S2KBreaker

On lunch break I went to NTB and got some new rear tires. They did not have any more Falken Ziex ZE 512 tires that I have on right now so they equipped me with another similar all season tire, so they say... the Yokohama AS430. My fronts are still good so I'm going to test drive this tonight after work to see the new behavior of the car with the mixed tires.

Fronts: Falken Ziez ZE 512 (used since October 2005)
Rears: Yokohama AS430 (Brand new)

I'm expecting understeer. If it's too much to bear, I might stop back into NTB and get Yokohama's on the fronts too.

The reason I didn't want to just put all four on there is because I plan on getting rims, but not in time for the Dragon.

I'm also concerned about mixing the tires for this trip... might be a bad idea if I do not have enough seat time with this set up. I don't mind if it oversteers more, just as long as I can predict it.

My first impression after leaving NTB today was the rear end has a lot more grip. This favors some understeer. I think as long as it's predictable, I will keep it this way, else I will rush back into NTB and get the fronts done with Yokohama's too.
Going to find out after work by testing the handling more.

Wish me luck.

S2KBreaker

Ok, well afterwork I drove it and am noticing the steering response to be a bit delayed. Granted the new tires need time to break in too, so its a bit twitchy still. I think if this Dragon trip weren't coming up I'd not be so worried and enjoy testing the waters with mix tires, but I'm thinking maybe better to be safe than sorry.
Hmmm....

Ubetit

This may be a bad time to test out tires. Mix the dragon and a little rain and I wouldn't want to be in the drivers seat.

Why the all season tires?

soundzero

BJ,

Have you driven the car with SO2s on?
I've had RE750s for a long time and now I am back with SO2. Steering response is unbelievably direct compared to RE750. The way they supposed to be.

RE750 was summer performance tires with better wet tractions. It is still slower in turn in response than SO2. I can't only imagine what its like with all season tires.

S2KBreaker

[QUOTE=Ubetit,Apr 18 2006, 06:08 PM] This may be a bad time to test out tires.

S2KBreaker

Yea, drove the S with S02s last summer. They were great tires. Response in the steering wheel was on key. It was awesome! But the thread life was horrible.

I switched over to Falken Ziex Ze 512 all season tires in October 2005 because I wanted tires that lasted longer so I gave them a shot.

Definately a good tire in my opinion, but not as responsive as the S02s

S2KBreaker

I just got back from testing the mixed tires set up.

Test involved braking, power oversteering, and cornering.
My rear end broke free easily.
I went out to try and break in the tires by slideing the rear and doing donuts around some back roads to try and feel any difference from when I had the Falken's equipped. It was very easy to break loose. Very cautious when driving on 315 and Rt. 23 area.

Then I pulled over and checked the air pressure. It was around 38-40 lbs!!!! crazy!

So I dropped it down to 33 lbs and now the mixed set up is more acceptable.

David1

You need to recheck your pressures when the tires are cold.

Ubetit

Tire pressures are set when cold

S2KBreaker

thanks, I'll check it again to make sure.

After day two with the mixed tires, it is starting to feel better. Getting more used to it I suppose. Much more delayed in the steer in response. More dead zone in the steering. Probably due to the front tires having less thread than the rears.
Might be a good idea to check the air pressure on the fronts.

If I powerover on cornering or trail brake on entrance the rear end breaks away as predicted with this mixed tire set up. Kind of fun

It breaks away nicely. As long as it continues to behave as predicted I think I'll enjoy this set up. But the dragon trip is so far away from home that I feel I'm going to be taking things easy around the corners and not test the tires limits as I would if I had my previous tire set up because I'm still getting used to this.

The back of my mind thinks that this set up may surprise me when odd climate condition come up and the tires breaking points surprise me since I have yet to experience rain in these tires...something I'll need to experience at a slow pace so as not to get punished by the results.