Any one have experience with these on stock wheels? My rears are done, I thought about using different front and rear combo (RE050 front and RE-11 rear) but I believe the consensus is not recommended. Based on tirerack review, these tires seem better than OEM RE050.

My question is the stock 245/40/17 RE050 have a very square sidewall cutoff and sits on the stock wheels nicely. I wonder if the RE-11 will be the same. Sometimes, tires have slightly different construction/profile, so it may sit on the same wheel different even in the same tire size.

 

i have these on oem ap1 rims and I like them a lot. Great traction in dry and pretty good in wet.
I don't know about the square sidewall thing, but my s2k has -3.5* camber all around and its working great.

 

There are various pictures of the tire on a 17x9 wheel in the various articles:
http://www.motoiq.com/projects/project_honda_s2000.aspx

So it's a little stretched on the 9" wide wheel. The shoulder of the RE-11 is definitely rounder than the stock RE050s which are very square. The grip level of the RE-11s is at a whole different (higher!) level than the stock tires; it's not even a close comparison. I think the rounder shoulder might help with the more progressive break-away characteristics.

 

Many do shiver with dread over the idea of different tires front/rear, but there's hardly a consensus.

As long as you get similar-performance tires, you should be fine.

For DD, I'd go with RE050A Pole Position rears (better in every way than the OEM RE050, greater hydroplaning resistance than RE11) and keep the fronts you have until they wear out. Or if you don't mind mixing brands (it wouldn't bother me...), Dunlop Sport Maxx TT or Continental ExtremeContact DW will offer similar or better performance for a lot less $$$.

No need to throw away tires that still have life in them as long as you ensure that the performance is similar. The Tire Rack site is your friend here, tons of info on tons of tires.

255/40-17 is another size option if you're worried about replacement tires looking skinnier on the wheel than OEM. Tire Rack site gives section width and tread width info for most tires, btw...

 

FWIW, I DD and track my car on the street tires, and for a few sets ran Dunlop Star Specs (similar to RE11, geared more towards dry track/autoX performance). However after being caught in a couple of torrential rainstorms (at the track and on the road) with rears getting close to the wear indicators, I've switched to Sport Maxx TTs to gain some water-channeling/hydroplaning-resistance. I ran at Watkins Glen with Star Spec fronts and Sport Maxx TT rears, no problem once the rears got scrubbed in.

Anyway, I think that for most people, Max Performance category tires (RE050A Pole Position, Sport Maxx TT, ExtremeContact DW, etc.) are a much better choice than Extreme Performance (RE11, Star Spec, AD08, etc.)

 

Thanks for all the good information! I notice I do have a lot of options. I agree if I keep the performance level similar on the front and rear tires, the handling characteristics on the car should not be altered too much.

ZDan, were the RE050A very squared like the OEM? I do notice you have AP1 so were you running 16s or 17s?

 

Click on this link:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearchRe...er=17&x=38&y=11

Survey results, test results, dimensional info, etc. is in there.
You might also do a search on 255/40-17 size as well. A little wider, a little taller, OEM fitment on the same size wheels on the CR model.

BTW, the RE050A is a *different* tire from the RE050 OEM tire and the RE050A Pole Position I mentioned!

Wouldn't worry too too much about square-profile vs. rounded profile. Just go by the test results and survey results (taken with a small grain of salt of course). Absolute dimensional data is not going to be a good predicter of performance characteristics...

 

So I currently have RE11As on the stock rims on my AP1. It looks like my rears are about done. What are people's thoughts on keeping the RE11As (205-55R16) on the front and using 245-45R16 BRIDGESTONE POTENZA SPORTs on the rear? From my experience, it seems like the fronts usually last twice as long as the rears. FWIW, my car isn't a daily driver and I only put about 2k a year on it. Thanks...

 

RE-11A tires were discontinued 6 or 7 years ago so yours are pretty old and probably aged out! I replaced mine with S04s when I could no longer get the RE-11As at least 6 years ago so they're getting old too. Stepped down from Extreme to Max Performance Summer tires and couldn't tell the difference. Now the S04s are getting old and they're discontinued!

Bridgestone Potenza Sport is on my short list or maybe RE-71RS tires that were just released in the USA this month. They're the same price (+/- $5ea). Extreme performance tires tend to shower the underside of my car with fine road gravel and dirt.

-- Chuck

 

Yup, those tires are all aged out as Chuck S says above. Replace all 4.

Ask yourself whether you value responsive handling feel and ultimate grip more, or prefer smooover ride and less noise, to determine whether you want to go with Extreme Performance or Max Performance or UHP, etc. That should dictate which tires to get.