Tire Care - Lotus 2005 Elise Owner's Handbook Manual

Always use the size and type of tires recommended
in this handbook.
• Using incorrect tires or tires which are excessively
worn or improperly inflated can cause a crash in
which you can be killed or seriously injured.
• Please note your car is not fitted with a low tire
pressure tell tale lamp so it is especially important
that you regularly check the tire pressures.
When driving on wet roads, surface water is squeezed
out from between the tire and road. However excessive
speed or water depth can overwhelm the water clearing
capability of the tread and lead to a condition called 'aq-
uaplaning' or 'hydroplaning', where the tire rides on a film
of water and provides little or no grip on the road surface,
leading to a loss of control. This condition is more likely
to occur with worn tires having little depth of tread, or with
incorrect tire pressures. Drivers should keep a vigilant
check on tire wear and condition, and moderate their
speed in adverse weather conditions.

Tire Care

Wear indicators are moulded into the bottom of the
tread grooves at intervals around the tire, indicated by
small pointers on the outer tread blocks. The tires should
be replaced before being worn to this minimum legal
tread depth.
The cold tire pressures should be checked every week,
or every 1,000 miles (1,700 km), whichever is the sooner,
and corrections made as necessary. See 'Technical Data'
at the back of the handbook for tire pressures. For track
use, tire condition and pressures should be checked be-
fore each run. Under-inflation will cause excessive wear,
rapid deterioration of the tire sidewalls and heavy steering,
whereas over-inflation results in a hard ride and increased
susceptibility to tire damage. Both conditions will cause a
degradation in the handling qualities.
It is important that the tire pressures are adjusted only
when the Tires are cold (when the car has been standing
for a minimum of 3 hours, or driven less than 1 mile), as
the pressures may increase by 0.3 - 0.5 bar (4 - 8 lb/in²)
when the Tires are warmed to normal running temperature.
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