Ian,

Donno is a bit too far for the day for me so I'm trying to get into a session at Brands.

Jon
edited for spelling

[Edited by motorman - 7/4/2002 6:34:06 PM]

I have a MY00 Turbo with standard 16" alloys. I replaced my Bridgestone SO2s with SO3s about 1000 miles back and I'm not impressed. Tendancy to understeer has risen, wet performance generally is greatly reduced and that all important feel vanishes as soon as you start to turn in.

On the plus side, road noise is reduced, it rides better and tramlining isn't too bad.

The S02 were fantastic, but put it this way, I won't be buying Bridgestones again in the near future. Evo mag appears to agree with me, rating them second last in their recent test - published shortly after I changed. :(

Don't do it!

J


[Edited by JamieR - 6/26/2002 1:41:49 AM]

I've got a MY99 with 205/50 16 inch and also switched from S02's to S03's. You will find the tires at their best with 36-37 psi at the front and approximately 32 psi at the back (depending on your driving style). Just give the S03's a try with these pressure and you may change your mind. Good luck.

I agree with Rovo (pressure wise) but, I'm due for a change and will certainly not be putting more SO3's on.
Have been assured that these tyres actually have some of the stiffest side walls around but IMHO these things squirm every now and again. It's no more than a gut feeling but I just don't trust these the same as the previous SO2's.
They do feel a bit better when nearing the legal limit but it will be Toyo or Goodyear next.....

[Edited by SiPie - 6/26/2002 1:24:10 PM]

Might be worth getting your Tracking looked at..... ???? (just an idea) :D

No issues with my new SO3s, albeit these are compared with the original rock hard SO2 RE010 OEM tyres.

jon

http://www.turbocharger.co.uk/

Thanks for the comments. I checked the tracking and everything was fine. I'll try raising the pressures, although I'm not convinced it will bring that SO2 feel back.

The SO2s totally transformed the car after the original REs. I doubt the SO3 are such a dramatic improvement. Anyway, I'll stop whinging now and go get the tire pump. :)

J

Horses for courses and all that... But I've got 18" S03s on my MY01 and they are fine. Huge improvement over the Pzeros that the car came with - no tramlining for one thing. Dry grip is fine and wet grip is better than the Pzeros! That said, I could be tempted by the new F1s next time as I don't think the difference in price can be justified.

Chris

what are the best tyre pressures for s02s...?

Your warning came just a bit too late. After much deliberation I put a set of SO3PP's on last week replacing my trusty SO2PP's. Was weighing up whether to go SO3, Goodyear GSD3 or Proxes but Bridgestones finally won through.

It's early days but the ride is definitely improved and the road noise quieter. As I like to settle new tyres in for a few hundred miles I've not really pushed them yet to evaluate the grip but I'll let you know progress. Out of interest when I posed the question over SO3's recently on Scoobynet there was a general opinion that they take a while to settle down.

The guy in the tyre shop thought that the SO3 had been developed to give improved wear over the SO2 so I guess that probably means some reduction in grip.

Just a point on pressures for 'normal' road use I ran the SO2's at 34 all round which is where I've started with the SO3's. The old tyres rounded off on both edges significantly leaving about 3mm in the centre 3/4's of the tread and virtually nothing on the edges. My dealer reckoned I was running them at too low a pressure and promptly reduced them from 34psi to 30 !!!. I think I need a visit to Powerstation check the steering geometry.


Jon MY00

I'm on my second set of 16" SO-3's.

Once scrubbed in a great tyre IMHO.

Ian

Hi Ian,

It was me that bought the set of gold five spokes from you last year. I've put my old SO2's on the wheels for trackdays as they were really gripping well when they came off the car so should be ok for a bit of fun.

Having just returned from a trip to France I have to say that my first impressions with the SO3's is favourable, the ride is definitely better than the SO2's although I think they may be tramlining a bit more. I still haven't really pushed them yet so I can't compare the grip wet or dry against the SO2's.

Jon

Keep in mind that on worn S02's the rubber compound layer is relatively soft to compensate in the wet for the lesser tread depth. This gives very good grip in the dry. So when you replace your worn S02's every new tyre will have less grip. Even a new S02.

you wanna try goodyear f1.. they'll sort your problems out. IMHO they are better than the so2 and fefinately better than so3.

better grip in the wet, great in the try, and hard enough to last you several '000 miles more than the bridgestones will :)

Hi motorman,

Going to the SIDC dono thing? On track?

Ian

Mark,
I ran my SO2s at 34 front, 30-32 rear, but it come down to your particular taste and perferred horse, err handling.

smanning,
Have you had both Bridgestones and F1s on your car? I'd be interested in a direct comparison (for future reference).

J

General point here..... but the So3's are tramlining alot more the further they wear.....anyone else experience this as it didn't happen with previous SO2's and yokohamas???

Simon

The new toyos (205/50 x 16W)only 200 miles in and already 1,000 times better than the SO3's and have cured tramlining almost completely. Brilliant in the wet already and being Scottish.... I feel qualified to comment on the wet bit...!

£294 for 4 delivered from mytyres.net....

A bit of an update.

I inflated the pressures (35F, 32R) and this gave a noticeable improvement in lateral grip, at the expense of a little ride quality. There is perhaps slightly better feel and feedback now, but they still feel "floaty" at anything over 4/10.

So, I still wouldn't recommend SO3s on an Impreza, certainly in 16". They are a bit skitterish even in the dry and wet performance is still way off the SO2s. Despite the stiff sidewalls they understeer fairly easily under any power, so if you want to push on there is little alternative to heavy and precise trailbraking deep into bends. Fun for some I'm sure, but I personally prefer tyres with more flexibility... that inspire a bit more confidence... more character!

Anyway, whatever. :)

J

SiPie
Agree 100% . Changed my So3's to Toyos about 4 weeks ago & its a total revelation, probably not as good as the s02 but tons better than the s03.
Anybody want 4- 205/50/16 S03's with about 1000 miles on, any offers????