Bridgestone RE-11 or Toyo Proxes R1R?

[lotus23s10]

Hi -- I'm about to replace the tires on my stock Federal M100 with stock OZ 16" rims. I only drive it in summer and rarely in the rain and I am not concerned about wear and/or longevity, so I'm considering these two soft compound tires(180 & 140 respectively). "Spirited" driving, an occcasional Auto-x, but no track days. I see that Dunlop also has a new tire out without rating.

Any opinions? Advice? Is anyone running these? Recommendations?

Dan

[ccb056]

Running the RE11s, they wear quickly if you drive spiritedly, expect ~20k miles with autocrosses thrown in.

Tire Rack is having a sale, as Bridgestone is replacing the RE11 with RE11a, but the new model isn't in Elan sizes yet.

[lotus23s10]

Thanks for the input! 20k mi is plenty - probably 4-5 years of summer driving(I also have an Elise to keep me busy). I'm leaning toward the Toyo's only because the "close-out" TireRack tires have probably been "aged" in their warehouse for a while and I'm more concerned of the tires going away because of age rather than wear. I had some sticky Kuhmo's on a previous M100 that were similar to Toyo's and they were great but NLA.

[ccb056]

The set of RE11's we ordered last week from Tire Rack has a date code of 2112.

[Ted]

What is the right reference of the tyres ?
205/45R 16 87W or 205/45R 83W?
I have Michelin PS3 in 87W, but I can't find the R1R in 87W, only in 83. Is the weight 83 or 87 for Elan?

[HJ2]

I have the toyo's and absolutely love them!

[Ted]

We can put tyres in 83W ?

[Ted]

Can anyone telle me for 83W or 87W. After my PS3, I think about putting R1R, but I only find them in 205/45 R16 83W, and my PS3 are 205/45 R16 87W.

Many thanks

[Ted]

Seems like it is 83V mini.
These kind of tyres make the chassis working harder, because they absorb less. My bushes and balljoints, even if they are not dead, are very old. Would it be necessery to change them if mounting R1R?

[Fredjohn]

Ted

The characters 83V, 83W or 87W refer to the load ratings and the speed ratings for tyres. So:

83=max load 487kg
87=max load 545kg
and
V= max 240kph
W=max 270kph

Divide the total weight of your car by 4, then add 10% for safety margin and that is the max load of one tyre.

Max speed you want is up to you, but W would give you a better safety margin should you wish to do over 240kph!!!

See this site

J'espere que ca t'aide un p(n)eu. (Putain, il connait faire des jeus de mots en francais )

John

[dapinky]

Just to add a bit to Johns' reply - the four wheels shouldn't really be divided by 4, as not all corners get the same weight bearing down on them....

.... the front axle (maximum) weight is 820Kg, the rear axle 507Kg, and vehicle total Max = 1270 (all numbers from my VIN plate - UK spec SE - other markets may vary a bit!!!!).

As such, if the GVW was divided by 4, then you could say that there is 318Kg on each tyre - and use a tyre with a Load Index of 69.....

......but the front wheels could have 410Kg each, so would require a 77 Load Index.....

Either way, a tyre with a Load index of 83 would be suitable for any corner of the Elan.

[epipete]

Is this a good deal, are they correct, is anyone else using these?

[muley]

i've used them in the past with no issues, price sounds about right - I was quoted £60 recently at a local tyre place.




Jim

[Artaban]

I paid £240 for four last October when I had my wheels refurbished so that price sounds about right. From memory I think Black Circles was offering the best price ( http://www.blackcircles.com ). The Toyo's replaced some Uniroyal Rainsport 2 which were the best handling tyre in the wet but since I stopped going out in the wet I decided to get the best performing dry tyre I could that was at a reasonable price. I've done about 500 miles on them and there is no sign of any issues at all. They simply feel well planted with no tramlining. I don't tend to go round corners at vast speeds but theres never a hint of any problem and I'd buy them again without any reservations. Like any tyre I've used 26.5 seems to be the best tyre pressure for the Elan.
Andy

[Fredjohn]

Pete

Note it is the T1-R not the R1-R.
I have the T1-R's and am extremely happy with them. They are also supposed to be good in the wet: one racing prep company "up north" used them as the wet tyre for their racing Elise.

As noted above, price is about right too. And the tread looks good, if that matters

[Artaban]

Always worth browsing through http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk to get some feedback on tyres as well. That's how I found the Rainsport 2's in the first place. My thinking was that I'm more likely to lose the car in the wet than the dry so I'll go for something designed for the wet as I'll probably bottle out long before I reach its dry limits.
Andy

[epipete]

Thanks all,

I think that it'll be the R1-R that I go for, requirement for wet tyres may not be uppermost anymore.

[HJ2]

You'll find that the R1R's also have good grip in the wet. I was positively surprised on a very wet track!
I still love my R1R's they warm up quickly ar realy grippy but tend to smear a little when hot. However, next set of tyres is the same for me again

[epipete]

What do you mean 'smear'?

[lotusflasherman]

When I ran a Scimitar GTE in the 70's the owners club was very active in Essex and used to organise sessions on the Essex Police skidpan at their HQ in Chelmsford. Part of the 'deal' was that for 90 minutes training on the pan we had to have 30 mins in the classroom while traffic cops talked to us about accident prevention, being 'good citizen drivers' and a question & answer session about cars & traffic law. In one session a Traffic Cop said he could prosecute anybody, using Construction & Use Regulations, who had SR tyres on a GTE when it came out the factory on HR tyres. One owner said he had remoulds on his and traffic cop said 'You're a 'king idiot then, I'll speak to you after'. He stated Speed Rating is also a performance capability that relates to ability to handle torque and dynamic loading, as well as centrifugal forces and 70 mph speed limit in UK is irrelevant w.r.t. choice of speed rating. Load Index is a static rating, relating to weight of vehicle.

I can't remember the last time I saw a traffic cop in the UK but I know an Insurance Loss Adjuster who always looks at tyre spec' & condition with traffic accidents to help the Insurance Co wriggle out of a full claim if they are not as they should be.
German police are still pedantic about speed ratings being correct for the car in summer and require Winter tyres in Winter, when ratings may be slightly reduced as they are not made to the higher speed ratings.

The Technical Data on Page 60 in the Handbook says Elan SE has 205/50 ZR15 tyres and the NA 205/50 VR15 ... and anybody who fits a lesser tyre is a " ' king idiot" in my opinion too.