Another tyre question
Discussion
Was looking up tyre options for my SE and wanted to understand what people run on the front.
At the moment I have 225/45/16 front and 245/45/16 rear and as it's an SE I'm assuming front and rear alloys are the same at 16 x 7.5 ET 35?
I've not taken a wheel off to confirm but given the way the tyre sit on the rims it would appear they are the same width rim. This is how the car came to me when purchased.
Looking on Black circles I can only find one tyre in 225/45/16 a Yokohama. From the threads Ive read 205/50/16 looks a more common front choice, is that true?
I've checked on willtheyfit.com and the overall diameter is almost identical.
I can get Toyo Proxes TR1 in both 205/50/16 and 245/45/16 so that would seem a more logical choice, be interested to know what other SE owners run if this works for a non-staggered 16" all round wheel.
I'm thinking of going for a 17" rear for the staggered look so keeping with a 7.5 wide rim would give me a 245/40/17, I'm hoping this would not affect the ride, again would be good to hear from anyone running 16 front and 17 rear, I don't want to go crazy and spoil the ride, especially with the potholes these days.
Thanks.
At the moment I have 225/45/16 front and 245/45/16 rear and as it's an SE I'm assuming front and rear alloys are the same at 16 x 7.5 ET 35?
I've not taken a wheel off to confirm but given the way the tyre sit on the rims it would appear they are the same width rim. This is how the car came to me when purchased.
Looking on Black circles I can only find one tyre in 225/45/16 a Yokohama. From the threads Ive read 205/50/16 looks a more common front choice, is that true?
I've checked on willtheyfit.com and the overall diameter is almost identical.
I can get Toyo Proxes TR1 in both 205/50/16 and 245/45/16 so that would seem a more logical choice, be interested to know what other SE owners run if this works for a non-staggered 16" all round wheel.
I'm thinking of going for a 17" rear for the staggered look so keeping with a 7.5 wide rim would give me a 245/40/17, I'm hoping this would not affect the ride, again would be good to hear from anyone running 16 front and 17 rear, I don't want to go crazy and spoil the ride, especially with the potholes these days.
Thanks.
Mutley00 said:
If you are planning on track days or you enjoy 'spirited driving' steer I'd steer clear of Toyos. No one in Lotus Elise circles has anything good to say about them when they get warm, 'like driving on jelly' was one recent quote.
OK thanks, I'm not wedded to any specific tyre, I just don't want to limit myself to only one tyre.I did find a thread with someone running 245/45 R17 on the rear which is a larger diameter than I have today but from what I have read 245/45/16 is the factory fitted size.
I find myself in a very similar position to you Mags, old Toyos are needing replaced.
My Griff has 16" Estorils on each corner, assuming all are 7.5 width too. Currently on Toyo T1R's (235\50 rear, 225\50 front). They have been fine but the tyre sidewall movement and occasional tramlining have been an issue, sometimes feeling unstable at higher speeds and I feel vagueness when steering\cornering on uneven road surfaces.
To say tyre choice is limited for a 16" wheel is an understatement. I'm keen to keep the car looking as original as possible so sticking with the same wheels. It's pretty easy to get caught in a downpour living in the south of Scotland so not interested in the more track focused options which limits choice even further.
Going forward, I've narrowed tyre choice down to -
Toyo TR1's
+ sidewall slightly stiffer, different tread pattern and better wet performance than T1R's. Can get 245\45 rear and 205\50 fronts. Very positive feedback from TVR specialists.
- lots of poor reviews online about T1R's from TVR owners, not sure how much better TR1's are.
Rainsport 5's
+ excellent in the wet, still good in the dry. Great reviews online about the rainsport 3's (assuming 5's are similar).
- max width for 16" wheel is 225. Not great for my car with 315hp and 350 lb\ft at the wheels. Not interested in pressing on in the wet so don't think I need the extra wet performance of this tyre.
