[New Product] Lotus OE Tyre Savers

[Bibs]

Lotus are looking into a range of new products to make ownership a more pleasurable experience for us. One of those products is a set of tyre savers and could you please let me know what you think of them. I've got a set of prototypes I've been using for a while and personally I'm a fan. My car doesn't sit for ages but obviously they're going to be a huge bonus to save your tyres from flat spots if you winter the car (shame on you!). What's super useful is that they are very good raising the car enough to get a standard jack under, and also if your car lives in a garage, use the sticky pads to fix them in place on the floor and when you drive in, you know you're in the right spot every time! No more tennis balls tied to the ceiling!

For some peace of mind and getting the jack under the car much easier, and to be fair having a chance of getting the rear undertray off even, I think these would be a good addition to the garage.   

[Redwing]

Any idea of the price @Bibs?

[Bibs]

Price is TBC at present, will update once I know more about it. 

[Bazza 907]

@BibsI've thought about these recently. Club Lotus offer a 10 or 15% discount off plastic looking sets but they seem very generic - to fit wheels/tyres ranging from 13-21 inch or something. 

These seem to fit the Evora wheels really well but would they work as well on 15 inch Esprit wheels/tyres? Are they adjustable or do they come in a range of sizes?

Have to say that they look good and if they prevented square tyres after a long winter lay up I'd definitely buy a set.

[Bibs]

@Redwing and others, what would you expect to pay for these?

@Bazza 907, I'll check to see if they may be available in different sizes. The ones I have as mentioned are prototypes and made to fit my car.

[Greg | ValetPro]

Looks interesting.  How long do cars need to sit before a flat spot apears?

[Bazza 907]

I've found it depends on the weight of the car. The Elise seems to have no problems but the Esprit is a different matter. I've found that a year or two despite the tyre pressures being raised to c40 psi.

Nothing worse than square tyres..

[Xynagy]

I am planning to buy a set for next winter anyway, so would not mind taking a Lotus branded one.

[Redwing]

In terms of pricing, some are available on t'internet from £16/17 a pair, but these may be deemed suitable for a range of tyre sizes. Ones made specifically for the Evora would be of more interest.  Having said that, I do use mine on the road all year round, weather/salt permitting, so haven't felt the need for tyresavers, but during the last lockdown I didn't use it for a six week period. If we should have a prolonged harsh winter spell of weather then I can see this happening again and possibly for longer.  I would be interested to know if anyone can answer @Greg | ValetPro's question about how long tyres can stand before they start deforming. 

[Bibs]

I'd imagine there's a lot of variables, eg ambient temp, tyre pressure, type and age of tyre, weight of car etc so it's hard to say but a cursory browse shows that high performance tyres (soft) parked in the cold with less than ideal pressures can develop flat spots in as little as a couple of weeks. That said, most of the time, a short drive, enough to warm the rubber, will see flat spots disappear however old tyres where the rubber is stiffer might not be so lucky. 

[Bibs]

They'll be looking at a retail of around £350 to £400 for a set of these. Thoughts?

[Techyd]

Wow so almost the cost of a set of tyres then!  I had £80-£100 in my head given the branding, but personally spending that sort of money on a tyre saver versus a generic one seems madness to me, you've got to a) have money to burn and b) not know about cheaper sets!

[CocoPops]

Yeh, about 10x too much @Bibs 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fiamma-Wheel-Saver-cradles-ovalization/dp/B00BTI15DI/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Streetwize-LWACC47-Tyre-Saver/dp/B00BHWO8R6/

Milenco Stacka Tyre Saver Twinpack | Leisure Outlet

Tyre Savers Pair (towsure.com)

Tyre Flat Spot Protectors - Pair (moss-europe.co.uk)

[Barrykearley]

I think lotus have priced these bang on for all the new customers they are getting from Porsche 👍

[Bibs]

You need to be looking at Race Ramps for a better comparison in terms of build and quality. 

https://www.raceramps.co.uk/

You can post a link to some timber at Travis if you like that you can drive onto but not all things are equal. 

That said, if they're too pricey from the supplier they'll not go into production, hence me having prototypes and asking you all the questions. 

[Barrykearley]

Lovely Porsche 

I notice they ain’t on back order either

I’d steer clear of timber at Travis @Bibs - that’ll defo be more expensive in the current climate

[C8RKH]

@Bibs to be honest I'd be looking at £200 a set max.  Do they work with VX220's as well?

Also, not sure how the "front" would last being driven up/over when they were attached to the floor.

 

[Barrykearley]

Only work on lotus and Porsche tyres chap

[C8RKH]

Argh, thought so. Probably some bloody EU ruling to blame.

Edited August 7, 2021 by Bravo73

[Redwing]

At that sort of price, for occasional use, I'm afraid I'm out.

[Bazza 907]

Sorry but I agree at that price they're too expensive.

Max £150-£200 given the alternatives.

[Bibs]

Feedback is all good folks, thanks 👍

[CocoPops]

Sorry, I wasn’t trying to be a pain @Bibs I went and googled tyre savers.

I didn’t come across race ramps etc but deffo too rich for me when a £50 solution exists, albeit without the Lotus badge.

[exeterjeep]

1 hour ago, CocoPops said:

albeit without the Lotus badge.

Buy some decals to fit to a cheap set..

[Bibs]

On 06/08/2021 at 19:42, C8RKH said:

Also, not sure how the "front" would last being driven up/over when they were attached to the floor.

You don't drive over that bit! The more gradual elevation is the other end and that's the bit you drive up and down! That said, when they were demo'd at Hendy's Open Day a couple of months back they were driven off on the wrong end and they're still fine as you can see!