Arbeeezy

I just blew out one of my rear S-02's today and was thinking about trying the RE750's. My front S-02's still have alot of thread on them so I don't really want to change all 4. Is it really that bad to mix and match tires? My car is a daily driver and I don't plan on doing any track days or anything like that anytime soon. I'm just wondering why this is so bad. I see people doing it all the time(not sure about s2k owners) with other cars. I know this might be such a noob question to some of you but humor me. Thanks!

CaptainMike

1. Running rear tires with different OD (Outside Diameter) Will destroy your Torsen type differential in fairly short order.

2. Running different brand/model tires Front-Rear will likely result in handling issues (oversteer), lots of people who put cheap replacemets on the rear wind up posting the dreaded "I was just ____ing and the back end _____ and I crashed into _____"

If I were in your shoes I'd buy another S02 for the rear- if the other rear is not too worn. If it's almost shot buy a rear pair of S02's and then change all 4 for your chosen tire next go-round.

Fongu

As a standard reply, it is not a good idea to mix tires. If you are a noob, like you say you are, then it is even more important not to try anything different. I agree with CaptainMike about repairing the SO2, or buying TWO rear SO2's as the low cost option.

You could replace the two rears with cheap tires to save some money, as long as you don't ever expect to drive hard enough or drive on slippery roads, to slide the car. If you never come close to breaking traction you'll never notice mixing tires, BUT realistically you will drive hard sometimes and it probably rain sometime. At that point you better have some driver control skills to handle the sudden, "unnatural" oversteer in this case. It is not worth the minimal saved $$$ for limiting a sports car or sacrificing safety like that.

Josh11886

I recently purchased my S2000. The previousl owner had replaced the rear tires less than a couple hundred miles ago with RE750s (in 245 section width) Problem is, the front has S03s, which also look brand new. So, I have four new, mismatched tires... Should I buy two tires to match the others? If so, which do you recommend I stick with?

CaptainMike

Depends on what you are looking for from a tire and what kind of conditions you usually drive in. Lots of rain where you live? Snow? Weekend fun car? Daily driver? Both of those are pretty respectable tires- the S03's have better grip but will wear faster. The 750's aren't bad and you could probably run that combo staying aware of the tendency to oversteer with less grippy tires in the rear. I'd look for your local autocross and get some at the limit experience with them.