Did look at a couple of more expensive tyre options from Michelin and Continental but not seen any feedback from other TVR owners on these so not willing to try them. Almost pointless looking at the tyre reviews online unless it's for a TVR or similar power\weight sportscar, which is hard to find.
Will probably end up going for the TR1's.
That's my 2p worth. Would be interested to know if any other TVR owners running 16" wheels agree\disagree with the above?
Thanks.
My Griff has 16" Estorils on each corner, assuming all are 7.5 width too. Currently on Toyo T1R's (235\50 rear, 225\50 front). They have been fine but the tyre sidewall movement and occasional tramlining have been an issue, sometimes feeling unstable at higher speeds and I feel vagueness when steering\cornering on uneven road surfaces.
To say tyre choice is limited for a 16" wheel is an understatement. I'm keen to keep the car looking as original as possible so sticking with the same wheels. It's pretty easy to get caught in a downpour living in the south of Scotland so not interested in the more track focused options which limits choice even further.
Going forward, I've narrowed tyre choice down to -
Toyo TR1's
+ sidewall slightly stiffer, different tread pattern and better wet performance than T1R's. Can get 245\45 rear and 205\50 fronts. Very positive feedback from TVR specialists.
- lots of poor reviews online about T1R's from TVR owners, not sure how much better TR1's are.
Rainsport 5's
+ excellent in the wet, still good in the dry. Great reviews online about the rainsport 3's (assuming 5's are similar).
- max width for 16" wheel is 225. Not great for my car with 315hp and 350 lb\ft at the wheels. Not interested in pressing on in the wet so don't think I need the extra wet performance of this tyre.
Did look at a couple of more expensive tyre options from Michelin and Continental but not seen any feedback from other TVR owners on these so not willing to try them. Almost pointless looking at the tyre reviews online unless it's for a TVR or similar power\weight sportscar, which is hard to find.
Will probably end up going for the TR1's.
That's my 2p worth. Would be interested to know if any other TVR owners running 16" wheels agree\disagree with the above?
Thanks.
That's interesting, quite different overall diameter tyres to what I have, you have over 20mm more diameter on the front and around 15mm more on the rear.
I will get my wife to check on the speedo reading vs GPS some day soon.
From what I've read the 7.5 width on the rear I have isn't ideal for a 245 section tyre either, a fair few people have gone up to 8 or 8.5 with an ET of 35.
The front 7.5 width seems fine but again plenty of comments of ET25 not the ET35 I am assuming I have with the 16" Estorils (assuming the fronts are just the same as the rears)
I will have to pull a front and rear wheel off to double check as I have no evidence of fouling front or rear although I haven't done much mileage yet.
Similarly on high speed and tramlining etc, I haven't got enough mileage on the car yet thanks to lockdown but I will need to do this before I start making any purchases.
My only comparison was the Cerb I recently sold, it had 18" Spiders with I think 35 profile fronts stretched on the rims and the ride was bad and the spiders would buckle from time to time as they were made from silver painted cheese.
I will get my wife to check on the speedo reading vs GPS some day soon.
From what I've read the 7.5 width on the rear I have isn't ideal for a 245 section tyre either, a fair few people have gone up to 8 or 8.5 with an ET of 35.
The front 7.5 width seems fine but again plenty of comments of ET25 not the ET35 I am assuming I have with the 16" Estorils (assuming the fronts are just the same as the rears)
I will have to pull a front and rear wheel off to double check as I have no evidence of fouling front or rear although I haven't done much mileage yet.
Similarly on high speed and tramlining etc, I haven't got enough mileage on the car yet thanks to lockdown but I will need to do this before I start making any purchases.
My only comparison was the Cerb I recently sold, it had 18" Spiders with I think 35 profile fronts stretched on the rims and the ride was bad and the spiders would buckle from time to time as they were made from silver painted cheese.
Edited by Mags on Tuesday 23 March 19:00
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