Hey guys, it's about time to change my rear tires. Florida gets a lot of rain, so I was thinking about going with SO3's. Please give your opinion on the following questions. There seems to be different schools of thought. I am sticking with the OEM rims. My first question is can I mix SO3's in the rear with SO2's in the front? The SO2 fronts still have a lot of tread left as the car only has about 8,500 miles. The second question is the size. Most owners suggest moving up to a 245 tire and some suggest moving from a 50 to a 45 rear. Also, what do you suggest up front when that time comes? I know there are cheaper tires out there, but don't you get what you pay for? Please jump in...thanks, -Ken

 

i my self also have the S03's on my car. and i live in soflo too. they are without a doubt hands down the best wet weather tire on the market. the things you will have to understand about these tires is this. yes you will have to bump up to a 245 rear. the problem being this. as you will notice they will far surpass the s02 in the wet. the reason being there is less contact patch of rubber on the ground. meaning there are more and larger grooves in the tire to channel water. so while your wet weather performance will grow greatly your dry traction is going to suffer. even though you are going up in a size in realality your tire will be the same as the oem s02 225. the oem s02 has a larger contact patch of rubber on the ground along with it being a very grippy tire. its an even trade off. give a some dry traction to gain wet traction. its a matter of what is more important to you. i myself have 18"s and have a 255 rear so the rubber i lost going from a s02 to s03
i have gained back just because it is a wider tire. hope this helps

 

Thanks BlueS2000Boy, for the explanation. It helps.