It's been about 5000 miles since I bought my RE730's -- rear only -- from Tire Rack, and I figured I'd post a review.

The good: They grip extremely well on water; I have never broken the rears loose in the wet with "normal" driving, and no hydroplaning problems. Ice grip is acceptable for a performance tire. No wear is visible yet (S02's would be almost ready for changing again). When I lose (dry) grip, it's gradual and easy to recover.

The bad: My front S02's with 19000mi still grip better in the dry. The RE730's slide around every corner during mildly aggressive driving. I can't take curves anywhere near as fast as I did on S02's due to feedback from the rears.

Summary: I'd recommend RE730's for someone who doesn't drive aggressively on a regular basis; however, I won't be buying them again myself.

 

Part of the problem you are experiencing is the two different tires. If you had the RE730 on all four corners the car would actually handle better than what you have.
The S02 is head and shoulders better than the S02 but they are quite a bit less money. The only problem we have seen is the RE730 will get noisy if you get any uneven wear.

Jim 800-428-8355-364

 

Jim, can you enlighten me here? If my rear RE730's are sliding all over now, how will switching to RE730's on the front make things better? My (admittedly ignorant) expectation is the front would start sliding too, making things even worse.

I ask because it's time to replace the fronts, but I'm hesitant to buy RE730's again. I'm so unhappy with my rears I'm considering replacing them with S02JZ's as soon as I can afford all four.

 

The difference is, you have a car with sever understeer currently. If you have a tire that is the same on all 4 corners you can control the car. I am not saying the RE730 is a better tire, because it is not. I am saying the car will have more neutral handling if the same tire is used on all four corners.
I hope this helps.
Let me know if I can help further.

Jim 800-428-8355-364

 

I experimented with different rear tires on my car too. I dismissed the RE730's because in my opinion they are entirely too hard a compound for the car unless you are driving all highway, mostly wet, or casual city driving.
I did find that the Yokohama A-520 had nearly the same grip as the OEM S-02 in dry conditions with a more predictable break at the limit. Wet traction was superior to the S-02 for the life of the tire. Treadwear wasn't much better than the life expectancy of a rear OEM tire but at only $97.00 each it can't be beat. The only downside I found was the tire gets noisy as it wears, loud enough that it masked the initial symptoms of a failing differential.
I found no problem with the car's front / rear balance when running worn OEM's on the front. I suspect A-520's on all four corners would be a good alternative to OEM's if on a budget. My friends running them on Porsche and Miata love them for their performance but commented that the rears don't go beyond 10K on either of these cars. My Porsche driving friend just mounted another set of A-520's this morning but noted a "DB" suffix added to the sidewall. He was told it was a quieter version of the tire. I'm not familiar with this one.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by svann
[B]I experimented with different rear tires on my car too. I dismissed the RE730's because in my opinion they are entirely too hard a compound for the car unless you are driving all highway, mostly wet, or casual city driving.

 

The A520 is discontinued.

Jim

 

I had 730's on my TL. Transformed the car from what it was with stock tires, but they were noisier for sure.