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... I’ll give these some time to break in and I will report back.
I'm curious how you are doing with these tires. The current price for these tires (16") at Tire Rack with the rebate is very low right now. I'm tempted, even though I really don't need tires until next season. Hard to resist a set of good tires like this for $280.
I am a generally a believer in the idea that "you get what you pay for." I have come to believe that s2k street tires is one of the few exceptions to the rule. Lord knows I will spend money for quality stuff, but I'm not big on flushing my hard earned money down the toilet for no reason. At the rate we all go through tires, it can really add up.
I have a few hundred miles on them in the 17" size and see why so many people like them. They have good grip for the street and a few times when I was a bit too aggressive in a roundabout they slid predictably with no surprises. They do well under hard braking too. Just don't expect them to behave like a 200 tread wear tire.
They are silent too - or at least I never hear them - although we all know that's not saying very much on an S2000. In short, I really don't notice them at all - they just do what they're supposed to do without any drama or weaknesses. I run RS4s 255 width square on the track and prefer the Firestones for the street as the narrower front tire gives better steering feel, although clearly with less grip.
I'm curious how you are doing with these tires. The current price for these tires (16") at Tire Rack with the rebate is very low right now. I'm tempted, even though I really don't need tires until next season. Hard to resist a set of good tires like this for $280.
I am a generally a believer in the idea that "you get what you pay for." I have come to believe that s2k street tires is one of the few exceptions to the rule. Lord knows I will spend money for quality stuff, but I'm not big on flushing my hard earned money down the toilet for no reason. At the rate we all go through tires, it can really add up.
I only have about 150 miles on them this far, but I really like them. On the backroads near my house, they gave me all the confidence my S04’s did. I have no regrets thus far. The real test will be the end of July when I hit the dragon. But at this point I’m a happy camper.
The ride is quieter and a touch more comfortable than my S04’s.
I will say these Conti ExtremeContact Sports I have on now are great as well. I am very happy with them. A bit more expensive. $357 after rebate v. $280. Not a huge difference, but not nothing either. I'd say for the 16 inch folks that drive on the street only these are the two tires of choice right now.
One thing for the 16" crowd to consider is the sidewall stiffness. That becomes more significant with the taller sidewalls on the 16" tires v. 17" tires.
I will say these Conti ExtremeContact Sports I have on now are great as well. I am very happy with them. A bit more expensive. $357 after rebate v. $280. Not a huge difference, but not nothing either. I'd say for the 16 inch folks that drive on the street only these are the two tires of choice right now.
One thing for the 16" crowd to consider is the sidewall stiffness. That becomes more significant with the taller sidewalls on the 16" tires v. 17" tires.
Yeah it was a $70 or $90 price break between those two for me. Although it’s not an insane amount of money, it’s still roughly a 20% or the purchase price and I’m not certain if they are 20% better.
.....I kinda wish I had gone up to 265 in the rear, but I don’t know if the fronts would have taken 235s and I didn’t want to move away from the factory balance.
You're limited to just a few tires in a 265/40-17 size, I just did a quick search https://www.tires-easy.com/tires/265...BoCmnYQAvD_BwE
I have not had any rubbing up front with 235/45-17 tires('06 S), have ran the DW, Firestone and Sumitomo(junk tires) in that size.
There is a post on here with 265/40-17 out back and they looked real good, don't remember if he had to roll the fender or not. Should not be to hard to find it(it has pic's to)
If the Firestone came in the 265's I would have gone with those, but they don't.
I recently picked up a very affordable '00 AP1, so am back in the game. I'm getting these installed on Tuesday of next week. 255/40/17 square on TSW Interlagos (17x9 +63). Will report back on how they feel after a few hundred miles.
Yeah it was a $70 or $90 price break between those two for me. Although it’s not an insane amount of money, it’s still roughly a 20% or the purchase price and I’m not certain if they are 20% better.
My experience so far on tires for my street driven s2k is that as I go down the price points over the years the better lower priced tires are 100% fine for my style of driving, and there is zero reason to spend more money. The Conti's are great for me, and they are not high on the list of tires price wise. But, why not save a few more bucks on a tire that will also be great for my purposes? Spend the money saved on something more meaningful.
So I pulled the trigger on a set of these tires in OE 16" sizes before the $60 rebate expired on TireRack. For me, it came down to between the Firehawk Indy 500s or the G-Force Sport Comp-2s. In the end, the slightly better performance (according to the TireRack review) and the lower price of the FI 500s won. My only "concern" if you can call it that, was the reported narrowness of the tire widths. However, I decided that is not a deal breaker. Well, the tires got here today and I am pleasantly surprised that the tire width doesn't look at all narrow. I measured it, and it's only about 1/4" narrower than the current OE Bridgestone S-02, which are known to be quite wide. The width might change once mounted on the rims though?
