I wish this was my problem

A young woman I know has a 2002 S2000 that's her daily driver. It has a
little more than 35k on it and is ready for its 4th set of tires! It went
through two sets of Potenzas in about 13k each. The current Michelins are
showing signs of wear.

Does anyone here have suggestions for better tires, i.e., longer wearing w/o
giving up much on the handling? She's not a street racer, just a person who
enjoys a good car.

I've tried www.tirerack.com, but since I have absolutely no experience with
any S2000.

 

A good accountant would post the tires expense to an the entertainment
expense account in the ledger and praise that girl for her fiscal
responsibility. Happier girls mean fewer trips to their therapists which
keeps the health care costs down too.

 

I have replaced my OEM Bridgestones on my 01 5 spd Prelude with the
Bridgestone Potenza RE 750, which is a W rated tire. I am very pleased with
them. The mileage should be better than the S02 I believe is on the S 2000.

 

Then somebody is cutting donuts with it when she isn't looking.
Tell her to get a secret switch put on the fuel pump lead.

 

Let's see. Stock size is P205/55R16 front and P225/50R16 rear. What
would come in those sizes?

I've heard good things about the ContiExtremeContact from Continental.
Perhaps it's not an all-out performance tire, but it's supposedly
excellent in the rain. It's only V speed-rated, but I'd think that's
a minor point. Other than that, the Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 is
supposedly a very good performer, with better tread life than
similar summer tires. It's designed and manufactured in Germany.

 

13k is about right, the suspension is set for handling, if you can
afford the car you can handle tires .
Chip

 

Well, I got about what I expected, a mix of thoughtful responses and some
smartass remarks. Thanks for the sincere responses. The rest of you can go
suck on your Mustangs' tailpipes.

 

Still - there are several options in the stock tire sizes that might
work well. The OEM Bridgestone Potenza S-02 are notorious for short
tread life. I might suggest going to the Tire Rack website and
looking at the following Z/W/Y speed-rated tires (all have a treadwear
rating over 200 and come in the S2000's stock sizes):

Bridgestone Potenza S-03 Pole Position (treadwear rating 220)
Dunlop SP Sport 9000 (treadwear rating 280)
Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 (treadwear rating 280)
Michelin Pilot Sport
Michelin Pilot Sport A/S (treadwear rating 400)
BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KDW
Bridgestone Potenza RE750 (treadwear rating 350)
Pirelli PZero Nero M&S (treadwear rating 400)

If one is willing to go with V speed-rated tires, the options really
increase.

 

Your friend might consider having the alignment adjusted to the
minimum toe specs. That is, the tires should be set as close to zero
toe (in or out) as the min spec allows. That may ease the tire wear
problems a little; but doing so may affect handling.