kgregg

I recently bought a new set of wheels for my s2000 and it has discontinued dunlop direzza dz101 from year 2012. The tires look to be in great condition and have a lot of tread left in them.

The only issues is that two tires will need to be replaced due to poor alignment wear.

QUESTION: Will 5 year old tires still perform well on the track (new to HPDE so im not pushing the limits yet) and will i be able to replace only 2 of the tires and reuse the 2 good condition tires?

I would much rather replace only 2 rather than buy a complete new set of tires...obviously.

thomsbrain

If you're going to be on track and you have to replace two tires anyway, I'd highly recommend you just replace all 4 tires with a modern 200TW extreme performance category street tire.

gptoyz

I agree replace all 4 since you have to replace 2

If you are going to do so, a good starter tire would be the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500, apparently they are rebranded Bridgestone RE003 (bridgestone owns firestone)

You want tires that will break away nice and progressively and allow you to reach it's limits at safe speeds. Once you improve a little, then move to the ubiquitous 200tw track options like the Hankook RS4 or Bridgestone RE71Rs

kgregg

Thanks guys. These are the answers i needed. I appreciate the firestone recommendation as i was leaning towards the RS4s but i dont think i was ready for those yet.

Singh_snisen

U will have fun on old tires. But not as much grip as their newer version. I'm on 1.5 year old rs3 and can already feel them loose grip way b4 when they were 1 month old.

lookstoomuch

Older tires aren't necessarily bad thing for a novice drive as the lower adhesion will help you learn how to handle the car at the limits. The problem the mix-match of old / new tires would be to introduce relatively too much grip on one end of the car (front / rear) and an under / over-steer situation.

As you are getting into doing track time you might as well buy the tires and get used to the money flowing out of your wallet.

rrounds

+1 Just think how when the best drivers in Nascar only put on two tires and how fast a car with 4 new tires pass them. I don't think I've ever seen a professional road race team just put on two tires.

ROD

kgregg

Appreciate the feedback and yes, its time to rip off the band aid! Thank you.