5 minutes ago, nta16 said:

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything.

 

Yeap good for some of the car's computer systems but not any good for full use of the wheel and tyre in rotation of the wheels on the car to get use of five wheels and tyres rather than four and possibly the one in the boot never used.

 

Take no notice of me I think the now decades old fashion for bigger and wider wheels and low profile tyres is just that particularly on family runabout type cars and motorised shopping trollies but I know I'm in a tiny minority, as always it's each to there own. 🙂

 

I've just proved how unfashionable I am by swapping my Rapid from 16s to 15s and getting the standard spare wheel "kit" instead of foam stuff. Now have improved compliance over road surface and cheaper tyres (the tyres on the 16s needed changing anyway). I've never been a fan of big wheels and low profile tyres.

11 minutes ago, nta16 said:

think the now decades old fashion for bigger and wider wheels and low profile tyres is just that

Yeah but naw but yeah but naw but...

 

I like good grip to help you out with a mistake, but no to the extent of destroying the ride with 20% Carlos Fandango Drift Specials.

I am of a similar thought and much prefer narrower steel wheels. My dearly departed Jazz had 175/65 R14 Yokohama 4S tyres on steel rims. Easy to source and cheapish to buy.

I had a SAAB 99 (two in fact) shod with 155 HR 15s and it would climb any hill in the snow. The only time I ever got stuck was snow up to the level of the front bumper.

I had a Volvo S40 with alloys and they leaked like nothing on earth. I ended up forking out to have them restored and after that I never needed to put any more air in them.

Through choice give me bog standard steel wheels every time.

I fancied getting four season tyres for the Fabia but they are like hens teeth. And those that are available are  twice the price of similar tyres for the Jazz

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything.

 

6 minutes ago, NeilMH said:

I've just proved how unfashionable I am by swapping my Rapid from 16s to 15s and getting the standard spare wheel "kit" instead of foam stuff. Now have improved compliance over road surface and cheaper tyres (the tyres on the 16s needed changing anyway). I've never been a fan of big wheels and low profile tyres.

I'm probably older than you so wonder if 15" wheels are still bigger than is actually needed, other than for cosmetics of the wheel arches of course, depends on the brakes fitted of course but then often the brakes on many cars are just mine's bigger than yours sort of thing.

 

Being used to the, formerly, more developed Westfields 😊 a mate told me that the race boys and girls were going back to 13" from 14" and I remember when Caterham first put the lovely Suzuki Cappuccino engine in and used steel (!!) wheels with 155 tyres I bet that was beyond most potential and actual buyers.   The Lotus Elise engineers apparently wanted "skinny" wheels and tyres on the original car but the marketing lads said the cars wouldn't sell well without fashionable sizes.  (Just seen you had an Elise, coincidence only that I mentioned it).

 

 

23 minutes ago, KenONeill said:

I like good grip to help you out with a mistake, but no to the extent of destroying the ride with 20% Carlos Fandango Drift Specials.

Grip is more about tyre design and compounds than outright size.  Sometimes less is more and you'd make less mistakes with more progressive involvement but it's good that physics is considered rather than thinking the car's computer systems can better all road or driving conditions, particularly from the driver.  I declare, I am not a particularly good driver.

 

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything.

 

Friends used to live above the snow line at Castel Bolton, (real so they kept telling me) Yorkshire and with a sloping drive their Scooby got snowed in and they said even the farmer's Landies couldn't get up the road to the village and the only vehicle that made it was an even then very old Vauxhall Nova, little engine and skinny wheels and tyres. 

 

SAABs, Volvo, Honda - what on earth brought you over to VWSkoda!!

 

For season tyres you could put up a thread here or on the Wheel Zone or Tyre Zone, what about buying a set of s/h wheels in a different size for the  winter tyres(?).

 

38 minutes ago, nta16 said:

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything.

 

I'm probably older than you so wonder if 15" wheels are still bigger than is actually needed, other than for cosmetics of the wheel arches of course, depends on the brakes fitted of course but then often the brakes on many cars are just mine's bigger than yours sort of thing.

 

Being used to the, formerly, more developed Westfields 😊 a mate told me that the race boys and girls were going back to 13" from 14" and I remember when Caterham first put the lovely Suzuki Cappuccino engine in and used steel (!!) wheels with 155 tyres I bet that was beyond most potential and actual buyers.   The Lotus Elise engineers apparently wanted "skinny" wheels and tyres on the original car but the marketing lads said the cars wouldn't sell well without fashionable sizes.  (Just seen you had an Elise, coincidence only that I mentioned it).

