Andres Sta. Maria wrote:
>
> Hello Mike,
>
> Just old age creeping in, I guess. I recall my Honda S800 in the late 60s
> came with SP Sports as well. They were quite forgiving and handled well,
> but the new, low-profile tires were just coming out then, so I changed to
> wider wheels and progresssively fatter tires. In retrospect, I should have
> kept to the original wheels and the SP Sports. But I was a young man then
> and performance was everything!
>
> I have been using SP Sports on the Elan since I acquired the car, and
> enjoyed them these many years. Of course, tire technology has changed for
> the better; it is just that the car looks right on them, and they seem to
> suit the softly sprung Elan very well. I was talking to some old friends at
> the last sports car club meet, and we agreed that sometimes it's refreshing
> to see an old sports car, like a TR4, for instance, in its base-price form,
> with painted dashboard, steel wheels, and hub caps. I feel the same with
> Elan, and like the steel KO wheels with cutouts mimicking the Lotus triangle
> and the familiar SP Sport tread pattern peeking out from under the fenders.
>
> For the same reason, I switched to Dunlop race tires from Avons on the 23.
>
> I switched wheels in the Elan for racing only because there is a potential
> crack problem with the original wheels and they are getting rare. But I
> agree that modern tires with a reasonable aspect ratio might be nice to use.
> It's just that in my old age, priorities seem to change ....
>
> Now, if it's legal and the roads are fairly good, what about "period" Dunlop
> CR65s on the Elan? I've seen them on Elans on the road in England!
>
> Regards,
>
> Andres
> MSCC, Manila
Hello Andres,
Thanks for your insights on the tires. I don't feel that low
aspect
tires look correct on a stock Elan either. A friend put 185-60-13 tires
on his Elan, and was most unhappy, and removed them for that very
reason.
It's not outside the realm of possibility that the set of Dunlops that
were on my car were a bum set, or had been improperly treated by a PO. I
just wanted to make the point that , over the years I have seen many
Elans without the "stock" tires, yet they looked and performed nicely.
I am not familiar with the Dunlop 65 tire, perhaps you could enlighten
me.
Also, what size tire do you use on the 26R wheel?
Thanks, Mike Braun
|