Nick.

Awesome tires, gripped well right off the bat.

ungucpho

bought these for my daily driver, its great on the accord, decided to get star specs for the s2000.

jwr0ng626

any updates Fuman?

S2k Dude

Bump. These tires are now available in the OEM AP1 16" size so I ordered a set through my local dealer. With the rebate they will be about $400 installed.

The reviews here have been mixed but more positive than negative. Wondering if anyone else has these in the AP1 16" size?

This will be my 8th set of tires in (90.000 miles) on my 2002, here is my ranking so far (spirited driving in the North GA mountains, The Dragon a few times a year, track days, and lots of daily driving):

My #1 favorite tire for the S2000 was the OEM Bridgestone S02's (2 sets) - Awesome grip and sidewall stiffness, razor sharp handling, fairly quiet. Only downsides are they wear fast, are just okay in the rain, expensive compared to other choices.

My #2 tire for the S2000 - Bridgestone RE-01r(1 set). Great tire for grip, very good turn-in (stiff sidewall), very quiet as well. Also very good in the rain and cold. Only downside is cost as I would buy the RE-11 if they weren't significantly more expensive than other choices.

My #3 Hankook RS2's - (3 sets) - Good grip, slightly less sidewall stiffness, handling was still good, fairly quiet. Good in the rain and wear was similar to or slightly better than the OEM tires. Also they were a good value.

My #4 (least favorite) Dunlop Star Specs - I know everyone says these are great tires but my experience has been to the contrary. Maybe it's the 16" size as most who love this tire run 17" or larger. My experience has been poor from day 1. When I got them mounted they felt worse than any other tire, squishy, terrible turn-in, side walls felt like they flexed all over the place. A few said to give them 500 miles and while I admit they improved, and I've tried increasing tire pressure all the way to 38 psi to get the side walls to feel better I still don't like the Dunlop Star Specs. They performed about average at my last track day. Currently they have developed a "wobble" at 70+ mph. Looking at the wheel weights, they are all there but they still feel out of balance. BTW, it took more weights than any other tire I've had on my car, as many as 12 1/4 oz weights on one rim, to balance these tires if that says anything about the quality of the tire.

My driving is no longer as aggressive, my trips to The Dragon less frequent, and my commute to work is now about 30 min (22 miles) each way so I'm looking forward to seeing how my first non-extreme performance summer tire is going to be.

berny2435

It's hard to believe these tested so well in this article. http://www.caranddriver.com/comparis...12-evo-page-10
I have no experience with them though.

Here's a newer Tire Rack test wehre it got 4th among some newer models Summer Dunlop SP Sport Maxx TT, Hankook Ventus V12 evo K110, Kumho Ecsta LE Sport, and Sumitomo HTR Z III
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...y.jsp?ttid=149


The price is right on the Kuhmo Ecsta LE sports.

S2k Dude

Got the Hankook Ventus V12 evo K110's installed today. Grip so far is not bad for a brand new tire, sidewall stiffness is surprisingly very similar as the Dunlop Star Specs when I first put those tires on. Hopefully after a few hundred miles the soft feel will improve as it did with the Dunlop SS. $502 - $80 rebate = $420 out the door for new rubber, that's pretty cheap these days. The tires also seem quiet, smooth, and have a good highway ride. I'll take a ride up to the North GA mountains once I get a few hundred miles on them.

S2k Dude

Note, the testing that Tirerack did is in the 17" size. Of those top 4 tires, only the Hankook Ventus Evo V12 is available in the 16" AP1 sizes. It's been my experience that as you change tire diameter the performance characteristics of the tire will vary from size to size as there are also differences in width, sidewall height, and tire construction that will affect the testing. I've gotten to the point where I feel it's better to ask fellow S2000 owners with similar driving styles about their experiences and go from there.

TwisS2000

Stock tire size in rear, no matter the PSI the sidewall felt like it would wash out during aggressive driving. I switched to Michelins.

silvermonster

should have read this thread before purchasing these tires. Too late I guess and now I have to live with these tires!!

I haven't played with tire pressure yet but what do you guys set it as?

I checked it the other day, it was 36 psi all around and this was after driving the car. I didn't take a reading when its cold but will do it tomorrow morning.

I read either increasing it to 38 psi, is that cold or hot?

also read on another forum for g35 and they were lowering it to 30/31 psi to get better performance.

the feeling I am getting is the floating (side to side feeling) and when going through a moderate turn, the vsa would turn on so it tells me that its not gripping (which I expect is not better than the star spec). But it shouldn't be this horrible!!

would an alignment help? even though its tracking straight and was performing great on the last set of tires?

berny2435

Higher pressure equals less sidewall flex but smaller contact patch and givesba more harsh feeling over bumps which can give a skiddish feel as well.

Lower air pressures absorb road imperfections better and gives a larger contact patch which can improve feel and give a little more grip for average daily driving. Too low and sidewalls deflect side to side a lot and tire edges roll over in hard corners and decrease contact patch and increase squirm and gives a numb turn in and floaty handling feel.

A happy medium gives best grip slip angle around turns and an acceptable amount of deflection for road imperfections.

Test to find your own happy zone!


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