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.
Tires & Wheels
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The Queen’s Award for Enterprise
The Queen’s Award for Enterprise is the highest honour that
can be bestowed upon a British company and is the UK’s top award for business performance. The award is given annually
by Her Majesty The Queen and the winning companies hold it
for five years.
Group Lotus PLC and its staff were awarded The Queen’s
Award for Enterprise 2002 for the whole group’s outstanding achievement in international trade. Lotus Cars has sold its prestigious sports car models into over 30 countries around the
world and Lotus Engineering, which has been investing heavily in engine and chassis research, is regarded as one of the world’s
leading engineering consultancy groups.
The Lotus Elise now proudly displays The Queen’s Award
logo on the rear window. This logo symbolises the achieve
-
ments of Group Lotus over the last few years culminating in the company being given the Award in 2002 – the year of The
Queen’s Golden Jubilee.
The Queen’s Award scheme was introduced in 1966, originally
as The Queen’s Award to Industry before becoming known as
The Queen’s Award for Enterprise in 1999.
Her Majesty The Queen makes the Awards on the advice of
the Prime Minister, who is assisted by an Advisory Committee
that includes representatives of Government, industry and com
-
merce, and the trade unions. They are announced on 21 April,
The Queen’s personal birthday.
For more information about The Queen’s Awards, please see
www.queensawards.org.uk
The Queen’s Award
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