The Lotus Grand Tourers

I have just watched an episode of "Wheeler Dealers" where Mike Brewer gets the tyres of his Fiat Panda retreaded (to 4*4 spec in his case), by a specialist, at a cost of £50 a corner. It occurred to me that, for those of us looking to replace our 215/50r15 tyres at a sensible price and without a lot of hassle, this could be an option. Obviously, you wouldn't want a trackday car thus fitted, but for those of us, particularly in the southeast where road speeds now rarely exceed 50mph (!) it could be an option. Any thoughts, fellas?

DO NOT

Most people will bash you with big sticks at the word re-tread. But that doesn't exclude you from having your tyres done. That will be en-tyrely your choice. Aviation tyres are always re-treaded when worn, except when found damaged. So it can be safely done. Whether your specialist is up to that standard is another thing. Are 215's really that important ? 205s do the job just as well for southeast slow roads, and the cost for reasonable quality is not much more than your retreads.

I thought remoulds died out years ago TBH. tyres are relatively cheaper these days so I doubt there is a need?

When I was a naive teenager running my first car on a budget I used them, but with life experience I wouldn't even consider them any more. Carcasses wear out as well as treads you know!

Simpatico wrote:........ Carcasses wear out as well as treads you know!

Yes good point too. Check the age stamp on the tyre sidewall. 4 digits will tell you the build week and year. Anything older than 8 years even with good tread depth needs to be considered a playground toy.

Black circles are showing toyo T1rs 215's available for 65 quid if you need them

http://www.blackcircles.com/catalogue/t ... e=33871870

h-s-o, your comparison with aviation retreads is invalid, all aviation parts are manufactured to a much higher standard than car parts, and sources rigidly controlled, however the principle applies, fitting any part to a car that is below maker's spec does not solely involve the owner but also the safety of every road user he encounters, in the case of tyres this is particularly so and do not forget that the owners insurer MUST be informed of any change of size or spec.
anyone who wants to fit retreads at £50 a corner should get a car that can safely use them and sell any car he has that has the slightest pretense to performance.

The point about carcass age is a good one. I shall ditch that idea!
Thanks for all your comments.

Do not confuse aircraft tyres with car tyres, they are not the same.

JERRY,
you put that so much better than i.
cheers

alanbell wrote:JERRY,
you put that so much better than i.
cheers

Alan I will neve be as literate as your good self.

Plus road speeds may not exceed 50mph where you are but that goes for the guy ploughing headlong into you too, so thats 100mph closing speed!

Worth pointing out plane tyres mainly take impact in one vector (straight ahead during landing and takeoff) whereas road tyres are subjected to multiple vectors including lateral which is more likely to tear off a top layer of a remould.

I dont think you will ever see a remould on a porsche or ferrari.

Also - would you want to tell your insurance company you have remoulds? The small print in some insurance documents is very specific to the grade of tyre being used on performance cars.
Using a low performance tyre on a high performance car - Just say no.

MrCoolA wrote:Do not confuse aircraft tyres with car tyres, they are not the same.

You are spot on with that observation, I nearly missed it, but lets roll back to the original question of re-moulds. Option or not? Historical belief is don't touch with a barge pole because it was an uncontrolled industry with inherent failures and no guarantee of quality. Today, in Europe, this is now a regulated industry, just like the aviation world. So now, back to the valid rationale behind aircraft tyres being mentioned. A 75 tonne aircraft will safely land at 185 knots on Dunlop re-moulds. Ergo, the technology used today in the re-mould tyre industry is far superior than that of our younger days and Dunlop use the technology in car tyres too.
Re-mould tyres are not necessarily below spec. Each re-mould is engineered to a specific specification, controlled by ECE Regulations, which will either fit or not fit your vehicle. If the re-tread tyre spec matches that in the car maker’s bumf there is no reason why you cannot fit it. ECE Regulations (European Commission - Enterprise) 108 and 109 came into effect over poor British Standards, making it mandatory for re-moulded tyres to be subject to a type approval test. This ensures that re-tread manufacturers must meet a specified basic standard in terms of the tyres’ suitability for re-treading prior to the process, and their performance after it. It is now illegal to sell re-mould tyres that that do not have the “e” mark standard. A re-mould tyre will be released with a specific rating for use and like all tyres; overloading, sustained high speeds, and under or over-inflation all contribute to increased tyre wear and/or premature failure. If the rating is not for your car type - don't fit it. However, if the re-mould spec is correct for your vehicle you have the option to fit them. The RoSPA mentions re-moulds as performing satisfactorily provided the manufacturer's guidance about maximum vehicle loadings and maximum speeds is followed, just like any tyre. The option to fit a re-mould is still entirely your choice.
As for worn/unsuitable casings, they will be rejected by the manufacturer during the re-tread process as a mandatory requirement of the ECE regs.

hso what a lecture, what are you trying to justify?. if you are such a big fan fit your excel with remoulds and tell your insurers, however fortunately for you and other road users you will not be able to find any in the correct sizes or with the correct speed rating to put on your lotus or any other performance car remould makers are only interested in the popular sizes fitted to common cars 4x4s and lorries. in any case the price differential is simply not worth it even for crawler like a 4x4 fiat panda. if one cannot afford the correct maintenance of any car sell it before it becomes a danger.