I just brought an 05 S2000 and the rear tires are almost gone, the front still have about 40% life left. The car has the OEM Potenza RE050 on all four currently. The front tries wear out more on the inside than outside, I will need alignment for sure.

My question is that should I replace just the rear tires and keep the front, and do an alignment with the new and used tires combination? If only replacing the rear tires, should I go with the same brand+type or is it ok to go different brand? (The oem rear is like $216 a piece )

Second option is to replace all four tires, different brand that is cheaper, maybe all season tires, and do an alignment? What budget tries would you recommend? I have been looking at Continental Extreme Contact DW, are they any good? I live in CA, so I only drive in rain, no snow.

Thanks for your help!

 

hankook v12s. Can i borrow your fronts for about 5 weeks? ;-)

 

Absolutely no reason not to get all the life out of the fronts. Conti DW would be a good choice for the rears. Might also consider Hankook Ventus V12 evo K110, or Dunlop SP Sport Maxx TT. Those would all be a good performance match for the OEM RE050 fronts. Check out Tire Rack website for reviews and test data on tires. OEM fronts are "Maximum Performance", so you want to stay within that category.

 

In terms of Return On Investment, it's hard to beat a set of top notch tires. They're often expensive either in purchase price to tire life but will return more performance, pleasure and reliability than dollars spent on I/H/E or an aftermarket suspension. You are not driving an econobox.

 

Conti DW's look at the reviews on tire rack and from around the web - if you want some hyped up stiff psuedo race tires with no tread life there are other options but the contis will serve you very well.