Wheels & Tires

[Sidecar Bob]

Modern radial tires are directional in nature which means once they're run in one direction they should always run in that direction. Most have arrows on the sidewall to assure this. The Elio front tires will need to be removed from the rim, switched side to side, remounted and rebalanced.

If the wheels are symmetrical, side to side:ie zero offset, they could be switched side to side. ?

Bob

 

[Truett Collins]

Not to mention with the light weight of the vehicle your tire wear will be far less than on a standard vehicle.

 

[Smitty901]

Not to mention with the light weight of the vehicle your tire wear will be far less than on a standard vehicle.

This will depend on the compounds used in the tire it uses. Many motorcycle tires do not get many miles compared to your car.
It will be interesting to see what Cooper tire they go with.

 

[skygazer6033]

The Elio wheels appear to be deeply negative offset common in FWD cars. The only real way to compensate for wear is to rotate side to side and the only way to do that is to move the left tire to the right wheel and vice versa. Not as handy as a normal 4 wheel rotation but probably not needed but every 5000 to 7000 miles. With proper inflation and rotation the Elio tires should easily get 50000 miles probably more per set. There's a good chance the rear tire may last twice as long as the front since the fronts are doing 90% of the work.

 

[skygazer6033]

I haven't seen anything official but read somewhere the tires will be high silicon Low Rolling Resistance tires in something like 135/75/R15 size which is actually a donut spare size (I think that's the size spare on my old Deville). I know temporary spares are not considered to be roadworthy except for temporary use at limited speeds for limited distances. But at least the molds exist for this size so it would just be a matter of using the right cord ply layups and rubber compounds to make it into a real LLR tire.

 

[wheaters]

I've owned cars for forty years and never had cause to swap tyres side to side on the same axle. If the suspension is correctly set up, the wear should be more or less even across the tread width. I tend to drive all my vehicles hard (was always taught to learn the limits of any vehicle by the military and that is my nature in any case). Therefore, I take no chances with tyres, suspension, brakes or steering. Tyres get replaced before they reach the legal minimum tread depth.

 

[Joshua Caldwell]

I replace tires the first time I hydroplane on them. This usually happens a little bit before reaching the recommended replacement tread level... and here in NC I have frequent "opportunities" to hydroplane.

 

[ArthurKent]

I have never bothered to rotate tires in the past 40 years of driving and I've never had any problems, such as uneven wear, etc.
If you are having problems, then your car needs an alignment, not a tire rotation.
My last tires more or less dry rotted before the tread wore off. I once owned an MGB and that car was so light the tires
lasted forever. The Elio weighs about half as much as my MGB. I don't expect to live long enough to wear out a set of tires on
my Elio and I know I'll never have to replace the brake pads. Most Elio owners should never have to either replace tires or need
a brake job, in my estimation.

 

[CrimsonEclipse]

Modern radial tires are directional in nature which means once they're run in one direction they should always run in that direction. Most have arrows on the sidewall to assure this. The Elio front tires will need to be removed from the rim, switched side to side, remounted and rebalanced.

If the wheels are symmetrical, side to side:ie zero offset, they could be switched side to side. ?

Bob

SOME tires are directional. MOST are not.
The directional tires are usually a high performance variety, and/or low profile or have water ejecting properties (like the old Aqua Treads)

This is less likely with the EM Tires which will likely not be directional or low profile.

 

[JEBar]

135(70-75)R15 tires are likely a good compromise as a narrow tire that should be fairly easy to produce with existing equipment. Also 135R15 are somewhat common here in the states for classic cars such as VW beetles, Citroens, and Renaults even though this is a taller (80) sidewall.

it may well be my error but when I checked Pep Boys' website, they do not show having any 135 (70-75)R15's in stock .... neither does Tire Rack .... if Elio goes with tires this size, it appears replacements may not be too easy to find .... if Elio proves to be the only vehicle using them, the price will certainly go up

Jim