Squirmy Pole Position S04's. Help!
06-12-2019, 08:59 AM
#11
Community Organizer
Update: Increased tire pressure to 36 psi all around. Better but not fixed. All symptoms from before still present but reduced. I agree with all the alignment comments and am trying to get one in the next week here. Question though, can new tires throw off an alignment if all tire dimensions are the same? Different contact patches perhaps?
06-20-2019, 12:20 PM
#12
I've used these tires and I had none of these issues. Hard to figure.
08-06-2019, 12:06 PM
#13
Final Update - Gone with the SO4's
Sorry for the delayed update but this has been a process. Mainly because my clutch failed during this process which took about a month to fully resolve. I will create a separate post about this so that others can hopefully learn from it but long story short is another failed aftermarket clutch disc.
Ok back to the tire issue. So I put about 200 miles on the Bridgestone SO4's, played around with tire pressures, and got an alignment. The alignment specs were out and correcting them did help make the tires feel better but I was still super unhappy with the tires. They were completely dead on center. So much so that you had to actually turn the wheel probably 5 degrees or so until you got any feel and had to load up a the tire a bit before it took a line. How much load you had to put into the tire before it reacted was dependent on speed and steering angle as you would imagine. This created the sensation of basically having crappy variable ration steering and shot any confidence I had in the handling. These S04's were not only worse than the 14 year old Goodyears I replaced but probably the worst performance tire I have driven.
In fairness to Bridgestone, I am not fully convinced these don't have some sort of manufacturing defect. I just can't believe this is how they are supposed to be. I also have to give credit because Bridgestone has a 90 Day Return policy for these tires. Never even heard of such a thing but perhaps they are offering this because they know there is a problem. In any case, Tire Rack are rockstars as always and are handling all the return logistics for me. UPS picked up the old tires at no charge to me, I'm being refunded for the tires, and I'm even getting a $100 credit back for mounting and balancing the new tires. I couldn't ask for more. Tire Rack has and will always have my business.
So what replaced them? Michelin's new Pilot Sport 4S! What an amazing tire. Everything I hated about the SO4's is addressed with this tire. They are quiet, ride great, have great grip, and the steering feel is back baby. Turn-in is immediate and linear. In my sizes it only cost me about another $100 to go up to the Michelin's and they are vastly superior in every single way. These tires are as good as everyone says and I intend to buy another pair when the time comes. Hope this helps others with their purchase.
Ok back to the tire issue. So I put about 200 miles on the Bridgestone SO4's, played around with tire pressures, and got an alignment. The alignment specs were out and correcting them did help make the tires feel better but I was still super unhappy with the tires. They were completely dead on center. So much so that you had to actually turn the wheel probably 5 degrees or so until you got any feel and had to load up a the tire a bit before it took a line. How much load you had to put into the tire before it reacted was dependent on speed and steering angle as you would imagine. This created the sensation of basically having crappy variable ration steering and shot any confidence I had in the handling. These S04's were not only worse than the 14 year old Goodyears I replaced but probably the worst performance tire I have driven.
In fairness to Bridgestone, I am not fully convinced these don't have some sort of manufacturing defect. I just can't believe this is how they are supposed to be. I also have to give credit because Bridgestone has a 90 Day Return policy for these tires. Never even heard of such a thing but perhaps they are offering this because they know there is a problem. In any case, Tire Rack are rockstars as always and are handling all the return logistics for me. UPS picked up the old tires at no charge to me, I'm being refunded for the tires, and I'm even getting a $100 credit back for mounting and balancing the new tires. I couldn't ask for more. Tire Rack has and will always have my business.
So what replaced them? Michelin's new Pilot Sport 4S! What an amazing tire. Everything I hated about the SO4's is addressed with this tire. They are quiet, ride great, have great grip, and the steering feel is back baby. Turn-in is immediate and linear. In my sizes it only cost me about another $100 to go up to the Michelin's and they are vastly superior in every single way. These tires are as good as everyone says and I intend to buy another pair when the time comes. Hope this helps others with their purchase.
08-06-2019, 04:53 PM
#14
Goes to show not all tires are created equal when put on this responsive sensitive car. Choose wisely. Id say its more of a crap shoot to select in any category under an extreme summer due to the broader variances in carcass design, which is what influences feel. Not all Extreme summer tires are identical either, but they have a singular baseline construction that is very good to support the added load/ grip, which that construction happens to coincide well with the handling character of the S. You can get some pretty wide extremes in handling feel with a standard summer compound tire.
08-06-2019, 08:23 PM
#15
It sounds like that is a possibility with the tires you had purchased.
08-07-2019, 01:39 AM
#16
08-10-2019, 10:01 PM
#17
08-11-2019, 04:15 AM
#18
Tires can feel different. @Birdybog has two pre-2004 S2000s and commented on the different "feel" my '06 with S-04s had when he and I swapped cars on some county roads a couple of months ago. Of course the car's suspensions and spring rates are different and I'm running "CR Spec" tires (215F 255R) on 17" wheels. I didn't notice anything startling with his car and tires. Just another sweet S2000. 
My last set of tires were RE-11A tires and the S-04s match their performance in seat-of-the-pants testing. My wife accuses me of taking corners too fast but I'm not getting even tire squeal.
-- Chuck
My last set of tires were RE-11A tires and the S-04s match their performance in seat-of-the-pants testing. My wife accuses me of taking corners too fast but I'm not getting even tire squeal.
-- Chuck
08-11-2019, 05:29 AM
#19
I don't know what explains OPs experience, but it is completely out of step with the experience of almost every other s2k owner on this board who has actually used the tires.
