I posted this in the tire section earlier but figured I would definitely get more knowledgeable and first hand experience here.

I am currently in the market for some new tires but I have two dilemmas, one being with street tires and other with autocross tires. I have an 05 S2000 AP2 with stock 17" wheels. I plan on keeping these wheels for street driving, currently using stock sizes F 215-45-17 R 245-40-17. I have bald rears which need to be replaced soon but have rather fresh RE050's for the front so I can't increase tire widths quite yet but may in the future.

Now for one problem, I just purchased a set of AP1 16" wheels that I plan on using for auto-crossing. I want to stay in the stock class so I don't want to do any suspension mods at the moment. I am looking at Kumho V710's and possibly Hoosiers (or any other recommended R-compound) and was wondering if a F 225-50-16 and R 265-45-16 would work for my ideal setup? I know the 265 is a little tall but with the ap2 gearing it should work ok right? The reason for such a large difference in width front to rear is to balance it out so I don't have a drastic oversteer/understeer problem I believe. The other reason is I am trying to avoid buying a stiffer front sway bar because I will still use the stock 17" tire sizes for the time being and won't have time to switch out sways between driving/tracking. When/if I increase the width of the street tires for the street I do not want understeer on a daily commute But at the same time I don't want oversteer if I increase the tire size but don't buy a front sway bar.

Basically I'm trying to make the 17's work for the street and the 16's for the track without sacrificing anything at either end of the spectrum, I rather have a little bit of oversteer than understeer though.

Any help will be GREATLY appreciated, please don't the noob

 

For starters, if you want to stay in A-Stock you must use the AP2 17" wheels.

For seconds, have you read the S2000 Autox FAQ? There is good tire size info in there.

As for which tire, the Kumho V710 is a better beginner tire (more durable and arguably easier to drive) than the Hoosier A6.

 

The 17" AP2 rims are wider and better for autocross. Most people don't realize they are lighter than the 16's as well. Switch your street/track idea.

 

Not true...Wheel Weights

The front rims are almost the same weight, but the rears are heavier. The most popular AP2 rear wheel/tire combo (275 tire width) weighs about 3lbs. more than the max AP1 rear wheel/tire (265 width). The front wheel tire combos are almost the same weight.

The main advantages of AP2 rims (vs. AP1) for stock class autox are the wider tires and much better tire selection / availability.

 

consider removing your rear sway bar. that will soften your rear up some.

 

I'm just not convinced of that yet. I've held both at the same time, and the 16's felt heavier. Best motoring also weighed them digitally and stated that the 17's were lighter. Maybe the tires were changing things, but the AP1 had the more miles (they stated that as a disadvantage, so I'm assuming they didn't change the tires yet (something like 15k)

I'm going to try to have the rims weighed by themselves while I'm getting my car fixed. We'll see.

 

It's the tires that are throwing you off. The AP1 OEM (205/225) wheel + tire weights are quite possibly heavier than the AP2 OEM (215/245) setup. What I'm talking about are the most popular autocross setups (Kumho V710 tires used as a reference).

I don't have the time just this moment, but you can do your own research on the subject at tirerack.com.

 

This is not legal in SCCA stock rules either.

 

I always thought about doing that on our 00 since it seems to be so tail happy. We already have a larger front bar and went to 225/245 tires. The next step would be more rear camber/toe in and possibly remove the rear bar. Is it alright to drive the car on the street like that? Honda must have put that rear sway bar there for some reason when they designed the car and if people complained about it being too dangerous and tail happy you'd think they would have removed it in the later years.

 

CRDMS1

How are the AP2's with 275 on the rear do they bulge much? Do you need to raise the ride heignt to accommodate the larger size?

Also, if you are running 275 on the rear, what do you run up front?