track tires for s2000

My Dad is looking into getting a second set of tires and rims for his 2004 s2000.

These tires would be used for our small turnout local autocross, and HPDE.

He isn't looking to have the best tire for the autocross, as right now it's the nut behind the wheel that is keeping him from winning, not the tires. He would most likely drive about 20 miles to the local autocross on them.

trying to figure out what would be a better performer than the stock tires, be street legal, and probably last a year or two of use until he gets better at driving.

also, for a second set of rims, what size would you recommend?

Tires I'd be looking at RS3's or potentially the Rivals. Supposed to wear like iron.

My personal experience is limited, but I've been on my RE-11's for 2 summers, the guy before me on 1, and they're starting their 4th summer (April-November). Additionally they have had somewhere from 60-100 autocross runs. While they are now hard as a rock, they still have at least this summer left for street driving.

Dunno about size but for tire model I'd look at the usual EPS candidates: Z2, Rival, RS3. The Rival will probably give a good balance of track and autox performance, the Z2 would be a little better at autocross and the RS3 would be better on the track.

The RE-11(a)'s another one worth considering, it's a little more track-oriented than the Rival.

I've been on Z1SS for two years and with just about two autocross seasons and maybe 9 months worth of DDing on them...I think they'll go bald after about 4 years of this kind of use.

Rivals.

How much HPDE has he done and how much does he plan on doing? Is he more interested in Auto-X or HPDE? If his focus is HPDE, and has experience, he should be looking for something DOT-R. I do not know enough about how well the latest crop of street/auto-x tires hold up to the heat of the track.

Practically no experience with either. Logistics say autox 20 minutes away will happen much more often since the nearest tracks are 5-6 hours away

Personally, I couldn't be bothered with a second set of wheels for the autocross. Why not just run an extreme performance tire (like the Dunlop Dizerra ZII) all the time since you don't wan't Hoosiers.

Mmadness wrote: Personally, I couldn't be bothered with a second set of wheels for the autocross. Why not just run an extreme performance tire (like the Dunlop Dizerra ZII) all the time since you don't wan't Hoosiers.

Yeah, I don't see why not put high performance tires on the daily wheels. Especially if you live in TX, where you don't need to worry about snow.

It might already have fairly high performance tires, what do you have on there now?

The problem I found with the S is that the original equipment tires were spec sizes. They are actually wider than the section width would indicate so I calculated the relative widths front to rear and I always make sure I keep the real tire widths of my replacement tires at or near that ratio.

The hard part is finding the true sizes of tires, but a rough rule of thumb I've found works for me is - if the tire manufacturer doesn't publish then the tires are narrower than the width would indicate. I'm seldom wrong with that dictum.

For an '02 S2000 Stock sizes were

205/55 X 16 = 7.1” wide (83.5% of rear tire) 25” diameter

225/50 X 16 = 8.5” wide (1.197 X the front) 24.8” diameter

Whenever I hear a horror story about an S plowing or oversteering I usually find there's some tires on the car that don't even come close to this ratio.

Mmadness wrote: Personally, I couldn't be bothered with a second set of wheels for the autocross. Why not just run an extreme performance tire (like the Dunlop Dizerra ZII) all the time since you don't wan't Hoosiers.

That's a good point, since he puts almost no miles on it anyway.

Beer Baron wrote: Yeah, I don't see why not put high performance tires on the daily wheels. Especially if you live in TX, where you don't need to worry about snow.

HAHAHA, that's funny

Here's what we got a few months ago. Granted, he wasn't cruising the s2000 during this, but Texas is a BIG place, we get decent snow here.

Yup, Texas has multiple climates. There are places that hardly get a drop of water all year and you never see a freeze to other areas where snow is more the norm.

icaneat50eggs wrote:

Beer Baron wrote: Yeah, I don't see why not put high performance tires on the daily wheels. Especially if you live in TX, where you don't need to worry about snow.

HAHAHA, that's funny Here's what we got a few months ago. Granted, he wasn't cruising the s2000 during this, but Texas is a BIG place, we get decent snow here.

The way I see it, you aren't going to get through that on all (no) season tires and running snow tires isn't very practical in Texas. If I was in this situation, I would DD performance summer tires (probably a Michelin Pilot Supersport) and invest in four snow chains or cables for that "once a year" snowstorm.

I was just joking, he barely takes that thing out when it might rain somewhere in the next 3 states, so there is less than zero need for anything like that.

For wheels,

17x9 TRMs are the budget option. Disconnect the rear bar and/or add a massive front bar at the same time. Going from the huge factory stagger to a square setup will make the car quite loose. It will add lots of grip though

For tires,

245 or 255 Z2, Rival, or RS3

ProDarwin wrote: For wheels, 17x9 TRMs are the budget option. Disconnect the rear bar and/or add a massive front bar at the same time. Going from the huge factory stagger to a square setup will make the car quite loose. It will add lots of grip though For tires, 245 or 255 Z2, Rival, or RS3

You've got to watch your diameters on the 245s & 255s or you will lose some of the off the line punch.

I went slightly wider rear tires and disconnected my rear sway bar and it's about as neutral as you can get. I have a set of coilovers on mine tho.

mtn wrote: Tires I'd be looking at RS3's or potentially the Rivals. Supposed to wear like iron.

Ditto. I've gone through 2 sets of RS3s and I really like them, but I just pre-ordered a set of the Rivals based on input from a few local guys and the general internet chatter, coupled with the fact that I am tired of not being able to get enough heat into the RS3s when it's under 75 and I don't have a co-driver. I am on stock AP1 wheels with 225/50-16 tires. Wear on the Rs3 has been excellent, I got about a year out of each set (6kish street miles, 200ish autox runs) but I have not run either set all the way to cord as they are my normal summer street tires as well.

On my other S2000 (01) I am running RA1s. They work great on the street. And are fabulously sticky at autocross & the track.

I say I am running them, at the moment the car is in it's component pieces all over the shop so it's not actually running anymore.

I've had good luck with Dunlops, though I'm about to need a new set for the S2000. Are the Rivals really that much better wearing? I'd be easily saving about $100 a set by going with the Z2s...

carguy123 wrote: You've got to watch your diameters on the 245s & 255s or you will lose some of the off the line punch.

245/40 and 255/40 are both fine.

Factory tires on the AP2 are 245/40 in the rear. The 255 is 0.3" taller.

I'm running 245s (Z1s) on mine and they are great, but many in STR like the 255s as well. I don't think you can go wrong with either of them.