You are right and wrong. The weight distribution is the source of the problem. Lotus did the best they could do with the technology and engineering available at the time. They also had to meet the price point so they had to stay in budget using as many off-the-shelf parts as possible and also save on tooling and production costs. What we have is the best compromise they could achieve while minimizing all of the bad effects. Pretty good for a 1st gen production car. I am sure it would have gotten better and better. For instance there is no rear sway bar. The car was not meant to be a track car but it really isn't a sports car either. Anyway, the design of the suspension is very dependent on the size of the tires with no brake proportioning and no ABS or traction control to mitigate the bad characteristics of the car. On new cars with drive-by-wire, you can tailor the feel and the control effects so you can't get yourself into trouble. They couldn't do that in 1980.
You are right and wrong. The weight distribution is the source of the problem. Lotus did the best they could do with the technology and engineering available at the time. They also had to meet the price point so they had to stay in budget using as many off-the-shelf parts as possible and also save on tooling and production costs. What we have is the best compromise they could achieve while minimizing all of the bad effects. Pretty good for a 1st gen production car. I am sure it would have gotten better and better. For instance there is no rear sway bar. The car was not meant to be a track car but it really isn't a sports car either. Anyway, the design of the suspension is very dependent on the size of the tires with no brake proportioning and no ABS or traction control to mitigate the bad characteristics of the car. On new cars with drive-by-wire, you can tailor the feel and the control effects so you can't get yourself into trouble. They couldn't do that in 1980.
Im not sure why everyone gets so concerned about having matching tires.
I think it is more of a concern putting too narrow of tires on the rear.
I have tried several different setups on my car and 235/60r15 BFGs on the back and whatever the highest rated 195/60r14 at the time (here and on tirerack) is what the car gets. Put the white lettering in, or leave the white lettering out on the rears and use tire stickers on the front.
Agreed. Like I said in the other thread, there is no such thing as matching fronts and rear on a DeLorean, except for aesthetics...
A bigger (wider) tire spreads the weight out over a larger area so the pressure per square inch is lower so while you have more surface area in contact with the road, you have a lighter pressure. Less grip. Don't confuse this with the air pressure inside the tire.
A bigger (wider) tire spreads the weight out over a larger area so the pressure per square inch is lower so while you have more surface area in contact with the road, you have a lighter pressure. Less grip. Don't confuse this with the air pressure inside the tire.
It is not that cut and dry. All other things being equal (car weight, air pressure, etc), a wider tire will give a car more grip, with exceptions.
For our cars with a stock motor and with regular street driving, tire width probably makes little noticeable difference. Wide tire, skinny tire, go with what you like. Taking your car to the track? You should care more about the size and likely choose the wider tire for... wait for it... better grip.
Jared L.
June '81, manual, black inter. VIN 2087
Other cars: 2012 Toyota Sienna, 2007 Mazda 6, 1999 Jeep Cherokee
DeLorean blog: http://deloreanblog.blogspot.com/
That's great news. I'll be honest, I'm glad someone is [possibly] doing this but I would be much happier if it were not Yokohama. I went to their website as the article said they were avaliable. That site sucks wet dog fur. I figure I got about 3 years life left out of mine, maybe by then they will have tires for us and a way to order them.
Edit
After more research most of us are out of luck. Only available in Japan. Also not really the look I wanted but I would rock them just the same.
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Originally Posted by David T
