I have 17K miles on a set of SO2s. The rears are nearly slicks. The fronts have good tread from casual observation (tread on outer, or visible part of tire), yet on more careful observation (looking underneath), the tread is getting pretty thin on the inner part of the fronts.

1) Is this a normal wear pattern, or indicate a need for an alignment?

2) Is it of much value to pop the tires off the front rims, re-install so that they can be "rotated"? Or would it be better to just put four new tires on?

Thanks.

 

I had a similar occurence, but you got a few thousand miles more than I did out of the s02's. One thing that will cause uneven tire ware on the inside is low tire pressure. Congratulations on getting so many miles out of the S02's!

 

welcome to owning an s2000 15,000 miles is average for so2's

 

I would consider the extra wear on the inner side of your front tires, as compared to the outer side, to be completely normal, especially if a lot of your miles are done in a straight line or if you do a lot of stop and go driving. The negative camber on the front tires puts more of the load on the inner side of the tires, hence the extra wear.

As to rotating them from side to side, I can't see the harm unless they are worn down to the wear bars. Congrats on getting such high mileage on the stock tires; I was only able to mangage less than 11k before getting some BFG KD's.

 

Since the tires are directional you'd have to dismont them to switch them

 

Which is exactly what I meant when I said "Is it of much value to pop the tires off the front rims, re-install so that they can be "rotated"? " in the first post.

 

Actually 15K is extremely high................7.5 to 10K is normal.....unless you are a whimp.

Utah

 

My car is a daily driver. So it's not that I'm a whimp it's that I can't drive faster than the guy in front of me. If you're tracking/autox this car your going to tear up these tires even faster than that but if your real hard core your going to have a second set of rims and racing tires anyway!

 

Well, I must REALLY be a wimp, because I'm getting ready to replace my rear tires (not quite down to the wear bars) at 21k miles. I've found that the tires respond very well to slightly increased pressures - I run 34 psi rear and 36 psi front. Plus, switching to different wheel for autocross and track events helps a lot too .

 

I have seen others recommend slightly higher psi in the tires as well....the typical number I have seen is 35 psi all the way around. How did you get to 36 front/34 rear? Trial and error? Do you get better feel/less slip with a little lower pressure in the rears?