I dont know what your budget is, but I just replaced my rear tires which were Pirelli p7000 supersports--they were great tires, but I dont think the car got more than 13k on them. Maybe its just me but I thought only getting 13k was lousy considering the guy I bought the car from said he got 20k+ on the original bridgestones. Being in grad school, I figured I cant afford to buy tires every year, so I went down a speed rating to a V and got Yokohama AV 550's because companies wont give a tread warranty to W rating and higher. So far they are great and I havent noticed any real differences in the handling. After I get out of school I'll probably go back up and get some michellins or something.

 

Enjoying this car in twisties and with an exhuberant foot will typically land an owner into replacing tires roughly every 10K miles.

20K miles...IMO...reflects a highway driver that does not push the car in other ways. Like a daily driver and just on highway. Push this car in the turns and you'll scrub some rubber off for sure.

Kumhos have been getting me ~ 15K miles even with aggressive driving. The rubber is slightly harder than S-02s so it grips slightly less stickily than S-02s...but then the trade off is they last longer. And for me, btw, I like that the Kumhos are less sticky...it allows me to slide the rear in a turn (rather than where the S-02s simply hold...and hold...and hold in a turn -- until they can't hold any more and you find yourself staring directly at the guy that was following you b/c you just did a 180 ). With the Kumhos I can gauge that the car is losing traction but still control the car. BUT again...this is my likes for the tires. Other folks do not appreciate that characteristic of the Kumhos one bit.

- Dave