First off, I apologize if I posted this in the wrong section. I don’t know what my problem is, but tires were the most recent variable changed.

I recently installed a set of KW V3’s, and got a standard S2000 alignment. During the alignment it was found that my right front tire had bad camber wear (maybe too much toe because camber was within spec). I didn’t immediately replace my tires, and drove around for a month or so since the rears still had plenty of life left. I was on BFgoodrich g-force sports, and the car felt great IMO. Very balanced and smooth on “hard” turns on my daily drives. With the KW V3 and the alignment, I actually felt confident and had fun driving my car.

However, I knew I had to replace my front tires, so I went with a new set of Dunlop Star Specs (all four). I lowered the car just a bit more but still within KW’s recommended range. I got another alignment done, but this time I aligned it to CR specs. Everything was in spec except for the camber front and back (F ~-1.2 and R ~-2.0). After the tires and alignment, the car just doesn’t feel the same anymore. I can’t take turns at my usual speeds because the car just feels unstable. When I used to take this one bank, the car would sit flat and planted throughout the curve. Now, it feels sloppy as if it’s leaning to one side when I take that same bank. Even the steering feels very different now. The turn in on corners feel fine but the corner exits scare me because car will make a sudden dip to the outside wheel. Instead of smoothly coming out of the turn, it feels like I’m fighting my steering wheel. Kind of feels like body roll and understeer, which I didn’t feel before my new tires. I’m on stock wheels with stock tire specs (215/45/17 and 245/40/17). This is a MY05.

Do I just need to break in the tires or could it be the alignment? Probably irrelevant, but I did have spacers (15mm front and 20mm back) before the new tires. I took them off because the Star Specs run wider than normal tires. Is it because I lowered the car too much and accidentally out of the KW range? I’m just guessing, so if anyone has any ideas, please share.

 

wait about 700-1000 miles, tires are greasy feeling until then

 

they are just fresh rubber man i think i notice that on any set of tires ive got on the first few hundred miles

 

That's what I was hoping for but I never felt such a drastic change from tires. This is my first tire change on my car, and I guess the S2000 is very sensitive to tires. On top of that, I was confused when my friend said there's no break-in period for tires and they're actually stickiest when new.

 

tire pressure is?

 

this make sure you're around 30-32 psi. scrub them in for a couple hundred miles and enjoy

 

there is definitely a break in period for tires. in fact, serious track guys will shave down the first few mm to get to the good stuff. star specs are very reputable tires so i doubt they are the problem. are there damper stiffness adjustments on your coilovers? might play with that a little bit as well. go stiff in the front and slightly softer in the rear. and, as mentioned, tire pressure is key as well.

 

Actually, track guys shave their tires down to (believe it or not) increase their life. Less rubber means less heat build up, meaning longer life. It also decreases tread squirm to make the tires more responsive.

 

this. after broken in/shaved the tires will feel more stable and consistent.

 

It's somewhat counter-intuitive but lowering your car can sometimes increase body roll as the distance between the roll center and center of gravity widened, depending on how low you went. You definately introduced a lot of variables with tread depth, tire compound, ride height and alignment. Take it easy for a few hundred miles.