Tyre Help!
 

Oh dear, I feel like I might have screwed up.

I recently had the tyres replaced on my 2003 S2000, the guy in the tyre shop said he'd done a few models like mine and recommended the following which I took:

Rear - Bridgestone Potenzas (RE001) 255/55 R16

Front - Bridgestone MY01 205/55 R16

Ever since I've noticed a huge difference in both handling and torque (it now feels like i'm driving on a sandy road, compared to the old tyres).

I bought the car from it's original owner and it had done about 50,000k and the old tyres were Dunlops but I don't know the model, they were low profiles I think (or at least looked it compared to the current tyres), which look like tractor wheels!

I've contacted the previous owner but nothing back so far, any of you more insightful chaps have any thoughts?

I'm pretty much ready to buy a new set to get the old handling and power back!

I know, I know.

The owner just got back to me, they were Dunlop Z1 Star Specs, but he doesn't remember the setup, can anyone recommend front and back sizes?

Size isn't as important as tire make/model.
Looks like the RE001 looks to be a higher-performance tire than the MY01 "sports tourer", total MISMATCH! Also, 255/55-16 rear size is WAY off, you sure that's right? That would be about 2" taller than stock! Effectively much worse overall gearing, equivalent to going from 4.10 to a 3.78. Sorry, but your tire guy appears to be a raging idiot, at least when it comes to tires!

That said, the Dunlop Star Specs that were on it are one of the best-performing tires you can get for the S. Why couldn't your tire guy get you another set of those?

Thanks for the info Dan, unfortunately the tire details I gave were correct.

The main problem is, I live in Dubai, and Dunlop's coverage in the middle east is very poor. I just called the only Dunlop dealer in the country and they only have Dunlop Sport Maxx in stock.

How do they rate against the Z1? Significantly worse?



(PS, the tire guy I went to was Egyptian, more fool me I guess. Once again, thanks for the help)