I'm in need or soon will be, of replacing my stock rear tires. From the research I've done there are two choices, i.e. replace in kind 225 50 16 SO 2 or opt for the SO 3 in a 245 45 16 format. Both from Brigdestone, are there others?
SO 2 same-same, as the factory tires, 11k and looking for new ones already or the optional SO 3 longer wear, better wet traction.

Has anyone used the SO 3 ? any issues, lower grip, noise, looks, wear?
Has anyone bought from the Tire Rack, sponser of the Tire and Wheel Fourm?
Any Issues with them?

My pricing from three sources shows Tire Rack to be the best pricing. Local Bridgestone dealers want signifcantly more $$$$ and some say the SO 2 s are not available any longer????

Thanks in advance

Al

 

Al, I heard the S03s dont last much longer than the S02s. Since we are going into the dry season, get the S02s.

 

Ahhh, the old tire question!
Search on here and you will find endless info on rubber for our cars, the tire and wheel forum is a good place to start.
S-03s in 245/45 seem to be an excellent replacement for the S-02s. However I can't speak from experience on the S-03.
If you got 11K on your rear S-02s you did pretty good!
Mine were totally wasted at 8K.
I went to Kumho 712s and have been extremely happy. I drive my car pretty hard and was skeptical about tires as cheap the kumhos. I was pleasantly surprised.
They wear a little better, have almost as good of dry traction as the S-02s had and are a LOT better in the rain. They're also significantly cheaper at ~$90 each.

The 225/50 vs 245/45 size issue is because the stock S-02s in the rear are REALLY wide for a 225/50, if you compare them to almost any other tire in the world, they are almost identical in size to a 245/45. So if you go anything other than OEM S-02, you need to go 245/45.

That being said, if you know anyone who needs OEM front S-02s with just a few miles on them, let me know, I have a pair I need to make go away. I bought them as spairs, then went to 17"s.

-V

 

Tire rack has been great to be through the purchase of six or seven sets of tires and two sets of wheels. Don't be worried, you should get what you ordered and pretty fast, too.

 

I just ordered a new set of OEM SO2's from Tirerack for my 2000 S2K. They're shipping them to Ed Morse Honda in West Palm Beach for the installation. I'm at a little over 37,000 and I've been running S03's for about 16,500 miles. The fronts are still OK for a few more miles but I don't want to mix tires. The rear's, especiallly the right rear, are almost slick in the center with just over 8,000 miles. I talked with Jim at Tirerack last Thursday and he acknowledged that even though the tire wear rating on the S03 is higher, the OEM S02's generally get somewhat better mileage. I figure if Honda had the tire specifically designed for the car, someone must have know what they were doing...

JerryR

 

Thanks to all for the thoughts and observations.

Al