Time for new tyres/tires - What are the new options?

[Evotion]

Hi all.
Not been on the forums for ages. My Emira is my daily driver and still loving it and amazed at how capable it is.

I have reached 10,000 miles, it is winter and the car is sliding all over the place.
I can't bring myself to check the wear but I am assuming I am almost at slicks, which I love. I have never liked grip Fookin dangerous though. I am not proud.

Now the cars have been out for a couple of years, is there any new data on what the best tyres/tires might now be for the Emira?

I am happy to go for fast summer/track tyres as I am happy to dice with death in the winter.

Cheers in advance.

 

[Six Speed Stephen]

What tires do you have on your car as stock?

I put on DWS 06+ for winter and they're incredible.

 

[Aero]

Congrats on hitting 10k.
I plan to go with these as I like all season tires if the choice is available.
Continental Tires

 

[Evotion]

Just got the originals on still.
Goodyear F1.

I don't care about the seasons. Just want the best tyres for grip/roadholding.
Not worried about temperatures either.

Common sense dictates that I get the Cup 2 tyres designed for the car.

 

[Six Speed Stephen]

Just got the originals on still.
Goodyear F1.

I don't care about the seasons. Just want the best tyres for grip/roadholding.
Not worried about temperatures either.

Common sense dictates that I get the Cup 2 tyres designed for the car.

Tire compounds care about the seasons tho

 

[Evotion]

Ha.

Okay, i promise to take it easy in cold conditions and not slide it.

 

[ADC]

 

[ADC]

I'm nowhere near your mileage yet, but I've found the Goodyears to be "fine" if I take it easy in the cold (certainly good enough that I can't be arsed swapping sets, and just steal my wife's car in super cold / icy weather), so I'll likely stick with those. Not sure I'd ever say the same about Cup 2s... they are next-level death traps in the cold or wet IMO

Have heard others saying they changing to PS4S and such, but meh... I like em, and have used em before, but figure Gavan tuned the Goodyears like he did for a reason

 

[jamesbxxx]

I was fortunate enough to chat with Gavin at Donington (Lotus was there supporting an early GT4 race) and he was pretty passionate about the level of development that went into choosing the Goodyear LTS tyres. I’m going to be sticking with them for sure. I bet PS4s would have been on the development list…

 

[Andy H]

PS4s or PS5s would be at the top of my shopping list. They had amazing grip on my M3 previously. They offer a really good balance between summer and winter useability too. It would interesting to know what made Lotus select the Goodyears.

 

[Mistral]

PS4s or PS5s would be at the top of my shopping list. They had amazing grip on my M3 previously. They offer a really good balance between summer and winter useability too. It would interesting to know what made Lotus select the Goodyears.

I imagine that the Goodyear deal was better than Michelin's for the Emira standard tyre so Gavan might have had to be passionate about them. They're certainly noisier than PS4s I've had on previous BMWs and I intend changing to them or PS5s when the time comes.

 

[ADC]

Ever get that Groundhog Day feeling?

Goodyear or Michelin durability ???

Won't be using the car on track (probably). Will be mostly for leisure/fun purposes. Cup2s are much higher end and costly so a better deal because the price is the same for FE. However, it's been said that Cup2s wear out pretty fast. I have seen 10,000-20,000kms quoted for the CUP2s...

www.emiraforum.com

 

[crashprash]

Based on this, I would like to go with AD09 (cheaper than Cup2) but they don't make the oem size for the rear

 

[Rupes]

As others have said, I wouldn’t suggest summer tires unless you’re a little closer to the equator. Breaking the tires lose is fun when predictable, but not fun when unpredictable due to cold weather unless you’re ready for another car (courtesy of your insurance company).

I think you’d just have more fun in general with all seasons since you can get similar performance year round.

 

[Nestor]

The factory Pilot Cup 2s have been fantastic. I intended to use the car even in cold weather, but not when it snowed. So for winter, I swapped them with Pilot Sport 4 All Seasons, and I am very happy with them. I plan to run them well into spring before swapping back. I was impressed with the wet performance of the PS4S ties on my other car, and these PS4AS are surely comparable in wet conditions.

 

[T6061]

Absolute Lotus in the Nov/Dec issue interviewed Gavin Kershaw and this very question came up. Here is the question and his response...

