Best Tires for the Lotus Elise

Great Sport Touring Tire, particularly on wet. Bought in 2019 and used every year since then as "winter tire" on my Lotus Elise.
I also tried it on track with my Elise for several sessions on different days, and it worked pretty good for a road tire. Great handling and feedback, but of course goes a bit on overheat after 8-9 laps. On the road they are very good: nice confort, low resistance, nice handling and excellent grip on wet conditions (breaking and cornering too). Excellent wear also. So this tire has been quite a positive surprise to me.

tires bought for trackdays for my Lotus Elise S1.... I did 10 runs of 10 laps on the Pole Mécanique d'Alès and I am very disappointed... I had the same sensations as with Yoko 701 (road sport) but with a little more endurance. So not semi-slicks like the old Advan 08r!!!
They slide very quickly well before the limit of the car .... depending on the pressure you put (to try to find the right one), they either squeal or they groan!
In short, total disappointment, do not buy for the track... and on the road, the 701 is just as effective and less expensive!

Very good street performance tire option for those with 17" rims and below, and want to move away from track tires. I been using AD08R for years but decided to switch to a less track focus tire - I do less track days now and want something safer when it rains. Still can do my usual fast road stuff with the RE004 when dry, and I can push the car more when wet compared to a track tire. Not sure about tire noise as my engine/exhaust is loud. Really nice road tires to have.

If you need a Semi Tire with wet performance, then the 052 is the right one. Maybe another Semi is better in the dry but I am very sure that the wet performance is lower! If you need a semi that also performs in the rain, then the 052 is the right choice for you. There may be other semis that are better in the dry, but oh I'm sure the performance in the rain is worse.

I use this tire for mostly track. Great tire for running hard, it likes a little heat. Very predictable! Good wear for a track use tire. Not really made for the wet. Limited channels to run off water but for dry, great tire.

I use the R1R's for summer street tire and occasional track sessions. Great summer tire, works in wet and dry on the streets. Very balanced feel. On track this tire performs very well. Prefers a little heat which is easily attained. Very predictable!

prefer them to the Toyo R888R's I had before. Less tramlining and similar to more grip and more confidence in it's abilities.

These are a replacement for my AD08R on a Lotus Elise. New compound to meet EU regs. They are terrible in comparison. Squeely when pushed and lack grip consistancy. They are clearly a retrograde step and Yokohama are being misleading in marketing them under the "AD0" nomenclature. Such as a shame as the A08R('s) were the go to standard for Lotus enthusiasts. These are getting a bad reputation from many car forums. I will not be buying these again and neither will many others. Pull your socks up Yokohama....

I drove the tire in 205/45/16 front and 235/40/17 rear on a Lotus Elise with around 250 hp.
The tire was bought purely for track use, I can not comment on street behavior.
I drive sessioned events with session between 30 and 45 min driving, 45 min break, session, break etc. In my experience this can be quite demanding for a tire as they can not fully cool down in between and some tires tend to overheat at the end of the day.
On a roadcourse I found this tire to have a relatively short warm up time, even though some people commented otherwise. Normally the tire reached operating temperatures within a few laps and cold grip is as bad as one would expect, which means limited. However, this tire is really good in taking the punishment for the whole day without any overheating issues. It is the first tire that I have in this price range, that last a whole day.

I found the tire to be quite sensitive to pressure changes. The behavior of the tire can completely change within 0.1 bar pressure. When underinflated the grip is not so much the problem as is very numb feedback about grip levels and heavily decreased steering information. I settled at 1.8 bar front and 2.0 bar rear when hot but I feel this might not be the last conclusion.
When the tire is warm, on right pressure and the road is dry the tire becomes more communicative and provides the high level of grip that one expects from a semi slick. However, this grip in my hands is not so easy to fully exploit, as the communication is so much lower than on a good road tire. For example, the tire was only 2 sec faster than a Yokohama AD 08R on Bilster Berg in my hands. I assume that there is more to have but again, it is not so easy to find the limits in a save way for a hobby driver like me.
When humid the tire is surprisingly good for a semi slick but once it is wet the tire is surpassed by a sporty road tire due to the lack of negative profile. Also, I had a few nasty surprises with the rear coming out quite spontaneous in the wet but at the end of the day this is clearly not a street tire.

Pro:
No overheating even after long sessions of aggressive driving style
High grip for the price
Quick warmup

Con:
Not the most communicative
Sensitive to tire pressure changes