I got new rubbers today

[mopho]

And they showed up sticky :D

[slomove]

Looking good :)

....but I suppose expensive :( ????

I will need some new ones pretty soon. The crappy Yoko ES100 road tires that I use were gone in less than 10,000 miles with very uneven wear.

Admittedly I paid only $60 per. I guess you get what you pay for.


Gert

[mopho]

They were pricey, but about what I expected. I considered cheaper tires, but couldn't find anything in the same size and by all accounts the CR500s are the best suited for the car

10k miles is a lot for a high performance tire, my current set of CR500's have 8k on them (Al did the first 4k) and I suspect that 70% of the wear on them was under my watch :D
I'd be surprised if I get 8k out of them this time around


Folks in the Lotus Elise community are quite fond of the Toyo Proxes R888 and they are considerably cheaper but couldn't get them in the exact size

[slomove]

I don't really complain about the 10k miles (although it is surprising for a tire designed for much heavier cars). I just find it strange that the wear is so unsymmetrical. Dion Davis had the same issue with these tires.

Anyway, I have been looking at the R888 and they do make them in my preferred size. Oh well, maybe after the next bonus...

Gert

[mopho]

On a normal car you would have gotten 5k ;)

I know the Elise folks are getting 4-5k out of their tires if they drive them hard. I think my father has been through 4 sets of tires on his car already

This place has a pretty good price on R888's tireshoppe.com

Had I found this earlier, it might have changed my decision, it would have saved me $400

[moosetestbestanden]

I think Stokes has a set or 2 at the store. He has a couple of sets of ACB10s too.

[JohnCh]

I have the R888s and like them a lot. They stick very well when cold (unlike my old A032Rs) and are reasonably priced. A lot heavier than the CR500 though.

-John

[slomove]

Yes I noticed....19lbs and 22 lbs respectively

That IS heavy!

[Sean]

Dad used to say, "Never try to save money on tires or toilet paper; they will save your ass." There's lots of good ways to save money, but tires definitely isn't one of them (or four of them).

[mopho]

Seems it was a good thing I went with the CR500's, anything else would have been too big to fit under the front fenders. There was barely any clearance with my old tires, but with these the right front just barely rubs a little. I was able to bend the stantions just a hair, but there is now just a paper thin space.

Anyone have any experience bending the stantions? Would they need to be heated up a bit?

[Doug Liedblad]

Morgan

I bent mine enough to fit 16" wheels under them.

With a low profile tire but still bigger in diameter (and a bit wider) than my
14" wheels.

No heating required, just a cheater bar and bit of care.

Doug

[mopho]

I guess I need a bigger bar.

Was concerned about ripping the fenders off

[slomove]

I guess I need a bigger bar.

Was concerned about ripping the fenders off

This photo shows the proper technique :) (admittedly involuntary execution en route due to a driving mishap)

Chris, no string, plywood and gum involved ;-) only using the jack and a long socket

Gert

Photo by Johnny Lieberman

[Doug Liedblad]

Morgan

Forgot to say I took the wings off the stays first.

Gert has the right technique too.

Doug

[mopho]

The wings on my car are glued on to the stantions