tire change; Bridgestone S-03pp>Michelin Pilot Exalto PE2

[Michael]

After a couple of years using Bridgestone S-02 and S-03 I was forced to change tires in Germany after having smoked up the front ones in 3 days on the Nürburgring. The rears still being quite acceptable.

I went for a replacement of all 4 tires with the there available Michelin Pilot Exalto PE2 type.
I drove these new Michelins in the dry & in the wet the last day at the Nürburgring and after that through Scotland.

Must say that I was positively surprised with them. They are silent and offer quite adequate performance in wet and dry conditions. At least, they prvided much grip while pushing the Elan to the limits.

[Doug]

so are you saying they are equivalent to the Bridgestones of just that they are better than you thought they'd be

what's your Elan time around the ring anyway?

[Michael]

so are you saying they are equivalent to the Bridgestones of just that they are better than you thought they'd be

what's your Elan time around the ring anyway?

So far my impression is that they perform pretty much alike Doug.
It is the first time I feel that I can say this about another brand/type then my long year favorites RE71/S-02/S-03 by Bridgestone.

Don't know of course what the wear of the Michelins will be like over a period of time and if their performance will stay at the same high level as the Bridgestones did.
They even kept a high griplevel in wet and dry at about 25/30% of the original tread level.


My best BtG (Bridge to Gantry) time in the Elan was a little over 9min/30sec.
That was last year and before the last training where they thought me a lot of finetuning concerning the racing lines.
During the last training the track lay-out differs so much from the usual loop that one can not measure the BtG time at that occasion.
Only Next time around I will be able to see what the effect of the finetuning is.

I need better breaks, or at least brakes with better feel, to be more confident to brake later (and win considerable seconds) at the end of the many fast sections. The brake options with my standard 15"wheels I will explore over the next winter.
Any suggestion is very welcome!

[John_W]

I need better breaks, or at least brakes with better feel, to be more confident to brake later (and win considerable seconds) at the end of the many fast sections. The brake options with my standard 15"wheels I will explore over the next winter.
Any suggestion is very welcome!

Michael,
I'm going with the 15" wheel Wilwood ones ESM has organised:
http://www.lotuselancentral.com/forum/v ... c&start=83

I think he has one set left without somebody's name on them.

John

[Doug]

[Michael]

Is there any actual experience using these on the road (and track!)?

[ESM]

I'm the only one with the 15" Wilwood kit at the moment and I've only had the opportunity to really try them properly over the last couple of days. My initial impressions are very good. The brake feel is transformed, the rather numb stock feel is replaced by a progressive pedal which give easy modulation of the braking force. I was badly cut up by a new mini, doing a U-turn without troubling to look if anything was coming, just this morning and the brakes dumped the speed without any fuss - I'm used to jumping on the pedal and praying I'll get enough retardation - with these brakes there was never any doubt in my mind.