zero_to60

If you are finding the car is getting away from you I'd change.......this is partly why mine is back in the garage again as the handling has become rather unpredictable....I am waiting to get paid before I replace the tyres

LeeG2002

I must be a great jessie considering the norm is around 10k for the S02's. Had all 4 changed last week, rears just down to the min, fronts down to the min on the inside. Mileage just over 17K!!!!!

I don't hang around when I drive the car either. Must admit though, I don't have much sideways action... probably why the fronts have kept up with the rears.

Bigtone

That's a technical fallacy put about by certain tyre manufacturers, usually the one doing the OE fitment with the car manufacturer, then trying to secure his replacement business to follow later. That is also the same reason for all the guff spoken about "Honda only recommend the Bridgestone brand". As Zero keeps saying, the handbook is clear to be careful in listing the OE Size only, and not any make.
To fit the same spec and OE size of the same but different brands, on EACH axle, will create nothing untoward at all. The whole issue will continue as subjective, but the statement was technically incorrect, being only a personal opinion in the end.

zero_to60

from an asethetic point of view I like all 4 tyres to be the same brand and tread pattern....I don't think there is a safety issue with having different brands front to rear

As for this "Honda recommend only the S02 boll0cks".....if it's so super critical why is it not mentioned in the manual?? Unless your read S2ki then 'you'd never know'

Lurking Lawyer

If that's the case, I stand corrected.

I've never actually tried different tyres on different axles, but had read on here posts by people with substantially more technical knowledge than me that it was inadvisable to mix and match in that way.

To my mind, it seems like a recipe for odd handling to have tyres with different levels of grip in different conditions on front and rear axles

LeeG2002

I must agree with you Mark, surely having different levels of grip front and rear does not help with the overall stability of the car?

moff

To some degree I think I have to agree with MT. Different tyres on each axle will mean different compounds which will mean different handling than Honda designed the car for??

Surely when Honda and Bridgestone developed the S02, it was only developed for the S2000 to provide the extra level of grip that the S requires, and no other car uses these tyres. Why would they go to all that hassle? IIRC the same happened with the last MR2, it had specifically soft compound Yokohoma developed and went through rears in 6k, but this was also to help the rear stick.

I am not saying that other tyres will be shit, and I am sure that there are particular tyres out there that could be suitable. What I am sure of, from reading this board is that some tyres are totally unsuitable for the S e.g. S03's. It is completely right for Honda to recommend that Honda S2000's should be fitted with the correct S02's, as these tyres are proven to work very well with the scope that they were given.

Don't think I have explained myself very well, hope you catch my drift

JimboM

Mark...

I'd agree with you here... as the tyres are set up in such a way to behave dependent on where they are on the car (directionals)

Different tyres, different designs with different levels of grip, to me does not sound appealing either aesthetically or safety wise.

zero_to60

The point I am making is that other than on this site....I have seen no documentation or any verbal confirmation that Honda only recommend the S02's........so as far as I am concerned providing you follow the recommendations in the handbook you should be ok

Remember the grip level provided by the different tyres on offer from the various manufacturers is all relative.....some will be better than others in specific areas and overall the S2000 may 'lap' more quickly on one set of tyres to another but at the end of the day it's horses for courses

Personally I wouldn't mix tyres front to back...I think ultimately there will be an imbalance but is only likely to manifest itself when the car is driven to the limit and as we all know this should not the case on the public road

The Boy Wonder

Umm, try S02's on the front and S03's on the rear. I did, or rather the dealer I bought the car from did, and I ended up facing the wrong way on a main road.

Mixing tyres will increase your chances lying 6 feet under ground in a wooden box. Therefore I wouldn't recommend it.