The Lotus Grand Tourers

Phantasm wrote:https://m.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp? ... =25HR5EAST
This is in the u.s., so they are DOT approved. If that helps?

These are all season, is that a consideration?
If not, there is also a performance version, slightly more dinero.
Not sure if Amazon will ship but they have some other options too.

Legal to fit in the UK as a personal import, but not legal to sell here. Insurers will need to know about them unless they have European type approval as well as DOT. Different markets, different requirements.

H rating isn't a major issue - UK insurers are mostly OK with lower speed ratings on winter tyres (see https://www.abi.org.uk/globalassets/sit ... itment.pdf ), but it's always best to check unless you can find a definitive statement from them.

Wow, you guys have some crazy rules!!!
No, We're free to put whatever DOT approved tire we please, and with that, in many states that don't do inspections, they'd never know or probably really even care to check if they weren't. Maybe, just maybe, in the case of an accident, you might be found partially liable if your tires weren't 'legal' but the insurance companies certainly don't go checking or asking about tire size/rating/legality when insuring a driver/vehicle.

I also have to think that an H-speed rated tire (130mph) on a car that does 135 shouldn't be an issue in a country that has speed limits well below those threshholds. ON a track, you might want to swap out.

I also don't get the aversion to All Seasons in Europe as a whole. Most U.S. drivers use all seasons and that's it. If they live in VERY snowy areas they will swap to winters and performance car guys will put summers on. most Any new car here will come with All seasons.

Phantasm wrote: I also don't get the aversion to All Seasons in Europe as a whole. Most U.S. drivers use all seasons and that's it. If they live in VERY snowy areas they will swap to winters and performance car guys will put summers on. most Any new car here will come with All seasons.

Nor do I - except that some countries have legal requirements for winter tyres in some areas so you have to swap or suffer bad tyre performance in the summer.

I ran Vredestein Quatrac all seasons through 2016. Performed very well. The Uniroyals have similar properties but aren't officially rated for snow, so they don't count as all-season for rating purposes.

In the past, I've run summers for 6 months and winters for 6 - which is about how long a set of rears was lasting anyway

I have used a set of Nankang 205/50 15s since 2010. Good in the dry, OK oin the wet, nervy in the damp. Only done about 4,000 miles but wear rate is OK so far. Not sure they are available anymore, but they have served me well enough, even coped with a couple of sprint track days

They are still going and list a 205/50R15

http://www.nankangtyre.co.uk/nankang-tyre-range

FWIW, I am running these currently:
http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Maxxi ... htm/price/
in 205/50r15
I've been very happy with them so far. I haven't tracked them, so can't speak to that, but day-to-day they have been good. I also haven't had much wet experience, but then I'm not trying to wreck my car in the rain. I can't break them loose off the line during acceleration in the dry, not sure if the 912 has the guts to break any proper tire loose though really?

Phantasm wrote:F...........................................


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I can't break them loose off the line during acceleration in the dry, not sure if the 912 has the guts to break any proper tire loose though really?

Since fitting the lighter steel flywheel I can spin the rear tyres - which are new Bridgestones - if I drop the clutch at 3000- 4000 rpm in the dry on tarmac.

Engine is std SE but with an EWP but it's the light flywheel ( and new organic clutch plate) that's made it possible.

For one of my previous cars, it was owned by a guy who was in a kit-car club and he went onto mainland Europe as the support car driver, there's a photo of it on thick snow. That was on semi-slicks at the time (Toyos)and I have to admit they stuck to the road really well even on ice.