The discussion on tires should be ongoing inasmuch as we all will be replacing them soon. I am thinking of switching to Pole Positions to maintain wet traction throughout the life of the tire. What size would you recommend? How can tires the same size, from the same manufacturer ie. 225/50-16 actually be narrower? One owner on this board went to 245/45-16 PPs and said they were still narrower than stock. What size would you recommend?

 

Hello, I have replaced my S2000 tires with the Pole Positions. I have the same size as the OEM and they are fine. This is the first I have heard of this. Maybe there is a difference, however it was not noticeable and I actually like these tire way more! My brother drove my car one day and he said he liked my tires better, he has the stock SO2 on his still. I say go for it, especially for wet weather driving. Remember not to wait to long to change them. I think if you get 10-12k miles on the OEMs it is time for sure. (mine only lasted 8500, but they got toasted at an atuocross right around the same time!!)

 

Why anyone on this board thinks that Greg is some kind of tire (or automotive) expert is beyond me.....

 

So what is the answer?

 

Hmmm, could you be referring to the channels in the tread that are narrower on the OEM S-O2's? If you look at the PP vs. the OEM, you will notice that the PP's have much wider channels decreasing the contact patch, but increasing its wet condition performance.

I see that you live in WA, where it rains a lot, right? I have found that standing water is a bigger issue for the OEM S-02's as opposed to just wet roads. I am going to do 17 inch wheels for street and keep the 16 inchers for the track. But I haven't really decided which size tires to get yet. On the way back from the Dragon the weekend before last, we ran into some rain, but I never felt like there was much of an issue. Jason, the maniac that he is, didn't either...which led us to conclude that the tires really don't mind just plain WET conditions, but they do not like standing water, which increases chances of hydroplaning and losing control.

There was a lot of confusion/misinformation regarding the stock OEM S-02's. My last set, which were kindly donated to me by nwk00, are pictured below and are the STOCK OEM tires, which I have found offer great performance. Sondra ordered a rear tire and while everything on the tire as far as numbers go was correct, the tread had the larger channels, but still wasn't a PP. I like the stock tires and plan on keeping them, but I will post what size tires I get when I get the Spoon wheels, or whichever wheels we decide to go with...

Here are the stock OEM tires...

 

I agree...it's beyond me, too!

 

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Maybe it's because you are on your third set.

 

Here is a thread dealing with size..

http://www.s2000online.com/forums/showthre...p?threadid=5249

I have now driven S2000's with three different types of tires and IMO the OEM tires are the best for the street.

 

Fourth, if you include the cold slippery ones on Scarlet 1. Nows that's experience!

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by JPit
[B]How can tires the same size, from the same manufacturer ie. 225/50-16 actually be narrower?