Semi Slicks: Useless on the streets? And if not: Which ones?

[HJ2]

Dear colleagues,

My tires are in desperate need of replacement, so i am in the (hard) process of selecting ...
Most important factors are:

1. Purpose: Heavy street and occasional track day
2. Grip on dry tarmac
3. price
4. Durability

The semi-slick shortlist for now is:


Toyo Proxes R1R
Toyo Proxes R888
Federal 595 RS-R
Kumho V70A

I am curious what the general experiences are with these tyres.
However i wonder if the semi's will heat up sufficient on street use ?

[racerstev]

Don't rule out Hankook, I went with there Ventus R-S3, these rule in SCCA's street tire class's. It's a class
that allows a min tread wear rating of 140. I stayed on 15" wheels to take advantage of the extra width of the 225-45-15
that they offer.

For track only use they also sell Z=214, it's a DOT approved race tire....


Steve

[tigerdog]

Not sure if they are available in Europe, but I am extremely satisfied with the Kumho XS (KU36) in 215/45-16. They grip well from cold (well, as cold as San Diego gets) and I've consistently run out of courage before grip. They have completely transformed Smaug from a squirrely, front-tyre-spinning beast (on Pirellis) to a "holy-poop-that's-quick!" yet uneventful drive, even with the MBC set at 17 PSI (almost 1.2 Bar). Can't say much about wear because I only drive about 2000 miles/year; the tyres will be old and hard before they wear out.

[Dave Eds]

R888s - great in the dry, interesting in the wet. Driven them all year round too!

[Gary1958]

I'm using Toyo R1R on my Elan. Prices were close enough to the T1R when I bought them and with my SELOC discount almost the same. I had T1R's on a previous Elise and hated them , the car lost all steering feel.

My annual mileage is low so the cost is acceptable to me and the grip they give is fantastic.

[Specky]

R888s - great in the dry, interesting in the wet. Driven them all year round too!

Same here, now on my third set...used one soft compound and two sets of medium.

Brilliant in the summer, sticks like s**t to a blanket

Winter... In the wet OK...but can aquaplane badly... Underwear change required...

In the snow... Had to take them off...

TOYO also recommend the are stored above Zero degrees... They're not the best at twenty below...

R888's are the best tyre I've used on Elan... I put standard tyres back on for a short while and the handling was dire.. I guess it's the equivalent of having a big brake upgrade and going back to stock...

TTFN

[steve matthews]

Toyo R1R easy to bed in and get comfortable with.
Good in the rain but not on a wet track -w- tight turns.
Grip gets better with age.
Am ordering my 2nd set.
Steve

[HJ2]

Well, thanks to other fora, but mainly this (duh!) i narrowed it down to R1r's!
Last choice: 205 or 215 width?
Comments welcome

[HJ2]

R1R only in 205 available

THis week I will be proud owner of 4 of them!

[matts1972]

I am also thinking about getting semi-slicks and I am close to buying this setup:

Kumho V70A semi-slicks at the front and
Kumho KU31 at the back (as they are half the price of the V70A)

I assume that the extra grip at the fronts will do good and no harm, helpful comments appreciated, though. I am only driving in the dry.

Matthias

PS: I need to go for a 225/45 R16 size - this rules out many other options.
I also cannot buy Toyos because I am a sissy about radiation - both Toyo factories are a stone throw away from Fukushima

[HJ2]

That sounds like a recipe for nasty behaviour. I would stick with the same tires on front and rear axle. My 2 cents
Kumho was my 1st choice, but too pricey! Why are you stuck with 225?
Looks like I'll have to get out my trusty geigencounter then

[matts1972]

That sounds like a recipe for nasty behaviour. I would stick with the same tires on front and rear axle. My 2 cents

Yes, there might be some negative effect - it is hard to tell, though. My stomach tells me, that both axles are different in many ways, anyway. Tires on both axles will wear differently and will run at different temperatures - so there will never be exactly the same grip on both axles. My stomach might be terribly wrong, though. With 4 semi-slicks I would be on the safe side - I could not agree more and might reconsider my plan.

Kumho was my 1st choice, but too pricey! Why are you stuck with 225?

The previous owner got an individual permit for 225, which is necessary in Germany. So I will either have to go back to stock (205) and new rims for that, or I stick with 225 which I feel looks rather good. Getting a different permit would be a serious pain given the exotic nature of the Elan.

Looks like I'll have to get out my trusty geigencounter then

I admit that mixing the tires might be the higher risk

BTW: I would love to get 4 Hankook R-S2 instead. But I cannot find them at 225/45/16 even though Hankook has them listed.

[HJ2]

Ah, i see.

Hankook has not so many production batches of the semi's.. And they don't sell a lot of semi's, so stock is low indeed so you'll have to wait for the next batch...
The Elan is quite known in Germany, so why is there a problem with the 205? (besides the fact that you'll have to score some rims first )

[matts1972]

Ah, i see.

Hankook has not so many production batches of the semi's.. And they don't sell a lot of semi's, so stock is low indeed so you'll have to wait for the next batch...
The Elan is quite known in Germany, so why is there a problem with the 205? (besides the fact that you'll have to score some rims first )

Funny enough, getting rims would also be a challenge - I would also have to get an individual permit for the non-original rims (or get original Elan rims).
It seems that the safest choice and best result would be to stick with my rims and get the full set of V70A semi-slicks. And as a bonus the tires would increase the value of my car significantly

[dapinky]

I can't comment on the individual tyre choices, or the sizes they come in, but I can comment on the Laws of Physics (particularly that bloke who had an apple land on hios head).....

.... whilst your thought process of the front wheels doing the traction and the steering is sound, the elan doesn't like better tyres to be that end

I had a bad experience with Michelins on the front and Federals on the back - fine in a straight line, or constant speed round a bend, but if you lift off anywhere in the bend the car has a tendency to shift weight (because of Isaac Newton!) to the rear and understeer ensures.

If you have less grip on the rear tyres, then the car tends to develop a habit of swapping the back end for the front

Many cars suffer from 'lift-off oversteer' (rear drive) but the elan is particularly prone to the mishap if the front wheels have a lot more grip than the back, allowing the rear end to slide.

Matched tyres all round is the best way to go, but if not, the better ones at the rear is the safest way to do it.

(I run Michelins all round on one car, and on the other I have Yokohama track tyres on the front, and Michelins on the rear - both give excellent grip in the dry, but the track tyres only really get excellent when warm, wheras the Michelins are good all the time.)

Just my 2p worth

[matts1972]

I have to agree that having less grip on the rear is risky when overdoing it in a bend. Putting the semi-slicks to the rear would miss the point, though.
This leaves no other choice than to go for equal tires all round.
Thanks for your comments.

[HJ2]

As a general rule: Best tires always on the rear, because you cannot steer them, but you can steer the front! No matter FWD or RWD.
Good choice to get 4 identical tyres

What's your location? Perhaps we can compare

[matts1972]

What's your location? Perhaps we can compare

I am in the south west of Germany at Heilbronn. So unfortunately that is 5-6 hours away.
PM me, should you ever be around the area.

[JIMBO]

Harder compound at the front and softer at the rear will give more balance once they have warmed up.the other way round will result in chronic under steer. As The Élan is relatively light,if you go too wide you could end up reducing traction and adding drag.
Just my two pennies worth
Jim