"AL: As Emiras come up for tyre replacement, how important is it for owners to stick with the OEM fitment specific to their suspension selection?

GK: There is one thing that will ruin the handling of any Lotus car, that is not putting the OEM or Lotus recommended tyres on it. And this applies as much to our legacy sports cars from decades ago as it does to the Emira. We work with our tyre partners right from the start of the development programme to develop the best solution for ride, handling, wet grip, dry grip and to deliver those important Lotus dynamic requirements I described earlier, namely: safe, confidence-inspiring, linear, predictable and engaging. I will not go into detail about what makes one tyre different to another - it is an engineering challenge in its own right - except to say it isn't all about tread patten or rubber compound; there are so many variables, including tyre wall stiffness, the design and material used in the carcass - and everything has to work in harmony with each other. A non-Lotus recommended tyre might feel quick, or sprightly but this will be a false positive - it will be worse - trust me on this! We have spent so much time with our tyre partners chasing perfection that you will not find an off-the-shelf tyre which will give better results."

I've been happy with the Goodyear's but don't have to contend with temps much below the high 40's here in Southern California so no need for all season/winter tires. I just passed 10,000 miles and have plenty of tread depth left front and rear and wear appears to my eye to be pretty even. I have yet to break the rear end loose on the street (no track experience) even when the G-meter hits 1.0-1.2 and when I'm in Track Mode. As for noise compared to the PS4's that I have on the Tesla, I'm guessing the NVH characteristics of the tires themselves would be less of a factor than the sound deadening differences between different cars. I would think any BMW would have more sound deadening materials deployed than the Emira. YMMV!

 

[Eagle7]

I would be fine with the Goodyears if they weren't so darned loud on certain types of road surface. They literally roar to the point where you wouldn't be able to have a conversation on the phone if you needed to. My Alfa has Michelin all seasons on it and over those same sections of road, they get louder than normal too, but nowhere near as loud as the Goodyears on the Emira. When it warms up in the spring, I'm going to take the time to put the car up on the Quickjack, and remove the wheel liners to see about putting noise dampening material on the backs of them. Hopefully that will make enough of a difference to be worthwhile.

 

[T6061]

I would be fine with the Goodyears if they weren't so darned loud on certain types of road surface. They literally roar to the point where you wouldn't be able to have a conversation on the phone if you needed to. My Alfa has Michelin all seasons on it and over those same sections of road, they get louder than normal too, but nowhere near as loud as the Goodyears on the Emira. When it warms up in the spring, I'm going to take the time to put the car up on the Quickjack, and remove the wheel liners to see about putting noise dampening material on the backs of them. Hopefully that will make enough of a difference to be worthwhile.

To your point, I’m guessing your Alpha has more sound deadening material on board than the Emira offers. In tour mode on smooth blacktop the Emira can seem almost civilized. As soon as the ruts/expansion strips/concrete/potholes enter the conversation, combined with the sport/track exhaust valve programming, the Emira can definitely let you know that you might want to wait to have that big, important call/conversation later. Might as well turn off the music as well because you can’t hear it at that point! I’m not sure that any tire would make a dramatic difference!

 

[Eagle7]

To your point, I’m guessing your Alpha has more sound deadening material on board than the Emira offers. In tour mode on smooth blacktop the Emira can seem almost civilized. As soon as the ruts/expansion strips/concrete/potholes enter the conversation, combined with the sport/track exhaust valve programming, the Emira can definitely let you know that you might want to wait to have that big, important call/conversation later. Might as well turn off the music as well because you can’t hear it at that point! I’m not sure that any tire would make a dramatic difference!

Yes I've noticed that most of the time, the Emira noise level is fine. It's only when on certain types of asphalt, and grooved concrete freeways that the noise level changes to a roar.

 

[eclat2emira]

I was fortunate enough to chat with Gavin at Donington (Lotus was there supporting an early GT4 race) and he was pretty passionate about the level of development that went into choosing the Goodyear LTS tyres. I’m going to be sticking with them for sure. I bet PS4s would have been on the development list…

Good info - this is the key for me! I was lucky enough to be driven round Hethel test track by Gavan in an Emira - different level awesome.