1. I have an 04 with 43k miles on it that I have had 3 yrs., used daily as a work car, with Vtec engaged only in gears 1-3, 99% of the time (it leads a boring life as a sports car). But, as I was putting the S in the garage after testing out my new Continental DWS tires, the unmistakable smell of brakes, were evident, ha!
2. My rear Michelin A/S Pilot Sport tires that I had on for 2 yrs. and only 20-21k miles were worn more from the middle to the inside, and it was suggested I get an alignment, so I shall spend $90 to do so just for peace of mind to have the toe and chamber checked. (My fronts seemed to be wearing fine, with plenty of tread, since they are the fronts, ha!). And, as a side note (would you expect any less form me, ha!), I wanted to get 2k more out of the tires, they were worn down to within the smallest margin of the wear bars, but after saying no 3 times to getting new tires put on now to 3 different guys, I went ahead and did it since it was convenient and they had exactly what I wanted for a price that I wanted.
3. It was suggested that the wider 255 that I put on the rear (to match the 225 I put in front, but the 255 wasn't in the store at the time) would show up the difference in wear even more than the stock 245, being a little wider, but I'm just repeating what they said, and since they don't do alignments where I had the tires installed, I suppose that there observations are valid; if not, I will have peace of mind, at least.
4. Also, as a side note, since the new Continentals are asymmetrical, swapping them around should give more mileage on them, so, if that be true, hopefully I'll get my 25k miles instead of 20-21k miles out of them, but then, there I go again, just repeating what I've heard!
5. So, next Friday when I'm back in town, I'll get the alignment done, unless the input is, "an S has never needed a rear alignment, don't waste your money."
7. I'm wondering if I should give the technician a heads-up on where I want the settings in the toe and camber, and I found out there is a castor setting as well, (I'm really getting in over my head, ha!).
8. Tire pressure was always at specs, 32psi.
9. I've been trying to read about it on this site last evening, and the verdict seems to be: "toe needs to be minimized to get good tread life b/c excessive toe cuts tread life."
10. I don't know the tech specs or language, just wanted to give input to the technician if there are choices to be made w/i the normal range.
11. If keeping my mouth shut is the way to go and let the tech just look up the settings in the manual, fine; if I should repeat the above statement about minimal toe adjustment, better, since I love to talk!. I am more concerned about tread wear than I am about the rear end swinging around.
12. Driving to work doesn't bring out the best in the S anyway. We don't do much swinging together, although, there are 2 places where when I turn right, that if noone is around, I enjoy a little "swing." The most exciting part of my life!
13. On a side note, again, I remember when my wife was with me in one of my del sols at the time, and we were turning into the Mall, and it was raining and wet, and I wasn't trying to go quickly or anything like that and it was a front wheel drive, and we did a 180. Imagine my surprise, and gratefulness that noone was in the lane next to me, or following closely. I still remember vividly, and that was a decade ago!
14. Any of my "sportier" driving I do involves Vtec in a straight line at under 75 mph and usually limited to 55 mph. Going fast around corners is a minimal part of my life, not that taking the 25 mph expressway ramp at 45 mph is not something I enjoy (I know, 2 negatives are difficult).
15. If you must infer that I'm an idiot for not knowing things like this already, that's fine as long as you answer the quesiton, ha! I am around 60-80 high-risk alternative Ed. teens at school everyday, they don't play nice much of the time either, ha!
16. I have noticed that some can get quite "dicey" in their responses on this site, but that is always an opinionated "attitude" type of person that does so, and I assure you, I'm just a "newbie" getting long in the tooth, ha!

 

My generic street alignment advice, for any car:
Minimum spec front and rear toe
Maximum spec front and rear negative camber
Even caster somewhere in the spec range

This will generally give good cornering grip and good tire life.

I'm not sure what the specs are for AP2, but min spec front toe should be zero, min spec rear toe should be ~0.15 degrees per side, 0.30 degrees total. Maximum camber spec should be something like -1 front, -2 rear.