You need to be very careful changing tires on this car. Our tires are actually wider than they are marked. Our rear 225's are actually closer to 245's. You can severely upset the balance of the car when changing tire brands due to variations like this.

S02 PP's are not superior to the OEM S02 in the dry. PP's were manufactured with wet driving in mind and it is here that they are superior.

 

Meat, is that true about the S02 tire widths being misrepresented? That's seems to be a critical point, and I wonder if anyone can confirm this (not that I'd ever doubt a man named "Meat").

 

While I'm sure the Bridgestones are the superior tires for ultimate handling during track and autocross work, I chose to go with the Michelin Pilots for treadwear and wet weather handling. As my rears wore down, I found they were really treacherous in the wet and hydroplaned very badly.

For street work, I have found the Pilots well up to the task. Of course, this is just one man's opinion. By the way, I got the tires at Discount Tire, and both I and the Stook were treated very well.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by lvs2k
[B]While I'm sure the Bridgestones are the superior tires for ultimate handling during track and autocross work, I chose to go with the Michelin Pilots for treadwear and wet weather handling.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by meat
[B]You need to be very careful changing tires on this car.

 

Actually guys.. I can get you tires at a mad discount price (My buddy is the gm at goodyear and their sales are low so theyre trying to move stock like crazy)

Let me know what you want, ill tell you the price with shipping.

j

 

For considerably less money than the S02's, I've found the Yokohama AVS-Intermediate to be a damned good tire ... for this car, too. I was able to wear out the rears in about 8000 miles, but the fronts had some good tread left and I replaced them anyway.

You might want to check the inside edge of the tire, as it definitely wears faster than the outer edge (or my camber has just always been way off).

Whatever you do, avoid the Dunlop SP8000. It was great on my Integra. They were out of the AVSi and I said sure, just toss a pair of the 8000's on the rear.

All I can say is that these tires were EVIL. On dry pavement I felt like I was gonna lose it at any second. On wet pavement, I nearly did a few times. They were good enough to give me full credit after 2 weeks.

Anyone in the DC area - Radial Tire Co. in Silver Spring... Good people, good recommendations (typically - I love the AVSi) and as far as I can tell they're the only place around that stocks a lot of high performance tires.

- Chris

 

Your problem with the Dunlop SP8000s was probably due to the fact that you ONLY had them on the rear. Mismatching tire isn't recommended!

I do appreciate the real world info on the AVS Intermediate though! I noticed that these tires look good on paper and was wondering how they would really perform. Are you using them on all four corners?

 

Well the Tirerack finally has specs listed for our OEM tires (the info used to be blank). Notice our OEM rear tires are 0.4" wider than the Porsche OEM model even though the tires are both 225/50/16s -- and they were both measures on 7" rims. Also notice our OEM front tires are more narrow than the Porsche OEMs even though they are both 205/55/16s -- and the Honda OEM were even on wider rims!

Size.............................................. .UTQG......Inflation...Rim Width Range...Meas. Rim Width....Tread Width
205/55WR16 89W SL (Honda OE)...140 A A...44psi.......5.5-7.5".................6.5".......................7. 1"
205/55ZR16 N3 (Porsche OE)..........140 A A....44psi......5.5-7.5"..................6".........................7 .2"
225/50WR16 92W SL (Honda OE)...140 A A....44psi......6-8".......................7"....................... ..8.5"
225/50ZR16 N3 (Porsche OE)...........140 A A....44psi......6-8"......................7"........................ .8.1"

 

I thought about the mismatch between front and rear, but all the bad behavior was coming from the rear - in a straight line at highway speeds. I shouldn't think it should make such a big difference.

Change lanes and it was like the back end was trying to catch up, but uncertain whether it should... I don't know, but I've once again got the AVSi's on all 4 corners.

They hold amazingly well under good conditions. The day I spent in the twisties with a Ferrari 355 and Lotus Esprit-T V8 I pushed my car harder than I ever usually would around some turns and they stuck like mad - so much that I was keeping up with these two or gaining in the turns.

Sure, they probably (likely) weren't pushing their cars to the limit, but it was still impressive.

Highly recommended! (For a Tire Rack price of under $100?? That's considerable savings).

- Chris