

[Mark Blanchard]

Hi Rog,

Didn't know you bought an Elise!

 

BF Goodrich Radial T/A's should be ok.  I've got them on my Mustang.  Not the grippest tyres in the world but they'd fit.

[Vanya]

Gentlemen, it would appear that 245/50R16 have reappeared, (Kumho Ecsta SPT KU31). I've been scouring the web for a month and BAM they're in stock all over the place from today.

[Barrykearley]

Ooooh Vanya that's great news - my mans been trying for you and couldn't find any.........he told me Thursday not to draw on the road for a while until he finds a new source.

Where did you find yours??

I will give him a nudge Monday

[Vanya]

I've been doing almost daily searches hoping to find a couple on eBay but these showed up at the top of my google search in two stores, one of which is known as "Däckonline" or "Tyres Online" which I believe is a German-based company with corresponding sites for all EU nations. They're the most widely used tyre source in Sweden I think because they have good prices, and deliver for free. 

 

I'll let your friend know I've found some! 

 

New tyres cannot be underestimated. Put some new ones on my V8 this last week and it's like a different car (replaced original tyres from 1996) - the ride becomes a lot softer and you actually feel like you're sitting on rubber as opposed to concrete, you can almost feel the tyres flexing as you drive. Good stuff. Of course the subsequent split in my V8's brake hose put an end to the fun but that's another matter.

 

Edit: here's a link to the Kumhos guys. Get 'em while they're hot. 

http://www.mytyres.co.uk

[Barrykearley]

Was speaking to some Ferrari guys this morning - and they have similar issues with rears on theirs. Would seem pirelli batch make now and again for theirs......... It may well be kumho do the same.

I'm gonna get some matching fronts this week - mine are old - and so is all the front bushes - so may just improve the ride before I rebuild the front suspension in the winter

[Vanya]

I dunno, if we start spreading the word all those 245's are going to disappear post haste. I think all manufacturers might as well have "legacy" tyres - charge an arm and a leg, people will still buy. I sure as hell wasn't going to go back to 225 rears without a fight, and nor was I going to smack on some Nankang's....

[Barrykearley]

Ah yes Vanya - that's a typo in your previous - 235s sure are available in 14" .........

[Vanya]

I currently have only 225 in the rear ...actually it's 225/55R16 oddly enough.