Tire Wear

[JSMDMD]

I have had my NSX for about 10 months now, and have been in two autocrosses, and several canyon runs. I put new Dunlop Sport 9000's on about 8000 miles ago, and after our NSX autocross this weekend in SoCal, my rear tires were worn down to to and in some place through the belts along the inner aspect of the tire.
Although I know that I drove the car hard especially during this last autocross, I was wondering if this is a typical wear pattern of NSX tires. The previous owners have modified the suspension by lowering it, and changed the wheels also.
From what I have been reading here, 8000 miles on the rears is typical.

Joel 91 Black / Ivory

 

[NSX-Racer]

I never had any rear tire - no matter what brand - that lasted 8000 miles. As far as I can remember the Michelin MXX 3 was the tire with the most miles on my car - something about 5000 miles rear and 10000 front. You may check the tire section in the FAQ.

 

[1BADNSX]

Most NSX's with stock suspension and alignment will wear the rear tires twice as fast as the fronts, but in general they wear evenly (sometimes more in the center at stock pressures). The fronts will wear out on the inside first, but not the rear.

Your lowered springs increase the negative camber which is contributing to the inside wear. Have your car aligned to the stock 94+ specs in the rear. Unless your car is really low, a good shop that knows how to align an NSX should be able to dial out the added camber and you will get even better wear out of your next set.

Bob

 

[JSMDMD]

Thanks...

Thanks for the advice Bob. I will have that done and see how long this set of rears lasts.

NSXRacer...... maybe I won't complain about getting 8000 miles from my tires!

Joel

 

[hyuan]

Same tires, I got 24,000 miles on the rears. Granted, I don't do track events and from a mileage perspective mine is 90% freeway miles and 10% local. I have the stock alignment, but my car has been lowered with Bilsteins about 7/8"

The Dunlop SP9000s have got to be one of the longer wearing tires you can put on our cars.

 

[sjs]

Even stock alignment will wear them unevenly for the simple reason that you still have negative camber. People who drive mostly highway will see more and those who spend more time in the twisties will fare better since they will be using the outsides more. You may well get roughly even wear given your habits.

The front settings are tricky with each adjustment also changing the others. However, the rear takes zero talent as it is a simple eccentric. When the car has been lowered too much to get the setting you want they just twist them both to the point nearest to zero, measure them to see which comes closest, then turn the other to match. Five minutes max once the equipment is set up. Rear toe is also dead simple.

Do you know how it was lowered? (Shorter springs and if so which ones, or shocks with a lowered perch such as the Bilsteins?)

 

[JSMDMD]

The suspension...

I am about the 5th owner of the car, so I am not exactly sure what has been done.
I know that the springs are H & R Sport Springs that lower the front and the rear 1.5 inches. Not sure about which shocks are on the car. He also changed the wheels to 255/40/17 in the rear and 215/40/17 in the front.
Any input on this setup? Since I didnt put it on, I won't take any negative comments personally!

Joel

 

[nsxtasy]

He also changed the wheels to 255/40/17 in the rear and 215/40/17 in the front.
Any input on this setup? Since I didnt put it on, I won't take any negative comments personally!

No comments about the suspension, but the tire sizes are the same as the '02-03 stock sizes, so they should be fine...

 

[JSMDMD]

About the suspension..... .

Actually I would welcome comments about the suspension set up. As I didn't set it up that way, I am open to changing it if it would improve the handling of my car.
Any suggestions? Eibachs? Bilsteins??

Joel

 

[ANYTIME]

Re: About the suspension..... .

Actually I would welcome comments about the suspension set up. As I didn't set it up that way, I am open to changing it if it would improve the handling of my car.
Any suggestions? Ebachs? Bilsteins??
Joel

Consider the Zenardi suspension, which the 3rd. place winner(Marc Weinberg) in the autocross was running.

 

[sjs]

Re: About the suspension..... .

Actually I would welcome comments about the suspension set up. As I didn't set it up that way, I am open to changing it if it would improve the handling of my car.
Any suggestions? Ebachs? Bilsteins??

Joel

With the H&Rs you will not be able to get the rear anywhere near stock camber without other customizations, and the front is about -1 degree less of a problem. The car is just too low for the stock adjusters. The simplest "fix" may be to raise the car with spacers under the spring perch but that may undo what you like most about the springs.

Stock shocks and Bilsteins are not adequate for the H&Rs is handling is important to you. They are significantly under-damped. The basic Koni yellow from places like Dali Racing will work fine with them. If you are just a cruiser then I suppose Bilsteins would work but I had that combination briefly and the pogo effect was significant.

Search on my name and H&R for more threads on the subject.

 

[JSMDMD]

Thanks SJS

Thanks for the info SJS.... I didn't realize that there were so many posts about this already....... Yours were very helpful.....
Search is my new friend!
I will probably leave the setup as it is for now and just have the alignment checked...... Hopefully that will help with the tire wear.

Joel

 

[tbNSX]

... From what I have been reading here, 8000 miles on the rears is typical.

About 10,000 miles on my dunlop 9000's, fronts need replacing (inside edge worn the most) rears getting close. New s03's coming next week

 

[JSMDMD]

The S03's....

I am going to switch to the S03's when my front Sport 9000's are ready to go....
From what I have read on here they handle better than the Dunlops.....
So I guess that if I only get 5000 miles from the Bridgestones its not much worse than 8000 from the Dunlops.....
It's only money....

Joel 91 Black / Ivory