At the recommendation of my local Tires Plus and several glowing reviews on TireRack, I purchased a pair of Potenta RE960s for the backside of my '02 S2k. Up front, I've still got a pair of Fuzion ZRIs which seem to have lasted about 30k miles now. I questioned why RE960s, an all-season tire, would grip as nice as the ZRis, but TP assured me everyone *loves* them and they are a much better tire all around, new technology, etc. etc. So, I gave it a go, knowing I could swap out within 30 days. Everything seemed fine until I got the car to ~50mph. Around 50mph, the back end felt incredibly "squishy", like I was driving through mud or with 15psi. Freeway driving was downright frightening -- a full-bore acceleration down a ramp made the car sway from side to side. I thought, maybe they just needed some time to break in. Nope. After two weeks, the issues remained. I spent countless hours researching what to try next, and decided on Eagle F1s. TiresPlus thankfully did an even exchange (even though they usually only sell Bridgestone), and from the second I drove away, I knew it was going to be heavenly w/the F1s. The car felt tighter all around. The sway and squishiness was gone, and in its place, fantastic grip and sharpness. With the F1s on the back (and ZRis upfront), it reminds me of what the car was like to drive with the OEM tires. A surprising amount of the "heavy", vague feel I had with the ZRis all-around is gone, although I'm sure it'll only get better with another set of F1s upfront.

My only reason for posting this is as a warning for anyone who's in the same boat, considering what to switch out/up to, while they still have life in their front tires. I also just cannot say enough about the Eagle F1s -- amazing what a pair of these on the back can do, let alone all-around. Not to knock the ZRis, but I think the S2k deserves better and my only disappointment right now is that I didn't do the F1s years ago. Hopefully they'll last longer than the OEM tires, although I know they won't last as long as the ZRis.

 

There are several different flavors of Goodyear "Eagle F1" tires (some UHP all-season, some ultra high performance, some max performance). Which did you get?

 

i have the 960's in the back and have no complaints but i will be swapping those out shortly so maybe i am too used to them at the moment

 

I think the problem you had was the mismatched tires. You had a summer tire on the front of the car and an all season tire on the rear. That is never a good thing to do. You also had a tire that had about 1/2" narrower contact patch that the OE tires so handling is going to be different. The third thing is the tires were brand new and they do take time to break in. It may take 300 to 500 miles to wear off the release compound.
My suggestion would have been to match the front tires.

 

I got the F1 GSD3. Still immensely pleased -- even a couple thousand miles later.

Agree with Jim that the problem was related to having severely-mismatched tires. I had several hundred miles on the 960s, so I don't think it would have gotten better with time. I'm surprised Tires+ recommended that set up.

 

Ok, after 8,000 miles with the GSD3, I can see I'm going to need new rear tires soon. And I drive VERY conservatively. So, overall, not happy with these at all.