Michelin Pilot Exalto 2 205/50 R15 86V

[nhaynes]

I've managed to source 2 x Michelin Pilot Exalto 2 205/50 R15 86V for £84 each incl VAT, fitting, valves and balance.
Anyone whose interesting in these Michelins goto:
http://www.jetwheeltyre.co.uk/tyres.htm
and call the 0800 number.

[GeoffSmith]

I hope you got R15s!

[rip]

I hope you got R15s!

Just what I was thinking. I hope you didn't get R15s though Geoff!

Aren't they discontinued? If so, 2 thoughts:
The rubber will have deteriorated with age
Tyre technology has moved on. What was good when the Elan was built will have been bettered by newer tyres.

[Rambo]

Tyre technology has moved on. What was good when the Elan was built will have been bettered by newer tyres.

Wasn't it the Michelin MXX2 when the Elan 1st saw the streets Rip ??

[nhaynes]

I have indeed order R15's not R13's as I initially typed in the thread (well spotted and now edited).

I think the Elan was initally specified with Michelin MXX-2 which are no longer available. I agree, that fitting a 22 year old tyre would be a foolish and dangerous thing to do.

If you go onto the Michelin website you will find that the Michelin Pilot Exalto PE2 is now replaced by the PE3 but this is quite a recent upgrade I'm told. Hence I hope to have two high quality Michelin PE2's for the price of maybe Toyos and I know which I prefer.

I read the various posts on tyres on here and other forums. My shortlist was:
Michelin PE2
Yokohama S Drive
Bridgestone RE11 (now replaced by RE002)
Continental Sport Contact 2
Toyo TIR

I'm not even going to attempt to discuss the virtues of each as it will result in a heated exchange and tyre choice (much like car choice) is down to individual taste and preferences as well as technical detail. Only comment I would make is: Chooise a premium quality tyre not a budget tyre for what should be obvious reasons.

I'd be very interested to hear if anyone has tested Michelin PE3's yet. I'll advise of the date on my PE2's when I receive them.

[nhaynes]

I've finally got 4 x Michelin Pilot Exalto 2 205/50 R15 86V on my Elan. My local tyre dealer couldn't source any more than 2 so I got 2 from Tyre Universe who gave a reasonable price (87.50 each), not quite as good as my local tyre dealer but better than anywhere else. Do be careful to specify you want their latest date stock otherwise you will get whatever they can find. I asked for anything post 2011 as the 2 tyres I already had sourced were week 48 2011. I ended up with week 52 2010 so I guess that's almost 2011! The Elan drives so much better now. Steering is much more responsive, the ride is better and less tyre noise. I can't believe I accepted poor tyres for so long! Actually those old tyres were no longer elastic so when the Elan was left for several days they plastically deformed. The tread contacting the ground became flat, so when driven I had a flat spot on each tyre which didn't go until the tyre warmed up. This plastic deformation of the tyre also caused the tread surface to deform all around the tyre. So, as others have commented in this thread and elsewhere: Go for good quality tyres, check the year of manufacture, change them after 6-8 years, not when the tread runs down as this may never happen!