987 Boxster - tire recommendation

987.1 base w 18” wheels from 987.2 . Ready to put a fresh set of rubber on the car. Looking for compliant tire with good dry traction and stopping performance but I want more comfort than current Michelin Pilot Sports provide. SoCal roads are in bad shape so I’m looking for 2 or 3 tire choices folks are happy with That offer some compliance over road imperfections and some level of performance. I don’t track the car but Do enjoy spirited canyon drives. Thanks in advance

Of course this is my own opinion, and based on my experience with the last several vehicles that I have put them on, but I’ve been very pleased with Continental Extreme Contact. Quiet, grippy, corner well, sticky on wet roads. Tirerack .com has been my go-to for at least the last 20 year. Visit their website and read up on them there. Lots of info, ratings, and test results and you can read reviews of other driver’s opinions.

I have PS4S and find them quiet, comfortable and plenty grippy and they’re smoother than PSS’s. PS5 (non-S) should ride provide a bit more comfort at the expense of reduced ultimate grip and ECS that WTFChuck mentioned is also a good option.

So what driving conditions are we talking here? A/S: Continental DWS 06 plus, hands down the best a/s tire imo Performance on a budget: General G-Max R’s. Great handling, quiet ride, lasted 22miles on my benz.. Continental owns General so these tires are basically affordable Conti’s performance only: there are a few to consider, as for a Porsche 911 , I’ve never had the above on that car, only max performance tires … PS4’s PS2’s, RE71 RR’s. For the street I have Advan 601’s. Love them, as good as PS4’s and less money.. just drove home from Shitcago in 2hrs of pouring rain and they were flawless in heavy rain at 75-80mph

Thanks for the replys everyone. I’ll take a look at the conti extreme contact sport. Appears to provide the softer ride I’m looking for. Not sure they have the requisite Porsche rating but I’ll call TireRack and discuss this…

Crisp handling and a soft ride are contradictory in nature. It's not all the tires , some is the design of a sports car suspension, more is the lack of proper road maintenance. Porsche does a great job of seeking the sweet spot between the two extremes. In the seventies, my uncle's Cadillac rode so soft it was like driving a sofa. Hit the brakes hard enough and the body roll was visually perceptible. I don't know if I'm in agreement that a Continental extreme contact is softer than any other max performance summer tire, but it's a fine choice. Just my opinions here but soft yet sporty is more the province of the Mercedes Benz drop tops of yore or select BMW models. I sincerely doubt tire selection is going to have a large impact on creating a soft ride, these cars use low profile tires , again that by nature equals a stiffer ride experience to assist in maximizing the handling characteristics. Keep whatever tires you buy at the proper inflation with vigilance, that will certainly help.

I have run both the G-Max RS (235/40 and 275/40 18's) and Michelin PS4 AS on my 987.1 Boxster S , with the Michelin currently being fitted. I got 25k out of the G-Max rears before needing replacement (the fronts have maybe 5k left in them, sitting in storage awaiting use on one of my other cars). I was pretty happy with their life span given the 320 tread wear rating. I thought their handling characteristics and balance on my Boxster were very nuetral, a very positive experience. I daily the car (except when the roads are salted) and even during the depths of Kansas City winter I was very confident with them. When I changed to the Michelins (540 tread wear?) I did notice that the wet weather performance was atleast as good as the G-Max's (though the direct comparison was against well used tires at that stage), dry grip wasn't as good as the G-Max. The biggest difference (and it was immediate) was the comparative vagueness of the steering vs the G-Max. Nowhere near the directness of steering and and I always had a slight degree of steering against the camber in the road. I would not recommend the PS4 AS tire for a 987. Cheers, Julian

Agree! I’ve only had G-max’s on my RWD C-class but I loved them. Great traction dry and wet, quiet and long lasting and that car has 320hp

Strong vote of support WTFChuck’s comment … I took off Michelin PS4 ’s and put conti extreme contact all seasons on my 2009 BS and they are soooo much more enjoyable for an all round daily driver. Also bought from Tirerack .com. Ford Kinyon ext 4779 is the fellow I always talk to and he’s really knowledgeable and fun to work with.

Another in support of @WTFChuck - I've had Conti DWS tires on many cars with great resuts. They have softer sidewalls which some have complained about in the past (on my other cars) but I find this to be a benefit, particularly with larger wheels and thinner profiles (better to survive potholes). Be sure it's an ExtremeContact / DWS tire, not the other models. A friend took my advice, tried to save a few bucks and got the ProContact instead, and ended up getting pothole blowouts left and right. The MODEL matters more than the brand... ie, every brand has good models and crappy models...

And I'll double-down on @schwinn - I've run the DWS-2 on a Cayenne ('06 with 18" rims) and on my Boxster ('09 with 18" rims) - way more comfortable than the Michelin N rated tires that were on the cars, and I've never managed to actually wear one out. They handle well enough that they're not letting go before I get scared, and the ride quality is much improved over the Michelins. Plus they were usable in cold weather, something the Michelins were not at all good at. Good tire. Hope they keep making them.