aceprince

Hey guys,

I just picked up a new 03 SIlverstone about a month ago. Just for future reference, how long do the Bridgestone S02's last and when do you think i would hvae to change them....also whats the retail for a whole new set of 4 tires? I dont do burnouts or peel away or things like that, trying to preserve the life of the tires but stil......thanx

-Anu

Gloffer

Anywhere from 8000 to 20000 miles. My experience is 8000 to 10000 miles for the rear tires. Double that for the front tires. That is you'll probably use 2 sets or rear tires for each set of front tires.

To maintain wet weather capability, you should probably change them when they get within 2/32's of the wear bars. Some owners have noticed a difference in traction as the tires get close to the wear bars. Seems that there may be a difference in the tread compound from full depth down to partial depth. At least that's what I read.

TireRack sells front tires for $139 and rear tires for $152 that's $568 for a complete set plus shipping ~50, plus mounting and balancing at your local tire dealer ~60. Grand total of $692. You can check locally in your area, but you'll probably pay $40 more per tire.

Benjamin

I just purchased my first replacement set of rear S02's. Mine lasted 13,000 mi - but a lot of those were highway miles. I, too, did not burn out or kick the rear end out excessively, and I, too, noticed a large change in performance as they wore.

whiskers

I got about 15000 miles on my original set, and it sounds like you drive about like I do. Then, instead of SO2's I bought the RE730's, thinking they'd last longer. Not so-- i only got about 16k miles out of them.

Go heels.

F1 Tech

I've got 18K on mine SO2s. They look pretty decent. What's the best way to tell if I need to replace them.

Gloffer

To maintain wet weather capability, you should probably change them when they get within 2/32's of the wear bars. Some owners have noticed a difference in traction as the tires get close to the wear bars. Seems that there may be a difference in the tread compound from full depth down to partial depth.

Sorry to repeat myself, but that's the story. Where are the wear bars you might ask? If you look at the sidewall of your S02 tire going from the rim to the tread, you'll see a raised ridge all around the tire, between that ridge and the tread at 6 equally spaced locations there is a delta symbol, (triangle) about the size of this typed A, there's also a little notch in the tread block that the A kind of fits in.

This A serves two purposes: it points to where the wear bars are in the tread, and it's a marker for track guys to see if they need to adjust tire pressure to make use of full tread width. The wear bars are the raised ridges of rubber that are about 1/32" high that run perpendicular to the normal tread spacing. Sorry I don't have a digital camera to show this, but if you look at your tires, you'll see what I mean.

When should you replace your tires, before they get down to the wear bars. 18,000 miles that's amazing to me, I'm on my third set.

Wildncrazy

I just turned 10,000 miles and I am having to look for new tires now. I do have several autorcross and track events.

Negative camber did my tires in. The inside is worn too much while the rest has a fair bit of life left.

GChambers

I'll be lucky to get 8k miles on my rears. I just love sliding the car around too much.

Benjamin

A well worn set of tires does indeed provide a ton of drifting fun. Just watch out for rain, that can spoil the fun really quickly.

GChambers

Its a garage queen, it never sees rain.