Hi,

I just got my new 2003 S2000 (Spa Yellow) on Friday and have decided to go with all season tires... Dunlop SP 5000s, as per Tirerack's recommendation for an all season tire. I just placed my order with them following my conversations with Jim and Connor who were great to deal with. I really don't want the hassle of changing tires twice per year so I'm willing to give up a little performance in exchange. I was wondering if anyone can comment on these tires with respect to the S2000 and its abilities to perform year round, and also if anyone has had any experience with the Michelin Pilot Sport All Season tires.

Did I choose the right tire living in upstate New York? I do have a Land Rover Discovery and RSX Type S in our family for those snowy days and really wouldn't drive the S2000 in horrific weather. I do not want to be paralyzed during the winter months, however, and do want the ability to drive in rain or light snow, albeit with caution.

I just gave up a 2000 Z3 2.8 that had Pilot Sports on it (not even the all season variety) and performed well for over 36,000 miles in all weather conditions, but it sounds like the Dunlops are better suited to the S2000.

Thanks

 

Congratulations on your new car.

I have Dunlops on mine at the moment, but they are snow tires mounted on a spare set of wheels. This car really handles well in the snow with snow tires on it.

One of the local drivers has a set of Dunlops like yours and he has no problem staying up with everyone else on our club drives (he's usually out front). I think that you will be OK.

Enjoy your car and check the oil level, our cars tend to use oil during break in.

 

Thanks very much for the reply and the kind words "boiler". The thought of spinning out on the NY State Thruway at 65 MPH after suddenly hydroplaning is sobering to say the least. It's certainly enough for me to take the Potenzas OEMs off and put something a little less worrying on. There's only 100 miles on the clock, but with about 3 feet of snow outside my garage door at the moment, it will be awhile before the Dunlops will be tested.

I've only ever spun out once in my Z3 and once you've experienced the "wonder" of RWD, you treat it with proper respect it deserves. You do need to maximize your odds however, and leaving a racing tire on a car like this in the winter is like trying to beat the house in Vegas....good luck.

If anyone else has had experience with the Dunlop SP 5000s (good or bad) I'd love to hear about it.

Thanks

 

CDR, the stock tires that come on our cars are quite good, even in the rain, until they are worn. Then look out. This usually happens around 12,000 miles, give or take a few. If you don't want the OEM tires, you will find a ready market for them, here. You are right, the OEM tires and snow do not mix well together.

Half of the cars that I have owned over the years have been rear wheel drive. This car is very quick in it's handling and it helps if you have had prior rear wheel drive experience. It's really a blast to drive this car in the slippery stuff and the prior experience I was talking about comes in very handy.

 

My concern with the Potenzas is also the cold. Took her out last night for about an hour when it was 8 degrees here just to test her out....being exceedingly cautious and smooth in all my actions, and never exceeding 5,000 rpm. There was absolutely no sign of the rear end moving out on me. Took her up to 60 MPH with no problem, but I was apprehensive after reading many nightmare posts about the rear end snapping out on you. To tell the truth, I didn't notice much difference between the S2000 and the RWD characteristics of my previous Z3 2.8 on the Michelin Pilot Sports. I'm sure it's due to the tires being new and also getting them up to temperature, although not proper temperature levels. But less of a problem than I expected given the cold weather. The streets were dry, however.

Still waiting for the magic 600 mile level to be reached to feel that beautiful engine kick in.

 

Yeah, I would be the one boiler is talking about. The 5000's are pretty good especially when the temp. drops. Although if you are looking for better treadlife you probably won't see it too much even with a treadlife rating of 340 compared to 140 on the SO-2's. I got about 12,000 on the Dunlops right now and they are bald and I got about 10k on my first set of SO-2's and 9k on the second.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by xtc@9k
[B]Yeah, I would be the one boiler is talking about.

 

What's interesting is that if you read the reviews on this tire posted on Tirerack.com, there are plenty of people who have obtained very decent tread life numbers, i.e. 30,000 miles or more....some even state 39,000 miles. Even when I ordered them last night, and I had a very in depth conversation regarding their performance relative to the S2000, I was told that I should get over 30,000 miles on them. They sound like a wonderful tire and everything I am looking for. I guess it just depends on how tough you accelerate off the line if it's possible to get only 12,000 miles, as well as RWD causing the rears to wear much faster than the fronts. Don't know, but I'm hoping for at least 20,000. I did ask about right to left rotation on these tires, and you are supposed to switch them over every 5,000 miles for proper and even wear. They are a great price though, so for the blend of great performance on dry roads, excellent wet performance year round and also their ability to work in light snow in very cold temperatures......not a bad deal.

If anyone else can share their mileage results on these tires, that would be great.

Thanks.

 

These tires are unidirectional. So you would have to have them taken off and remounted to rotate the same direction but on the other side?

 

I've got the SP 5000s on my stock wheels. I'll try to give a little background of my winter driving experience so you can judge how applicable my comments are for your conditions. I grew up driving in East TN where on average we get 2-3 snowstorms a year, usually 6 inches or less but occasionally up to a foot or so. I spent 4 years in NY state for school where we got considerably more snow, but nothing extreme. I got the SP5000s with the intention that they would be my winter tire. I wanted a tire that would handle the sub-40 rainy days better than the OEM S-02s, be able to drive cautiously in the 3-6 dusting, and still have acceptable grip for those 60 degree February days when I can drive the Dragon with the top down. Obviously for any tire to accomplish all that it is going to make some compromises. If I lived farther north where there is real snow, I would have got a real winter tire. If I lived farther South, I would probably run S-03s all year.

So far the SP5000s have done just what I expected. They have been on my car for 3 months/ 3000 miles and I have driven through the two snowstorms we had this year with no problems. The storms weren't huge (<6in) but big enough to shut most everything down around here. The tires are much more confidence inspiring than the S-02s on cold rainy conditions. The Dunlops do not have anywhere near the dry grip of the S-02s. I took an exit ramp at twice the posted limit and was started at how quickly the SP 5000s let go. When it comes to wear I don't have a good feel for it yet. I will probably get 10-12k out of my rear S-02s and if I get twice that on the SP 5000s I'll be happy. I don't do clutch drops and during the winter I drive quite a bit more conservatively - some days I don't even VTEC. I figure I will keep the Dunlops on for a couple more months and I will get a better feel for the wear when I switch out tires. And Ron Jeremy is right, like the S-02 the SP5000s (in our size) are asymmetrical. If you wanted to get the longest wear out of them you would have to unmount them and swap the tires left to right.