HopkintonMA

How does tomorrow after work sound to you? Let me know what time you can be here and I will give directions.

mas

Thanks! I sent you an email.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by HopkintonMA
[B]

How does tomorrow after work sound to you?

mas

Just wanted to update. I let HopkintonMA drive my car with the toyos. I'll leave it for him to post him coments, I'm keeping the tires! :-) The problem was that I was "conditioned" to believe that these tires have softer sidewalls and I put in too much air to make them harder. This was actaully causing the rear end to be loose and I was putting in more air to fix this problem instead of reducing it. We reduced the air pressure to 34 PSI all around and that "fixed" the "problem". I had a really good drive back home and I'm keeping these tires! :-) Many thanks to HopkintonMA!!!

HopkintonMA

Well, we drove the car out to my favorite set of on/off ramps at the 495/9 intersection and quickly came to realize that the car was not only too twitchy on the highway doing a basic lane change, but also felt too light on the ramps, so we reduced the air pressure all around the car to 34 and then repeated the tests. The car now handles as I would expect, easily allowing the front end to plow out slightly on the ramps when accelerating, and also pulling back in when easing off on the gas. The tires are more audible in communicating to the driver when the tire's limits are being pushed to their maximum capabilities, allowing for the driver to easily moderate speed or adjust steering input as required to prevent from losing control of the car. The tires are definitely better than my worn S-02's, but cant tell for sure how they would compare to a new set of S-02's since it has been a while from when I have driven on good tires. When driving on the Dragon a month or so ago, following behind Jim in his new S-03's, my rear end was sliding even though I was on the same line as he was, which helped me to realize that worn S-02's are not as grippy as they are when there is some thread left on them, even though there is more surface area making contact with the road's surface....my guess is that the tread compound must be harder as the tire wears down to near the belts. Hope that helps if anyone is considering the T1's as a possible alternative to the S-02's.

s2ktaxi

Dana - did you try lowering the pressures on your worn S02's?

Pinky

Anybody have experience with cold and hot pressures of S-03's? I bumped up the pressure to like 38 HOT and car felt much better. Though I would be interested in knowing somebody elses input.

HopkintonMA

Francis,
I havent lowered my S-02's pressures yet.....the only tread left in the rear is a thin amount in the center of the tire, so I figured I better leave the pressure up around 34 so the outside part of the tire does less work.