S3/Turbo Tyre Options

[drdoom]

Hello Lars,

I generally agree with your points, though I do not believe those to be r888"s on the photo car as they appear to be normal, 60 series profile which do not exist in that Toyo line. This presumes the wheels to be the OEM 15" size, not some BMW 16" alternatives, and the tread looks not quite as per r888 to my eye. It is not easy to source top-tier performance tires in sizes to match most Esprit. Geert is right to observe that small diameter rear tires look "off" on Esprit, given the ample wheelarch space. I've seen G-cars with 255/40-17 comfortably within the space, though looking a bit "Hot Wheels" toy in my opinion. I find 245/45-16 look quite fine for rears, if perhaps a touch short, and that size can be found in a number of very high performance tires.

Cheers 

[ChrisJ]

Pirelli P600s in the correct size - but £250+ EACH.

The Vredesteins 225/60 did seem to fill out to give a correct look - and had the Giugiaro design link. @Buddsyposted a photo of NCTs and Vreds side by side - they look the same size.

I'd go with either the Pirellis or another 225/60 tyre - and will be very interested to @viz139 experience with the Uniroyals.

 

[pete]

Don't Falken stil make the right size

[naasaa]

3 hours ago, drdoom said:

Hello Lars,

I generally agree with your points, though I do not believe those to be r888"s on the photo car as they appear to be normal, 60 series profile which do not exist in that Toyo line. This presumes the wheels to be the OEM 15" size, not some BMW 16" alternatives, and the tread looks not quite as per r888 to my eye. It is not easy to source top-tier performance tires in sizes to match most Esprit. Geert is right to observe that small diameter rear tires look "off" on Esprit, given the ample wheelarch space. I've seen G-cars with 255/40-17 comfortably within the space, though looking a bit "Hot Wheels" toy in my opinion. I find 245/45-16 look quite fine for rears, if perhaps a touch short, and that size can be found in a number of very high performance tires.

Cheers 

17” is a good option, but spoils the shape and look of the beefy rubber 15” wheels. But do offer a variety of good street performance tires 

However, I much prefer the original 15” BBS. 

To me, the tires on the Green Esprit looks like these Toyo 

https://www.daekonline.dk/cgi-bin/rshop.pl?dsco=123&Cookie=aff_rd_dk_awin&details=Ordern&typ=R-155854&ranzahl=4&nichtweiter=1&Breite=235

[gvy]

 other possibilities :

  Federal formoza GIO 195 60 R15 88H

  Federal formoza GIO 225 60 R15 96V

or

  Federal SS657 195 60 R15 88H

  Federal SS657 225 60 R15 96H

and for those that fancy raised white letter tires

Vitour Galaxy  R1 G/T 215 60 R15 94V

( sadly this one is 639mm, so  3,76% or 24mm bigger in diameter then the oem 195 60 R15 (615mm) I would recommend to stay within 2%)

Vitour Galaxy R1 G/T 235 60 R15 98V

(This one is spot on)

picture of these :

Edited June 21, 2020 by gvy

[gvy]

On 19/06/2020 at 21:06, pete said:

Don't Falken stil make the right size

Yes they do:

Falken Ziex ZE310 Ecorun 195/60R15 88V

Falken Ziex ZE310 Ecorun 225/60R15 96W

[naasaa]

There is also Mickey Thompson.

but no idea about how this tire behaves, and there is no suitable size for front tires.

https://tiresize.com/tires/Mickey-Thompson/ET-Street-SS.htm

[gvy]

2 hours ago, naasaa said:

There is also Mickey Thompson.

but no idea about how this tire behaves, and there is no suitable size for front tires.

https://tiresize.com/tires/Mickey-Thompson/ET-Street-SS.htm

I know, ive seen it. Same goes for pirelli P600

BUT

tbh. I was trying to list all options of matching front and rear tires available. And for the turbo esprit there still are options if you count in the 225/60R15 instead of the 235/60R15 Less so for my 14" s2.2.

The continentals, the uniroyals, the falkens , two types of federals all come in available matching pairs, so not to bad. There is still choice.

And then there are also the Barum Bravuris 2

For the rear you have Barum Bravuris 2  225/60R15 96V

There are no 195/60R15 available for the front but there are:

Barum Bravuris 2 205/55R15 88V or 205/60R15 91V : both of them are less then 2% different so usable and within acceptable tollerance

So here you go : I detected a choise of 6 available tires with matching pairs

Edited June 21, 2020 by gvy

[viz139]

Bit of a delay with the new tyres as the V rated had to come from the Spain . When I took the wheels off I decided to bite the bullet and have them refurbished and change them from silver to gold ( For your eyes only)  .Here is a picture of the Uniroyal beside the Goodyear NCT for thread comparison .

[Hornsey Boy]

Hi @viz139

 Just wondering what you think of your new tyre choice ?

[viz139]

Hope to have my wheels back next week and I have a brake issue I hope to get sorted this weekend so hopefully car on the road next week

 

[nello]

All - so my stored Esprit decided to deflate its NSF original NCT and its split wide open. Are the modern day Eagle NCT 5's OK for the G Esprit?

