Lucky24

I'm at the point where my rear tires look about like Michael Jordan's head, but my front tires still look almost brand new. I was considering replacing just the front tires and holding out until next year to replace the fronts (when the rear tires are once again bald). Any major problem with doing that? I am currently using Toyo Proxes, but Tire Rack doesn't seem to carry Toyo. As ignorant as it may sound, I was considering going with S-O2's on the back and keeping the Toyo's on the front for now. Some of you would probably shun me as an S2000 owner, but $800 - $1000 a year on tires is getting out of hand.

What advice can you give me? Anyone know where I could get Toyo Proxes at a decent price? That would keep me from running two different brands.

johnyboy32

Which Proxes are you using (T1-S ?) and how did you like them? Did you replace the OEM S02's with them or buy the car with them on it?

Lucky24

Johnnyboy32 -

I am using the T1-S's and they have performed much better than the stock tires. First set was replaces at 14k. The toyos have lasted another 17k and like I said, the fronts still look new. The rear tires could probably go 1 - 2k more, but wet traction is going quick now. Otherwise I really like the Toyo's and I don't guess I could get much more mileage out of any other brand - at least that's what I'm hearing.

Scott (Lucky24)

Lucky24

johnyboy32 -

Problem soved on when to buy new tires. I pulled out of my driveway this morning and realized that I had a flat Actually I had a 3 inch nail through the left rear. After replacing it with the embarrassingly small spare, I realized that the tires are ready for burial. I ended up ordering a set of Toyo FZ-4's for the rear. Better treadwear and I got them for $85 a piece. Heck of a better price than most any other tire out there that can still handle the road.

That's the story. I'd still recommend the T1-S's, but I wasn't ready to buy yet, and I needed the extra $100 savings on the set.

Later,

CoralDoc

I hope that you like your new tires.

Just FYI - the spare should not be used on the rear of the car due to potential damage to the differential.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Lucky24
[B]After replacing it with the embarrassingly small spare, I realized that the tires are ready for burial.

johnyboy32

Let us know how the tires feel after you get a few miles on them.

Lucky24

Coral Doc -

I only drove about 4 miles on the spare. Could that have caused any major problems?

JDRACING

Hi Lucky24--

I've had my '02 S2000 for about 6 weeks and know that I'll probably be thinking about tires (at least rears) in the next 4 months or so, as the mileage gets up past 10K.

I've been thinking about the Toyo T1-S's and, since you've had the opportunity to run both those and the OEM S0-2's, I'd be interested in your impressions/comparison of the two. I understand the difference in wear you've commented on, but what was your experience in performance/feel. Thanks for any input.

Lucky24

Jeff -

To be honest, I bought my S2000 with 10K already on the SO-2's, so I really don't have the best point of comparison. I'll say that the Toyos to me had a better feel on the road than the SO-2's, but that would have been expected since the SO-2's were on their last 1/3 of their life when I drove them. Towards the end of the treadlife, I feel like the Toyos outperformed the SO-2's based on mileage and no noticable loss of performance through the first 15k. At about 12k the SO-2's were feeling pretty shot, but again the original owner may not have been as conservative a driver as me.

I know this doesn't necessarily answer your question, but I'm sure someone else out there will respind as well.

Scott

JDRACING

Thanks Scott, that is helpful.

The SO-2's feel real sticky, but don't seem to slide predictably. Granted, I've not driven the car more than 7/10's (and only for 2500 miles), but there are times I've felt I should be able to feel some smooth sliding/stepping out of the rear end, and instead I felt almost what seemed to be a "hop"--perhaps the tire gripping and letting go, gripping and letting go, etc. Not sure, though.

Others have any thougts on this?