I'm wondering what tyre pressures are you people running on your S2000? I have the standard S02 tyres if it makes a difference.

I've read somewhere that 38/34psi front back is ideal.

 

no tyres on the US cars! so far i have not even checked my tires- they look fine! have you noticed a loss of pressure?

 

From previous posts, these seem to be the best guidelines:

Max PSI is 44 lbs COLD for the S02's.

Honda recommends PSI for "normal" driving: 32 PSI F & R. COLD

For AutoX and spirited street driving, recommend PSI: 36F 35R COLD

For the track, recommend PSI: 39F 37R HOT

 

I kept my first set of S-02s at 32 psi, but noticed the edges of the rears wore faster than the center. This suggests to me that a bit more pressure would have extended the tires' life, so I'm using 32 front 34 rear now. (The fronts seem to be wearing pretty evenly.)

 

Tyres is the Queens english. No european breeding here with these little wankers mate! LOL!!!!

All joking aside, I asked this same subject about two week ago. General conclusion 36/36 seem to be about right for all-round performance.

 

David, I run mine at 39 front and rear, on track and off track. I find that with any lower pressure I tend to slide too much - however, it depends on you driving style. I definitely wouldn't run anything less than 36/36.

 

Thanks guys, looks like somwhere around 36psi seems to be the way to go.

Now, what I'm wondering is - why would you want to run different pressures front and back? The car has 50/50 weight distribution so u'd figure that even pressures all around would be the 'optimal' way to go. From my prev car (MR2) I learned that lower psi at the front gave me better response at the front and better turn in. Though, MR2 had 44/56 weight distribution (front/back). Was running 33/38psi front/back on it and that gave be perfect balance for the car - back was stuck like with a glue and front was very responsive/grippy (thoguh not enough to kick the back out).

ps. I'm guessing that with S2000, lower psi at the back is there to 'cure' a bit the jitteriness of the back that I read about.

 

Dave, don't forget to consider the fact that our f/r tires are not the same size.

 

RT, I have ... my old MR2 had 195/55/15 front and 225/50/15 back (stock strandad) so I'm used to it :-) Though, I still don't see why the pressure disparity between front and back? What's the reasoning behind it, does anyone know?

ps. What pressures is everyone else running?

pps. On the MR2 the rears lasted about 25,000 km (and by then they were slicks) while the fronts lasted good 50,000+ km. What the 'life-expectancy' of the tyres on the S2000? btw, I was running the S02s on the MR2 as well - best tyre I have ever come across by a mile.

 

Optimum tire (tyre ) pressure is quite dependent on your goal. If you want to maximize tread life, you should drive sedately and use the pressure that yields even treadwear. Since this is not my goal, I can't offer specific advise about pressure in this situation.

However, I have noticed that spirited driving can reduce tread life on the shoulders, and this can be somewhat compensated for by increasing pressure. But, what's good for treadlife, is not necessarily good for performance. Best performance at moderate to high speeds at the handling limits of my car with my style of driving are at cold pressures of 33 psi rear and 35 psi front. These move up to about 37 psi front and 39 psi rear when warmed up. I run slightly higher pressures (2-3 psi more) to improve lower speed handling (like at an autocross).

There are a variety of reasons to run different pressures front and rear. For me, turn-in becomes crisper at a slightly higher pressure in front, go too high and the car tends to push, go too low and steering feel is diminished. If you decrease pressure in the rear, it starts to feel loose. Increase it and it doesn't feel as well planted. That's my 2p FWIW.