fluxen

I just ordered race tires (Khumos) for my stock wheels, and decided to wear out what was left of my original S02's. Since I've been driving on the AVS's for the last several thousand miles, this is a really good time to give a comparo between the two tires (dry driving only, however).

Keep in mind the AVS's are a lot bigger than the S02's so not all comparisons are direct.

Grip - AVS. The AVS are definitely grippier, but not to the extent that I think S02's of the same size wouldn't grip as well.

Road Noise - Pretty much the same, not too bad (unlike Pirelli Asymetricos which are loud as hell).

Cornering Noise - S02. The AVS squeal a hell of a lot more readily than the S02's do (bugs me).

Price - AVS. About $50 less per tire.

Wear - AVS. This is a little harder to determine, but I'm pretty sure the AVS's are wearing less quickly than the S02's did.

Tracking - S02's. It seems as though the AVS's want to wander a little (My alignment is not stock though, so this may be it).

That's all I can think of. I did do a track day on the AVS's, and was very impressed by how well they held up and performed there.

BTW - If, by chance, someone out there needs front S02's, email me. Haven't measured tread depth, but there's a lot of it left on them (The rears are slicks).

REVS29K

How many miles did you get from your rear S02's? I have a little over 13k and had a nail in one of the rears. The tire place told first that the tire was too worn to repair, then measured it at 0.002 and did the repair. I figure I have a couple of thousand more miles to go.

Other than the wear, I've like the S02's. Pricing for new rears seems to vary from over $500/pair down to $187 each from TireRack. Need to add shipping and mounting. Has anyone else found better prices?

Strike

I got over 18k on my rears, and that was with 4 days at the track. In fact, the weekend before I had the tires replaced I was at the track.

motorcity riceburner

I just replaced all four original tires (Bridgestone SO2s) at about 16500 miles. The rears were pretty well scrubbed, but the fronts probably had a few miles left. As replacements, I too went with the Yokohama AVS Sports. Mine are stock size, on the original wheels, and I've not modified my suspension in any way. I do not race my S2K, but I drive it fairly hard when I can. I've had the AVS Sports on for about two weeks now, and here are my intial impressions. First, they are NOT good rain tires. The original SO2's, at least until they were about half-worn, were GREAT rain tires, considering they are performance rubber. The Yokos aren't exactly scary in the rain, but they simply don't channel water like the SO2's did. Second, like Fluxen, I've noticed more squeal and slip on SOME surfaces. Fresh, smooth asphalt or fresh cement (like in some low-use areas, like parking lots) elicit a little less confidence, and more chirp, in hard corners than the SO2s, but on slightly rougher surfaces (like the average road) they seem pretty solid, especially when warm. Third, I've noticed that tire pressure is CRITICAL with these Yokohamas. With the SO2s, I'd sometimes get lazy about checking the tire pressure, and it never seemed to effect performance within a range of, say, 30 psi to 40 psi. With The Yokos, I've been tweaking 'em since day one, and have finally settled on 35 psi as the only pressure that works. 3 or 4 pounds lower on any tire or tires, and you'll know it immediately upon entering your first hard turn. Is this a sidewall issue? I'm not sure. Finally, regarding wear: I haven't had 'em on long enough to tell, but since the wear rating is 180 (compared to 140 for the SO2), I'd expect a little more life. I know wear ratings are made against other tires by the SAME manufacturer, but I'd guess Yokohama rates 'em similarly to Bridgestone. My conclusion is that for the money, the AVS Sports are great tires, but that they ain't in the same league as the SO2's.

Luis

What????? At less than that (25,000 kms) I am on my third set of rear tyres. This really bugs me. I've never taken my car to a race track and have never dropped the clutch. I sometimes drive hard - conditions allowing - but not much more than what I would expect an S2000 enthusiast to do.

Can you describe your type of driving?

laster

Luis, this could be a dumb question but have you had a four wheel alignment done by a competent shop? When we first got our MR2 Turbo it ate rears until we finally got it properly aligned. Still wasn't great but a significant improvement.

Luis

[QUOTE]Originally posted by laster:
[B]Luis, this could be a dumb question but have you had a four wheel alignment done by a competent shop?