Time for new tires - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

I need to buy my boxster a set of new shoes. I've got the P-Zero's on there now which I like. The best price I can find in my area is about $900 for the set. Is that an okay deal? Is there a better tire out there for the money? My dealer told me that the Michelin Pilots are great but they wear through too quickly. I haven't heard much about the bridgestones. Any other's I should consider? Does anyone know of any good tire shops in the Washington, DC area?

Having reviewed the tire posts in the forum fairly extensively, the one thing there seems to be agreement on is that there is no one best tire - it depends on what you want out of the tire. for instance, if you want maximum traction, you're going to give up longevity. Will you be driving on roads below 40? How about in the snow? Is the cost an issue? Do you mind changing tires between summer and winter? Define your needs and do a forum search and you'll find a lot of good recommendations.

I would agree on how the car is used, would depend on which tire to buy. I don't know how this sets with fellow forum members, and has probably been discussed before, but... I thought the factory only recommends "N" stamped tires for replacement...yes, this probably adds $xx to each tire, but it has Porsche's stamp of approval. Perhaps this is overkill for owners...because there are always exceptions, new rims, price, wider, taller, track tire etc.

My vote is for Goodyear F1's which can be had for a similar price. When it drops below 50 they do get exciting but other than that I'm thoroughly impressed with them.

I love my 19" Michelin PS2's. These are OEM. Great wet & dry traction. I don't hear any excessive noise. After 15,000 miles I still have about 5-6/32's tread on the fronts and about 3-4/32's on the rears. When new they have 10/32's. I do expect to buy 2 new rear tires next summer, and then fronts in 2009. I will replace with the PS2's. I do find, particularly with the rear tires, that 1 or 1.5 PSI makes a big difference in bite and traction.

Sammy, I think Goodyear makes 2 different types of F1s. Based on your comment about "below 50", I think you're talking about the GS-D3s (which I have on the rear now and hope someday to have on the front ). If those are what you mean, it's good to know someone who has experience with them is impressed. I believe they also make an F1 all-season radial which I was thinking of for the winter here in the Northwest, but I'm not planning on pushing the car hard in the rainy/cold season and decided on the much cheaper Kumho ASXs instead. Back to the F1 Gs-D3s in the spring.

I recommend keeping the Pzero's....$900 is a fair price if that includes everything. You didn't say what size your tires were....I have heard great things about Kumho tires....YMMV.