Don't fear S03's

[marlboro]

Had a pair of S03's fitted by Guildford Tyres (total £211) to the front of my Chim. Have scrubbed them in and they feel excellent. Grip to me feels better than the S02's but more importantly they give supurb feedback.

[MikeyT]

Have to agree Brian, four new SO3's on my Chim too – can't fault them but then I never drove one with SO2's ...

They must have been bloody good if they were any better tho'

Mike

[rmaurer]

£211 for fronts seems a bit pricey...?

I chose Goodyear F1s as a replacements for my rear tyres which came to £215... I haven't bedded them in properly yet, but I'll update here on their performance once they've got a few miles on them.

For front F1s, I was quoted £175 all in... Could be 4 new tyres for under £400! Doesn't sound too bad... That was from Protyre in Enfield (www.protyre.co.uk)

[GIMLET]

I had all 4 tyres on my 1998 4.0L changed two weeks ago from SO2's to SO3's.
Total cost £368.00.
They do feel better than the SO2, they feel much more stable and grippy.

>> Edited by GIMLET on Saturday 9th March 11:54

[Jason F]

I've got four S03s as well, the only thing I don't like is the pulling I seem to get when the roads are crap (in grooves on the M25 etc) or is it just my car ??

But the Grip in the wet is far better, and the feedback is great too.

[apache]

jason, I presume you had SO 2's before, the SO 3's have quite hard sidewalls which will cause more tramlining than you were used to, so it's not your car

[marlboro]

Yes I had S02's before.

It appears I'm Mr Unlucky, on the way home on Friday I got a puncture in one of my rears. Gladly I only had to do 2 miles on that crappy spacesaver spare. 2nd gear all the way home. The nail went in the tyre less than 1/2" from the wall so had two new S03's fitted on Saturday (£269.80).

So thats £480 and four new S03's. Maybe I should start a most expensive last six months to run a Chimaera thread. I'm near £2K with the problems I have had.

[Jason F]

quote:
jason, I presume you had SO 2's before, the SO 3's have quite hard sidewalls which will cause more tramlining than you were used to, so it's not your car

Quite true !!

[hughjayteens]

rmaurer - I just called Protyre and was quoted £239 for front F1s - How did you get them for £175???

[plotloss]

I dont know about TVR fitment sizes but the Eagle F1's that were on my Mustang and Viper came with all sort of options. For the Viper I could have got a rear for $175 if I had gone for bottom of the range rising to well over $400 for a GSC (which dont come off the rims even when flat). So it does depend on what sort of F1.

Matt.

[squirrelz]

I gotta say that the tread pattern on S03s is crap compared with the S02s

[jellison]

I have Michelins on my 500 - seem fine to me - not gonna change as all 4 are never gonna wear out at same time, slide (when you want to) and grip pretty good.

[shpub]

quote:
I gotta say that the tread pattern on S03s is crap compared with the S02s

Why not get some remould slicks and cut your own pattern?

Quite a few S03 shod sprinters yesterday at Longcross yesterday and no bad comments. The main difference is the stiffer sidewall which is like going to a lower profile without changing the tyres/walls.

Steve
www.tvrbooks.co.uk

[angusfaldo]

I guess the tread pattern is important for offroading.... then you can leave nice marks in the mud.

[squirrelz]

I know, I know... just messing guys....

[trefor]

quote:
I gotta say that the tread pattern on S03s is crap compared with the S02s

But compare it with the Potenza RE71/SO1s or whatever were fitted before and then it looks quite smart.

T/.

[slickshift]

I've just had Falcon 502's fiited. They're about the same price as SO2's, look just as good and seem to perform exactly the same.

[marlboro]

I've now run the S03's approx 400 miles. I can't understand why anyone should doubt the grip. They hold the road well and only break away when pushed very hard. This break away, although at higher cornering speeds than my previous S02's is easily kept under control as they break away so progressively. The feedback from these tyre is excellent.

The only downpoint, tramlining. This effect makes these tyres feel poor at first, but once they're warm and you have the confidence you'll forget S02's.