I'm hoping the assembled wisdom here can give me suggestions for some new
tires. The car is a Lotus Europa, and I've been running 205/60-13 Comp T/As
on the stock (alloy) wheels. The problem is that the stock rims are only
5.5" wide, the minimum allowed for the tires (and a bitch to mount, I'm
told) and the combination of light car, wide tires and narrow rims means
that I have to run about 19/24 psi front/rear to get even wear across the
tread. At those pressures, there's too much understeer on braking and
oversteer under power for my taste. Pushing the pressure up improves
the response greatly, but it lowers the ultimate grip and sharpens the
breakaway, not too surprising since then only the center of the tread is
earning its keep.
The real answer is wider rims, I know, but I don't want to flare the fenders
to fit them (and I'd need to; the 205's barely squeek by as it is).
Plan B is to search for tires designed for a light car, that don't
need 800 lbs per corner to keep their shoulders on the road. That's why
I'm here; anyone know of any such tires? You Lotus 7 owners out there must
have run into this problem. Any suggestions on tire brands to look at?
Thanks in advance,
Dave Van Horn uunet!microsoft!davevh
|