Less than an month now with the S and I'm in the need of new tires as the S-02s have less than 20% tread. Anyway, making a 90 deg turn last night and I lost the back end on the throttle. No big deal, I grew up driving a rwd Volvo in the snow and straightening it out the S was easy. I was surprised at how little (no) warning the tires gave before they broke. Is this tire known for little warning? Or was is it a function of the tread wear? BTW, it was quite cool (10C) but I had been driving for about a 1/2 hour so the tires weren't stone cold. Thx.

 

Your SO2 have high limits of adhesion when warmed up properly, however, once that limit is reached, break away can be sudden. Also, as the tread wears, the compound further down has been subjected to its own lifetime of heat cycling and can change in its chemical make up. Many have noted that even under ideal conditions, handling characteristics change as the outer tread wears off.
Additionally, your tires need much more warming up than what our (Alberta) recent temperatures have allowed. The pavement and ambient temps are simply too cool for adequate tire warm up, even after 30 minutes of normal street driving (next time, stop and feel the rubber). In the evenings around here now, the pavement can contain high moisture content as the temps fall. This makes for much more slippery conditions and also hinder tire warm up. Now is the time that we muct all be more careful in taking those "exuberant" corners. Pretty much expect a power slide and drive in that fashion or just take it down a couple of notches.

 

I have to agree. Last week I was out for a drive in conditions typical for Atlanta (80-90F, sunny) and for the first time experienced the "snap" oversteer. When I first got the S, I was worried about the backend jumping out on me. Most of this fear came from too many horror stories here and proved to be unfounded. After 9 months with the car I have found it to be pretty predictable, it has never really bit me and always seemed to give good indications of it's limits. But with 7,500 miles and 8 autocrosses this season, the rears seem to be changing personality a bit. Maybe it was an isolated incident related to road conditions or driver error, but there was little to no indication the tires were near their limit when the back end stepped out. This post leads me to think maybe I need to take it a little easier until I can confirm whether the car is developing a bit of a dark side, or if this was just a unique set of circumstances.