To start: my usage is generally around 60/40 street/track and I only drive the car maybe 1-2x a week when the weather is nice - I have another car for commuting. I didn't hit any track days last year due to a new baby, but this year I already have more than a few planned.

I picked up a set of Rivals on closeout last year, and when I was doing my brake preps for my next track day I noticed the rears were getting pretty close to the wear bars. The fronts still look practically new with a ton of tread depth left and basically zero heat cycles due to the aforementioned baby.

Since I'm going to have to replace the rears soon I was wondering what would be a good tire to pair them with. I know a matching set of 4 is ideal due to breakaway characteristics, but I can't in good conscience get rid of a perfectly good set of fronts for the sake of matching tires.

Part of me is leaning toward the Rival S just because the tread matches, but performance-wise I'm thinking the Kumho Ecsta V720 or Hankook RS-3 V2 based on the Tire Rack test results. If there are any other suggestions I'm all ears though.

 

You'll want to match the performance characteristics as much as possible or you may have issues. I would go with a set of Rival S tires for the rear to match your Rivals in the front. I ended up in a similar situation with my Max Performance tire setup when I replaced the rears with a different tire while maintaining my original fronts. The car was not happy and traction control kicks in often as the traction bias is now skewed on the car. I'm just running with VSA disabled full time until my set of RE-71R's arrive.

 

No brainer, stick with the same tires. Its common to replace the rears twice as often as the fronts with this car. Makes no sense to mix match. Wait till the fronts and rears are both gone on the next go around.

 

Clearly I'd get Rivals again if I could. From all accounts, the new Rival S is significantly different compound-wise from the old Rival aside from the tread pattern, hence the question. If something is closer handling-wise to the old ones, that seems like it would be a better choice than the updated compound.

 

Some people get weird about the idea of mixing but I, personally, don't have any issues with it so long as they are mixed in axle pairs. Of course it's ideal to match all four but in my experience as well as the collective experience of many I frequent the track with it has never been an issue. One of my close friends almost exclusively runs sumtiomo htz iii rears with whatever EHP street tire he can get his hands on up front. He drives aggressively on the street (touge) as well as a handful of track events every year and loves the way the car feels. I've spent a good amount of time in his car using different tires and have to say it feels just fine. Also you are talking about mixing tires of the same category which makes the difference even smaller and less noticeable, IMHO.

-Matt M.

 

This ties in with a question I had on another post about the now discontinued Bridgestone S-02. The OEM (no longer available) is not the same spec as the Porsche spec (still available) S-02 and it seems the internet meme is to not use them. There is probably minor differences in the tread compound and sidewall flex. To me the differences would probably be negligible compared to putting on something like RE-11 on the back with S-02 front. I can't foresee any spooky handling characteristics by mixing Honda S-02 front, Porsche S-02 rear....if anyone has first hand experience to the contrary please elaborate. Thanks.

 

I've tracked on mixed EHP street tires and I didn't die. The car's balance and response will just be altered slightly based on the grip and sidewall flex available at each end. You just drive the car based on what you have on tap, same as with any tires. The only "funny business" comes when one pair starts to go greasy before the other pair. Then the balance of the car will shift mid-session and you just drive around that new balance.

 

Thanks. This solidifies my decision to pick up some rear RS-3 V2s this summer. I figure since the rears are newer compound than the fronts, they should be grippier and take longer to get greasy anyway, which is the safer way to be IMO.

 

Does anyone know if there is a big difference if you mix rs3 v1 and v2. Like v2 in the front and v1 rear?

 

The compound is a little bit different, so generally the v2's will warm up a tad faster. I assume the difference isn't all that significant, and the tread pattern is the exact same. You'll probably be fine, I think I'd put the newer tires in the rear. When the front v1's are worn later down the road, replace and perhaps rotate (assuming square setup). If your setup is staggered, you are more limited of course and wouldn't be able to do the rotation from front to rear.
Edit: google search confirms, new tires should indeed go in the rear axle. Thus v1's (used tires) up front, new v2's in the rear.
https://blog.allstat...new-tires-rear/