 

 

Grip is more about tyre design and compounds than outright size.  Sometimes less is more and you'd make less mistakes with more progressive involvement but it's good that physics is considered rather than thinking the car's computer systems can better all road or driving conditions, particularly from the driver.  I declare, I am not a particularly good driver.

 

I had 14s on the Westfield, then 13s on the first Caterham, 14s on the second - (both were very progressive and predictable) .....can't remember what was on the Elise but it was early S1. The Sevenesque cars I owned all had better ride quality than one might expect (but all had de-dion suspension not live axle). Had to have 15s on Rapid due to brakes. Some people used to put 16s on Westfields etc and I thought they made them much more skittish and less "feelsome" (on the road - on track it's different of course). To my mind the handling is compromised on the road with very low profile tyres because the car feels unsettled but this might just be me.

 

This was the Elise - think they look like 15s

 

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything.

 

(Partial O/T warning)

 

16" 😄

 

My mate's had his (factory built) N-reg ZEi 130 for over 25 years now and that's always been on 14" which makes me think it's a Clubman (take it to the track more) version as my new 1996 (P-reg Dealer not factory built) ZEi was on 15", as were the factory built Euro SEiGHTs.  Plus his didn't have a heater whereas all mine were road going versions with heater (needed in winter and summer).

 

All had independent rear suspension but I've only had de-dion suspension when I had a Rover P6 and that was so comfortable that I'd prefer to sit in the back as a passenger.

 

Looks like 15" on your Elise but the body colour makes such a difference to how thinks look on such a car.  I remember swapping drives with an early Elise on a club road event and I'm used to soft braking so even though I was told about the early Elise brake feel I took a bit of persuading to push the pedal harder and later.  It reminded me when I test drove the new MGF and the brakes were very good compared to what I was used to and I thought that was fine as long as another MGF was behind.  All road stuff I don't do roundy-round stuff except on very few times with restrictions.

 

I loved the feel of the Elise, a metal tray flexing at four corners at once (forget the correct word) and the interior but the long gear lever, sills for getting in and out and the roof were a different matter but I believe bikini tops are now available.  The Vauxhall had a plastic kiddies toy looking dash and radio but of course had the Toyota engine so a lot to offer (not that I'd know as I've never even driven one). 😄

 

Edited 21 January, 20233 yr by nta16
spelling

Non servo brakes take a bit of getting used to - just have to stand on them. Half-roof for Seven - great invention!

The Elise had 15's shod with 195/50/15, I know because I have a pair of track day tyres from an Elise on the back of my Fabia, nice and sticky and good for cocking a wheel.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything.

 

Sorry I've mislead you, it was the early (front?) pads on the earlier Elise that gave more of a track feel to the pedal, hard, and press later, whether they needed a bit of warming too I can't remember.  I was very used to non-servo brakes, Spridget and Westies.  I compared my MG BGT with servo against a non-servo B roadster and allowing for the difference in weight, car and tyres the braking distance was of course the same but different pedal feel, the different systems suited the different versions of the model I thought.  The tyres of course make a big difference too.

 

Edited 21 January, 20233 yr by nta16
spelling

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything.

 

5 minutes ago, sepulchrave said:

195/50/15

IIRC far from the original idea of the Lotus engineers then but of course engineers often make amendments - but never mistakes. 😉  😁

 

More (thread) drifting than a Halford's car park.  Early Elise with roundy-round driver of the time. - 

11 minutes ago, nta16 said:

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything.

 

IIRC far from the original idea of the Lotus engineers then but of course engineers often make amendments - but never mistakes. 😉  😁

 

More (thread) drifting than a Halford's car park.  Early Elise with roundy-round driver of the time. - 

/cdn-cgi/mirage/e4627ed88efe9d3b076896e3f3e5b590bb3c755f7ccf24a502b721b4c010cd16/1280/https://www.briskoda.net/forums/uploads/monthly_2023_01/sbmch5.jpg.14febe33bde0d05555919e3b007eeb31.jpg

 

A car as light as the Elise doesn't need bigger tyres any more than the Fabia does, big fat German cars need big fat tyres.

2 hours ago, nta16 said:

SAABs, Volvo, Honda - what on earth brought you over to VWSkoda!!

 

It was a distressed purchase. I needed a car quick. The Fabia was nearby, at a price I could almost afford, a full MOT and looked okay. I have never ever owned a VAG vehicle but neither had I owned a Honda (or any Japanese car) before I bought the Jazz.

A car to me is purely a means of getting about. Don't really worry what it looks like, colour or toys. As long as it starts, stops, keeps me dry and does more than 20 mpg it will do for me.

