Damaged Tyre Replacement

[redgta]

Due to 'just wonderfully maintained UK roads' I have a GTA with a damaged (seriously) front tyre. It's got Bridgestone S-02's on it, three of which are in good condition with plenty of life left on them.

As many will know S-02's are no longer available.

Went to look at/price the S-03's which seem to be the natural successor and notice the pattern is pretty different. I'm OK to replace both fronts, but replacing all four is not going to make me too happy.

Anyone have any opinions on running two S-03's on the front.... or any other pearls of wisdom.

[pdV6]

Try the boys & girls in TVR Gossip, as this is a situation I'm sure many of them have been in.

[pallison]

I replaced SO2's with SO3's on the front wheels of my Fiat Coupe 20V Turbo, and was not impressed. The SO2's gave much more warning of break-away and were much more controllable. The SO3's I think were designed for outright grip and have much less feel.

Your GTA will have similar characteristics to my Coupe (powerful FWD), and so I would avoid these if possible. They are much better on the back, so maybe you could swap the rear SO2's to the front?

I'm currently using a cheaper set of Falken ZE512's and I rate them somewhere between the 2 Bridgestones. The tyre of choice seems to be the Goodyear GSD2 or GSD3 depending on which sizes are available in each.

[pdV6]

Have to agree... the GY Eagle F1 GSD3s I currently have on my similarly powered GTV are the best tyres I've tried on this car.

[top brake]

give Toyo Proxies a go, work well on my 156JTD and mates 147GTA

better that Goodyear F1 IMHO, not tried S-02 personally but the GTA had them and mate much prefers the Toyos

good prices on T1-S (now replaced by T1-R) on eBay

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=9891&item=7970937901&rd=1&tc=photo

[vantagelover]

Try www.mytyres.co.uk too, as I think they might be cheaper than that ebay shop.

[pdV6]

Cheaper still will be to ring around local fitters & see what they'll do for you.

[comdiver]

Well started life with the s02 good tyre then told no longer available so went on to s03 now back on s02 as been told s03 no longer available, however on the 156 v6 with sportpack 3 found the so3 was the better tyre in all conditions with bags and bags of grip and in addition also had rim protectors, which the latest so2 is missing.

[Alfa Mad]

As the Bridgestones are usually homologated for a particular fitment, they do tend to give wildly varying results.
That said, I think the SO3s are grippier than SO2s, contrary to the opinions of Most Tiv owners (my experience is from a Chimaera). They do let go more quickly though. I'd stay well clear of the Toyos due to they're inferior grip, but they do let go progressively albeit very early, but they could still be a viable alternative due to the low cost. That said, the new assymetric ones are good in the dry though...

>> Edited by Alfa Mad on Wednesday 25th May 23:06

[Aaron C. Reskew]

What size SO2's do you need?
I've a new pair of 215 17's for sale. Can't remember the aspect ratio, either 40 or 45.

[redgta]

Thanks for the offer for the S02's. Actually I needed 225/45 17's. In the end I went for the Goodyear GSD3's and put them on the back, then moved the existing S02's to the front. Everything seems to be fine, can't really notice any difference to be honest.