[ChrisJ]

If you are just going to keep storing it , get the cheapest possible tyre. (although I see NCT5s are pretty cheap already).

If recommissioning   - they don't do a matching rear   Although they would save you the cost of the fake Goodyear letters for the front 

 

 

[nello]

One day Chris!

[Hornsey Boy]

Just had some Falkens fitted to the HC on Friday.

Ziex ZE310 Ecorun 195/60R15 88V and 225/60R15 96W and I am well happy with them. £300 all in fitted and balanced from Pro-tyre 

https://www.protyre.co.uk/

To be honest I would have thought any tyres made now, will be better than the originals from the period. Especially in my case as the old NCTs were from 1991 and were hard as rocks 

 

[thebartman]

Just to throw something new into the mix - I was also looking for rear tyres and have come across only 3 (but I did not look at overseas suppliers) ...

I wasn't concerned about a matching set - should I be? I have Michelin cross climate 195/60/r15 88H on front.

My thinking was most of the driving torque would go through the rears. so load at the front was not a concern  as I'm not planning a track day car ....

 

All the tyres below are 235/60/R15 98W

1. Pirelli P600 GBP 263.99 fitted each

https://www.justtyres.co.uk/t1063021/pirelli-235-60-r15-98w-p600

2. Saferich: 235/60R15 SAFERICH FRC26 98V GBP 49.79 each

https://speedyswheels.co.uk/deliveredtyres/shop/235-60r15-saferich-frc26-98v/?gclid=CjwKCAjwyo36BRAXEiwA24CwGcVcX4TYjVxBkjmu2gKzFHNucwMcx5AV6jZEu2-dVEk3z7KSdon_2xoC6H4QAvD_BwE

3. Vitour: VITOUR GALAXY R1 G/T (RWL for reference) - can be hidden by swapping sides id desired 🙂 

(they do a non-GT without the RWL)

https://www.tyreleader.co.uk/car-tyres/vitour/galaxy-r1-g-t/

 

Would any of these tryes be suitable for the rears?

 

[ChrisJ]

@thebartman

Most people either go for the Pirellis in the right size or move to 225/60s. 

Vredestein have been the go to brand for the narrower tyres for the past few of years as their Sportrac were designed  by Giugiaro with his name on the sidewall, so a great link. However these stopped being made in December 2019, and we are waiting on @viz139 to report back on his experience with the Uniroyals.

 

[TAR]

I believe its bad practice to mix cross climate tyres with summer tyres. 🙂

[PaulM]

On 19/06/2020 at 19:07, drdoom said:

Hello Lars,

I generally agree with your points, though I do not believe those to be r888"s on the photo car as they appear to be normal, 60 series profile which do not exist in that Toyo line. This presumes the wheels to be the OEM 15" size, not some BMW 16" alternatives, and the tread looks not quite as per r888 to my eye. It is not easy to source top-tier performance tires in sizes to match most Esprit. Geert is right to observe that small diameter rear tires look "off" on Esprit, given the ample wheelarch space. I've seen G-cars with 255/40-17 comfortably within the space, though looking a bit "Hot Wheels" toy in my opinion. I find 245/45-16 look quite fine for rears, if perhaps a touch short, and that size can be found in a number of very high performance tires.

Cheers 

I can confirm these are R888Rs with a 50 profile, I asked the owner.

Edited December 6, 2020 by PaulM

[naasaa]

On 06/12/2020 at 01:52, PaulM said:

I can confirm these are R888Rs with a 50 profile, I asked the owner.

This is good news.

I do found these to suit the car quite well, despite the lower circumferenece.

Do you mind asking the owner of his sincer opinion for these tires. Here I have the higher engine rev's and filling of the wheel arch due to lower profile in mind.

Thanks 

[PaulM]

Update on the tyres. Ordered the R888r, sidewall is about 11mm shallower on the rears than standard - but they have a good roundness to them so it’s hardly noticeable. Done my sidewall stickering today using the new dry sump range by tyrewallstickers.com and they look great. Obviously look a bit out of place off the car and in bright white, but that’ll soon change. Thought about doing them after tyre is on the wheel but this made it all a bit easier. They took about two hours to do and was a really easy process, can’t even get a pick underneath any to try and peel them off. They’re stuck fast but only time will tell!

Got new aluminium centre caps and badges too, so I’m ready for the 3pc wheels to come back and get it all assembled ready for the car to be done at paint.

[LOTUSMAN33]

They look superb Paul, well done I will get a set for mine 👍🏻😎

Dave  

[drdoom]

Paul, you certainly must report how those tyres are, once you've shaken down the car sufficiently to gain a feel for them!

Cheers  

[Christian43]

you would image the grip will be really good on them, I ran those on a (new) Europa a few years ago and they were great. 

[AndrewT]

Just had some Falken ZIEX ZE310 Ecorun fitted.

Only managed a shortish test so far but it was cold and wet and they performed really well.  Very pleased with them and it was only £300 all in.

The old Pirellis had been on there for at least 10 years and were hard, cracked and flat-spotted.  These have, rather unsurprisingly, completely transformed the way the car drives.  Will be interesting to see how good they are when conditions improve.