I have a 2002 S2000 and my front Potenza S02's are worn and need to be replaced. The rears have about 6000 miles on them and based on my driving so far should last at least another 6000 miles. The car is stored for winter. I live in Windsor, Canada and we get our fair share of rain but nothing ridiculous. My first choice is the S02's just because I think they're fantastic performance wise.

I've been looking at getting the Bridgestone S03's or RE750 because they are slightly cheaper and should provide a more comfortable driving experience in the rain. I've also looked at the Kumho MX mainly because they are much cheaper.

My questions:

If I decide to go with S03, RE750, or MX for the front tires will that be a problem if I still have the OEM S02's on the rear? I read somewhere that it is not a good idea to mix tires on the S2000 but especially with the S02's on one end.

If I go with tires other than the S02's on the front should I get 225 instead of 205?

Please feel free to give any opinion on which tires you would choose to put on the front knowing that you have S02's on the rear. Or if you have any experience with any of these tires that information would also be appreciated.

Thanks,
Rashid

 

Mixing tires is bad because every tire has different traction characteristics. With re950's on the front for example your going to understeer like crazy. The car can become dangerouly unstable, especially in adverse weather.

If your looking for a decent, cheap summer only tire that does decently in the rain Yokohama ES100. They aren't the greatest in the world, but they certainly aren't the worst.

If you looking for all seasons, Pirelli Pzero, Yokohama DB2's etc.

 

Great, thanks for responding. So what do people in my situation do? Just buy the same tires all around and sell the rears S02's that are still good in my case?

So are you recommending if I need new front tires I should either get S02's or have to get 4 tires if I want a different tire?

~RF