Recently fitted a set of SO3's to replace my SO2 PP's, the car seemed to be following all iregularities in the road surface (I think the term is tramlining). I thought the problem may be tracking as I had that done at the same time. However yesterday I fitted another set of wheels with some knackered SO2 tyres (approx 1/2 mm obove wear block) & the car is back to its wonderful self.
I have spoken to Bridgestone who say the tyre is not recomended for the Impreza (neither was the SO")& has slightly weaker tyrewall than the SO2. They said increasing the tyre pressure a couple of pounds may help
Has anybody else had similar experiences & do you have any constructive sugestions.
Will they improve as they wear, ie do I assume less tread = less
tyre movement or is this just wishfull thinking?
Any one know where any SO2 pp may be still available
If not what tyre is closest to the SO2 PP, I have seen Toyo mentioned , are they the ones

Stuart

 

Don't panic - wear'em in! They take up to 700miles to get into the sweetspot, but it is sweet , and those few extra PSI will help a lot.

Eitherway, it is very early days yet, so don't do anything drastic

Best of luck

 

SO2 PP's are virtually impossible to get hold of now (i know ive been trying this week ) so it looks like toyo's are going to be my replacements until the SO4's are out

Tony

 

Ive done about 1000 miles & I am still looking for the sweet spot as you put it, I will put them back on whilst I get the other wheels sprayed so HOPEFULLY I may reach that spot but I am not convinced I will, we will see, as for finding some National list the SO2 on there web site but £643 a set, whilst I want them I am not that desperate.

 

Sadly I'll have to go to destructive suggestions if you don't want to hear positive ones, as you said in your first post

I run 215/45-17s, and I have run fronts at 36psi in town, rears 34. I have also had them at 38psi/fr + 35psi/rr, and they were fine in terms or rolling noise.

I can think of plenty of "non-constructive" suggestions if you want

 

.

 

Tony,
Are the SO4 definately coming out ? Bridgestone UK seem to know nothing about them, if they are I may struggle on with the SO3 rather than flog them
Also HAS ANYBODY ELSE got any answers or advice regarding my original questions ?
I have been advised by one person who likes the SO3 to increase the toe in on the front to 20 mins each side, the camber to 3/4 degree each side & the rear toe to between 0 & 10 mins & this should cure the tramlining any thoughts ?

 

RE-011

I dont understand whats wrong with them. I tried a few diff types and they all sucked...Much too soft a side wall and the car would squirm all over the place.
Bridgestone came to the party and put me back in the re-011
The cost is high and they were designed for the REX..
I dont think they (subaru) compromised at all with 45 series tyres that are soft and dont last long anyway. They pride themselves on the rex so if they felt a better tyre suited they would use that tyre. They dont.....Because they developed the tyre in conjunction with bridgestone & thats possibly the best tyre suited to the car. Maybe an s0-3 is better...(i've never tried em) but to suggest a toyo can compare is laughable. I havent used toyos but i havent ever seen them win races. Schumacher etc....Rally....Touring....Bridgestone keeps coming up along with Goodyear & Dunlop.....but NOT Toyo...
If you are unhappy with your tyres go back to the original...

Dont trust me...trust subaru....and bridgestone...
unless you think you know more than they do!!

 

So why do Prodrive recomend Pirelli's, and use them on the Subaru WRC cars then?

Nick.

 

And I seem to remember that TVR now fit Toyo's as OEM on their cars!

On the older Scoobs - the standard RE010's were awful. Changing them to 17" SO2s was the best thing I ever did. After that I ran Toyo's - equally as good if not better under certain circumstances.

On my new MY01, the car came with 18" alloys and Pzero's - waste of time - rank tyres. I would never have them on the car again. My first choice when I replaced them would have been Toyo's , but I had problems getting hold of the 18" versions, so I went with S03s. A choice I don't regret. Now the tyres have a few thousand miles on them, they are great, both in the wet and the dry.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend either of them to be honest. Don't believe though that Subaru is not like any other producer and that every car is built down to a price. They have to tread (no pun intended ) a line between providing a performance tyre and one that is going to last more than 5000 miles!! This is very true in the UK, where many more of the new shape cars have found their way onto company car list. If the Scoob was to have a reputation for eating tyres they would soon fall out of favour of the lease companies. Most people will be happy with the RE011s, but to say that are the best is a little short sighted. If you demand a little more then there are alternatives...

Chris

[Edited by Chris L - 5/21/2002 10:00:14 PM]

 

I agree with "AJbaseBlock". I run my S03 205/50 16 at 37psi front and 32 psi rear and they are doing fine. Before I had S02's and Goodyear Eagle F1's, but I am now perfectly happy with the S03's.

 

Having done over 12,000 miles and three track days on SO3s - especially over the winter - they have a few miles left and have served me very well.

At first they are VERY squirmy - but this will wear off. Are they as good as SO2s - not quite - but close - and the wear pattern - especially on track is much improved.

They are a great tyre and I would have them again tomorrow.

The other thing is 36psi for a road tyre on a 17in wheel is a LOT! I run peak 30psi front and 28psi rear (cold).

Trout

 

OK
I am becoming more confident about hanging on to the SO3 tyres & hopeing that they will improve with age & intend to refit them to the car.
One point I am still wondering, should I change the tracking, camber etc as my previous thread to help reduce the tramlining & generally improve the handling. The car is a STI3 Wagon, as always peoples thoughts would be appreciated.
Trout, I note you are local to me, can you recomend anybody locally who can track the car properly, I was recomended Power Station but they are in Cheltenham & it seems a bit far to go just for tracking although it may be worth it as they come highly recomended by several people