IMHO, the stock RE050's are the best tires for the AP2 on street tires. If you go with another set you will definitely loose the stock stagger which will not necessarill be a bad thing but it will affect the handling. I first thought that my tires were causing me to have understeer issues with my AP2, but I have learned how to drive it now and changed the allignment and now my car has been just about neutral at the last two events. I couldn't be happier with my cars handling on the RE050's.

Just my $0.02

 

boodles of pics can be found in my gallery HERE

 

Did you just get a regular alignment or did you spec out something specific for them to do?

Andre

 

I have R-S2's and they do suck but I haven't found anything that doesn't suck worse for the same money. In other words, they're pretty good for cheap.

Their weekest atribute is their super soft sidewalls which translate to horrible transition characteristics. The ultimate grip is pretty good though.

 

I took it to a dealership and told them to max out the neg camber front and rear. I ended up with -2 in the front and -3 in the rear. It has helped out a lot. I don't have any issues with uneven tire wear during normal driving. I did go through my fronts pretty quick before I learned how not to overdrive the corners (ongoing but I am much better now). Originally they actually screwed up the rear toe and ended up giving me a little toe out in the rear. I did one event like that and the car was much much easier to get the back to rotate but it was a little too unpredictable. I then had them fix it and zero out the rear toe and that's how I've been driving it since. I love it.

 

Do you know by any chance what the stock camber settings are set to?

Andre

 

Looks like -.5 degree front and -1.5 in the back. I'm not real familiar with the notation they use in the manual.

-0 degree 30' front

-1 degree 30' rear

I'm installing the BSK tomorrow and when I get it aligned, plan on getting the alignment place to dial up my negative camber too.

 

True enough but 1) they're wider than most for the front tires, helping with front grip and 2) not quite as wide as the S02s. The combination gives more stagger than most 205/225 or 225/245 combinations and can be controlled by a big front swaybar (my Comptech is on full stiff).

I was initially going to go with the Porsche 225/50-16s for the front and the S2K 225/50-16 for the rear. The RE01R made that exercise in frustration useless. Seems to be working ok in our local road tire class (STS specs except for width limitations). It's also brought out issues with my driving...

 

The front I think needs more camber than the back does. There is a good amount of understeer under hard turning at low speed.

Anyone have -1.5 front and -2.0 back?

Andre

 

Yup, me. With the 710s 225f/265r I found a bit more understeer with my Comptech bar set full stiff. I should have backed it off one but never did. I now have the RE01R street tires and need all the rear grip I can muster...