17 minutes ago, Jocko said:

It was a distressed purchase. I needed a car quick. The Fabia was nearby, at a price I could almost afford, a full MOT and looked okay. I have never ever owned a VAG vehicle but neither had I owned a Honda (or any Japanese car) before I bought the Jazz.

A car to me is purely a means of getting about. Don't really worry what it looks like, colour or toys. As long as it starts, stops, keeps me dry and does more than 20 mpg it will do for me.

Nothing wrong with that. Having been around in the era when they often wouldn't start, didn't keep you dry and sometimes didn't get 20mpg. My first car - a Standard 10 - only met one of those criteria!

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything.

 

2 hours ago, sepulchrave said:

A car as light as the Elise doesn't need bigger tyres any more than the Fabia does, big fat German cars need big fat tyres.

I think you got your reference tables the other way round to what I mean, not wrong just needs adjusting.  😉  And the little overweight German cars also get wide tyres, needed or not

 

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything.

 

2 hours ago, Jocko said:

It was a distressed purchase. I needed a car quick. The Fabia was nearby, at a price I could almost afford, a full MOT and looked okay. I have never ever owned a VAG vehicle but neither had I owned a Honda (or any Japanese car) before I bought the Jazz.

A car to me is purely a means of getting about. Don't really worry what it looks like, colour or toys. As long as it starts, stops, keeps me dry and does more than 20 mpg it will do for me.

Well you seem to put more effort than most into your ownership, some makes and or models will reward you much than others for this.

 

I like your idea of the remote pressure valve for the tyre in the boot but about once a year you may still probably want to take the wheel out to inspect the tyre.

 

Am i missing something here, the original poster just asked for a pressure for his spare wheel. End of the day, the only requirement is for the rim not to touch the tarmac while getting car home at reduce speed dictated on rim.

I do not want to damage the "get you home tyre" by running at a ridiculously low pressure. Keeping the rim off the road will prevent damage to the rim but as I know from experience, five miles can destroy a tyre if it is only firm enough to keep the tyre off the road.

12 hours ago, Jocko said:

I do not want to damage the "get you home tyre" by running at a ridiculously low pressure. Keeping the rim off the road will prevent damage to the rim but as I know from experience, five miles can destroy a tyre if it is only firm enough to keep the tyre off the road.

Which I was not really advising, perhaps rather clumsily clarifying what your actual requirements were for those going off on a tangent. At least we all now know a lot more about a Lotus. 2 pages of posts on a tyre pressure question.

14 minutes ago, KeithCheetham said:

Which I was not really advising, perhaps rather clumsily clarifying what your actual requirements were for those going off on a tangent. At least we all now know a lot more about a Lotus. 2 pages of posts on a tyre pressure question.

 

Haha, I know, it's mad isn't it, used to drive me up the wall, it's like the poor OP's question got completely buried under an avalanche of Scrabble tiles!

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything.

 

@KeithCheetham your clumsy attempt at sarcasm was off mark as the OP question, and later related question, was answered and clarified early on in the thread so there was no need for anyone to read further posts, related or drift, if they didn't want to.

 

@sepulchrave you contributed to thread drift halfway through Page 1 and put two more posts about Elise tyres on Page 2 so now your upset is partially self-inflicted and anyway as the OP question, and later related question, was answered and clarified early on in the thread so there was no need for anyone to read or contribute further posts, related or drift, if they didn't want to.  You obviously have  been corrupted into thread drift.  😉

 

Serious question: why don't one or both of you become Moderators then you might be able to better control what you want to see in the threads (or buy the site and have the strict control you want)?

 

Wonder how many groans I get for this post.  😄

 

1 hour ago, sepulchrave said:

 

Haha, I know, it's mad isn't it, used to drive me up the wall, it's like the poor OP's question got completely buried under an avalanche of Scrabble tiles!

 

Please share with me your secret!

 

As long as it does not involve battery charging, GT85, invasive computer systems or 35mm cubes of old sponge I am up for it 🤣

Edited 22 January, 20233 yr by J.R.

Whoops - I also contributed to the off topic matter - I'm just going off to give myself a damn good thrashing and promise never to do it again 😜 

1 hour ago, nta16 said:

Serious question: why don't one or both of you become Moderators then you might be able to better control what you want to see in the threads (or buy the site and have the strict control you want)?

 

Because it's like 'wanting' to become a traffic warden!

 

Also, it genuinely doesn't really bother me any more.

That is the whole thing with forums. Like any good conversation the thread wanders off onto other subjects. Nobody is worse for it than me.