simon james

Can anyone out there recommend an outlet
that does S02's at a low price ?

Are S02's the definitive tyre for the
Scoobie ???

Nick

You could also look at Goodyear Eagle F1, Toyo, or Yokohama AVS Sports. What size wheels have you got?

GaryC

I'd recommend SO2s above all for 17" - £499 fitted fully inc - see general questions post

simon james

Nick 16 inchers.........

Simon

Nick

Simon

If you want cheap, go for the Toyo's. SO2's are good, but expect a long 1k miles run-in period & then 9k miles before they start to go off.

I've found it's more important to use a tyre place that takes care with your car/wheels. Cheap isn't always best. Check for places that have special nylon fittings on their machines.

GaryC

Interesting to hear you say 9k before going off? From previous experiance, the SO2s are superb right up until the legal limit - apparently due to a dual compound which gets grippier/softer as the tyre wears down. I have never noticed wet performance decrease with wear, dry performance normally improves!

Also 1k to wear in? I have just fitted a new set (1500 miles ago) of 17" SO2 PPs, they were incredibly greasy for the first 20 miles (oversteer on a scoob!!) then settled, and by 300 miles they were bedded down nicely. Maybe I just wear them harder!!

AlexM

Hi,

I've just fitted Bridgestone S02 PP's on my MY98 UK. So far grip seems good, turn-in is definately improved, and (strangely) the ride seems a lot better. I can't understand why this should be, but absorbtion of small bumps is better and quieter than with my old tyres.

Explanation please?.

Rgds,

Alex

P.S. Paul is probably right about the S02 on track days - the rubber is soft enough to get very hot which results in very rapid wear. time for a spare set of wheels (and probably a trailer too )

P.P.S. I payed £117 per tyre including VAT, fitting and balancing, and tracking on the front wheels from Southfields battery and tyre services. The cost before vat is £95 for comparison purposes.

[This message has been edited by AlexM (edited 28-02-2000).]

strong

I'm coming to the end of my 2nd set of S-02s on 16" wheels, and I agree with Gary that they are initially greasy but nothing like 1,000 miles to run-in.

The grip from S-02s is superb but be prepared for them to wear on the edges and need replacing after 10k miles if you use all the grip.

Don't take S-02s on the track, you'll rip off a lot of expensive tread very very quickly, if not **** them completely.

They won Autocar's 1999 Tyre Test, narrowly beating the Goodyear F1s although both tyres got the same total score. Tests were performed on a UK Scooby. Interestingly the test mentions that the 2 tyres have been almost inseparable for the last 3 tests Autocar have done.

There are many supporters for the S-02s (both 16 and 17" wheel sizes) and a few people who didn't like them on 16" wheels (I believe Nick is one).

If there are more people who dislike S-02s than I'm portraying please speak up. I don't want to mispresent the general opinion here.

Paul

strong

Alex, there was some discussion about a year ago about the S-02s having quite flexible sidewalls which can give the feeling that the car leans a bit more in bends compared with other tyres. A few people, myself included, noticed this when switching to S-02s. I would imagine that this flexibility would improve bump absorption and therefore ride quality.

MIP

I have 214 40 17 SO2s.

I noticed that they were much quieter overall than the standard factory fit tyres as well.
(especially on the motorway)

MIP

AlexM

Paul,

Interestingly, I've noticed that turn-in seems to have improved with the S02PPs. With the RE010s, you could divide up the car's behaviour into three 'events' (for want of a better word..)if you turned in sharply - Steering input, you feel the car roll, and then the car turns. With the S02s, steering input seems to translate into turn-in more directly.

Maybe running slightly higher pressures helps - I'm running 33F/31R.

Cheers,

Alex

GAZZER

Hi Guys
MY98 ,Leda B,17" mims, 215/40/17 rubber
I recently changed from SO 2's to Goodyear F1's.
This was due to three reasons:

1) I could not get SO2's from my current cheap supplier as he was having difficulty importing them from abroad (paid £95 + vat each May 1999).

2) Price from anybody else was over £100 + vat.

3) Goodyear F1's £68+ vat.


I have since found the F1's to be as good as SO2's and didn't take ages to run in (SO2's 500-1000 miles)
The grip seems the same in the dry and the wet.
They are also slightly quieter.

It will be interesting to see how long they last in comparison to the SO2's.
I got about 15 k on SO2's.

The place I got them from was
Wembley Tyres
NW london
It's a bit rough but the guy knows his rubber.

Hope this helps
Gaz