Great post
On thing to note, while Jim is great , if you order online s2ki gets a % of the sale. If you order on the phone, we do not.

-Rylan

 

Good post Dlq. The only slight error you made is in regard to the S02 variants.

There are 4 variations NOT two. The first is a generic S02, the second is a Boxster specific OEM, the 3rd a 911 specific OEM and the 4th the S2000 OEM. Visually, all are slightly different in terms of speed rating, width and tread pattern. What one can't notice from looking at them is the compound and this may vary also.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by dlq04
The OE rear tire contact patch is 8.5 inches.

Actually DLQ, it is 8.7-inches. It is 8.5-inches when used on its measured wheel width of 7-inches, however the OEM wheel increases the tread with by .2 inches because it is half an inch wider than the 7-inch wheel Bridgestone used to determine the S0-2's specifications for the S2000 225/50/16.




[B]Recommended

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Russ
I'm not trying to be the thread "party pooper" but I just wanted to throw in the above info.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by dlq04
[B]

Not a problem at all.

 

Very good information, Russ, but I think one missing tidbit is that the OEM tires front tread pattern has more voids than the rear.

I think it's better to look at the stagger as a percentage difference in 'rubber to the road' between the front and rear. If the tread patterns were the same, the OEM stagger would be ~18%(strictly due to width difference). But I think that due to the tread difference it's really closer to 25%.

In other words, if you're buying non-OEM tires with the same tread pattern front and rear, you would need to get 25% more width in the rear tire to maintain the stock stagger.

Does that make sense?

Ted

p.s. Great post dlq04!

 

Done. The contact patch info was corrected. Due to the variables I dropped any recommendations on larger sizes.... probably safer that way. I included mention of the stagger as a %..... which I will clarify if an agreement is reached.... is it 18%, 20% (a number often quoted), or 25%.

 

Good call updating the top post. Much easier to read!

I think the OEM stagger percentage is probably open to some debate; anyone want to take a ruler to their tread patterns?

Unless my math is wrong (and it often is), the 'pure width' stagger is 18.49%, and there is significantly more void in the front tread than the rear, so I believe the 'grip' stagger must be well above 20%; I think 25% is a good estimate.

Anyone else care to weigh in?

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Dex9
[B]Skip: I usually do patches not plugs, but was in a pinch and knew w/ over 18k I would be replacing the tires soon.

 

It might be difficult to ascertain how much of an increase in "rubber to the road" the rear tire voids have above and beyond the tread width. In truth, whatever small percentage it might be could be either negated or increased with the manipulation of tire pressures and/or alignments. Suffice to say because the OEM's are constructed differently despite being "named" the same, for the most part when choosing other tires, the only thing one has to go on is tread width. It's almost impossible to gauge actual "rubber to the road" based on tread styles. Take a glance at the Toyo T1-S and you'll see what I mean. We can really take this discussion into "rocket science" territory but one of the biggest problems encountered when trying to maintain stagger with aftermarket tires is most are constructed with tread widths much narrower with respect to section width than the Bridgestones. As a result, most of us base our aftermarket tire choices on section widths (225-275mm) but it's almost impossible to get 1.6-inches of stagger between front and back without custom offset wheels to support the variance needed in the WHEEL width. I can think of only one other non-Bridgestone tire currently made that approaches the SO-2's with the amount of tread width (in relation to section width) making contact with the road and it's the Yokohama ES100.
Bottom line? I think the key is to get AS MUCH stagger as your wheel choice and fender wells can support. You really can't go wrong there. IOW, if your wheel choice has a width which can support a 245mm under there, why settle for a 225? Unfortunately, most wheels under $350/ea have limited widths and thus the amount of stagger you can have is limited by the width of the wheel, not the tire.
Nice discussion we have going here.