GSi

of course you can't get F1s anymore

eSeM

It looks as though F1s are no longer available in the correct sizes for the 16" OEM rims ..... so you would be looking at Toyo Proxes or similar.

Pie_n_Chips

Sorry Mark my post wasn't very clear, if i just reshod my spangley alloys then I would only need to procure one set of tyres, instead of two. Hence that being the "cheaper" option

I'm leaning towards fitting F1's on the spare rims and leaving the SO2's for summer use.

Now are F1's much cop on the S as I ran them on my ATR and wasn't that impressed when stacked against the Toyo Proxies.

Or is there another "british winter" tyre alternative????

Pie_n_Chips

Sammy

that should be of course minutes

Lurking Lawyer

I guess I just mellowed towards the S02s as I drove the car more.

As you say, you can drive around the S02s weaknesses and make allowances - so long as you keep it smooth, chances are you will be OK. And if you do come a cropper, it's most likely going to be because you got something badly wrong, in which case I very much doubt that it makes much difference what tyre you're running, or you aquaplane, which is something else which I don't think the F1 would handle much differently to the S02.

I noticed the difference between the S02 and F1's dry weather handling on the Academy Day I did - on the car control exercise, which finished with you hurtling down a straight and having to try to brake to end in a box, my F1-shod car was taking quite a bit further to stop than the S02-shod cars in my group, despite me braking at the same point as them. The loss of dry grip was also noticeable on some of my spirited summer drives.

But, as I said in my first post, if you're doing a lot of winter miles and the S is your only car, there's a good reason to opt for the F1s (if you can get them, of course - I know has struggled recently, presumably as a result of Goodyear discontinuing the F1 GSD2 in the size needed for the S).

GSi

see posts above about there not being any F1s!

Fletch

[QUOTE=AquilaEagle,Oct 5 2004, 12:25 PM] C

Winter is one of the best times of year for the S IMHO,

Pie_n_Chips

So that leaves me with

Toyo T1-s
Bridgestone So3's
Bridgestone expedia so1
Continental sport contacts

erm and possibly a whole host more, right this needs more investigation......

Fletch

My 2p

If I could, I'd have a set of S02's for the Summer (what there is of it) & track and a set of Toyos for the other "seasons".
In reality, as it can pi$$ down with rain at any time and I don't have TWO sets of TE-37s I'll be sticking with Toyos all year.
Driving through standing water (at speed) with S02s on is a life changing decision. (IMHO) Of course, if you drive according to the conditions, i.e. damn slow in the wet, then you'd have no problem with the S02s. They are SIGNIFICANTLY better in the dry.
(FYI, I'm currently using eagle F1s but I'll be swapping back to toyos next time.)

Paper Lawyer

Ah, that's my point, I've aquaplaned with S02s on where the F1s are cut through the same level of water without a problem. Sounds like Toyos are THE way forward though (or buy some 17" alloys....).