rear tire and alignment problems?
 

I bought my s2000 in October 2002 and have had a lot of fun with it. However, in an effort to save my tires I never spin them. Yet I noticed the tires wearing funny on the rear and finally went to goodyear. When the car was on the rack they showed me the tires that I had not paid much attention to. Both rear tires are half bald. I mean to say that the tire is fine on one side and the other half- the inner side is completely worn. Both rear tires are bold on the inside half. Its as if the car has been only riding on the inner halfs of each rear tire. The goodyear guy told me that the only way this could happen is if the dealer did not align the rear when it prepped the car, thus causing this irregular wearing. He suggested that I go to the dealer and get the alignment fixed and then complain about the tires that were ruined because of it.

Can anyone give me any ideas. Has this happened to anybody else? Is it a defect? Is the goodyear guy correct? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Mileage just hit 11,000.

If the dealer does not credit me for tires what is the best tire to replace it with? How much?

Sargf

At 11K that is not bad mileage for the rear. You can run less negative camber and the tires will wear better. You can also run less toe in on the rear.

Jim

Sorry, but i am not up on the lingo. What exactly does that mean? I assume it means get an alignment and some new tires but any explanation would be helpful so i don't get ripped off. Thankyou

Take a look at this website for a nice overview of car alignment, and the meaning of caster, camber and toe.

It is also possible that your car is aligned correctly, since the wear that you describe is pretty normal in our car, especially if there is not much difference in wear (1-2mm) when comparing inside to outside. If the difference is greater than this, there may be an alignment issue. As Jim mentions, camber and toe are the specifications to check first.

You've owned the car for about 10 months so it's time for an alignment anyway. Make sure you go to a shop that is familiar with the S2000 since it takes patience and a fine touch to do a good job on our cars.

I'm very happy with the OEM tires (make sure you get the correct type of SO2 - Jim can help you there). As an alternative, the Bridgestone Potenza SO3 Pole Position tires offer improved wet traction with a slight loss of dry traction. If you opt for non-OEM replacements, note that the correct rear tire size is 245/45/16. See the link at the top of the forum page for an explanation.

Pretty much everybody's car has tire wear like this. That's how Honda was able to make this car corner the way it does. If you dial this out, yes, you will get better tire wear but you will sacrifice handling. Which do you want?
If you choose to keep the settings as they are, with your next set of tires, do this:
https://www.s2ki.com/forums/showthread.php?...threadid=128526