Michelin PS4 vs PS2

Hi everyone, I know there has been much discussion about tyres. But a quick question, Michelin PS2 or PS4 For my 2006 Boxster 987 2.7? I’m a sensible driver, not a speed freak, have never done a track day, although I might hopefully take part one day. Black Circles have both on sale with a £10 each discount, not much but it all helps on £600 plus ??Lastly I note my local fitting centre offers nitrogen inflation, is that worth doing?… thanks in advance for any input

Tyres are a personal choice owners make regards performance and budget . Sorry no experience of nitrogen fills. Remember if cars under warranty you may want to stick to N rated.

Re Nitrogen fills.. not worth it Air is 78% Nitrogen (plus 20.9% Oxygen and trace gases make up rest mainly argon and CO2) .. the filling tyres with Nitrogen comes from airline industry and motorsport and in both cases is about controlling water vapor content, in the case of planes its re water vapor freezing at cold temps due to altitude (which can cause vibration and balance problems) and in motorsport its about predictable tyre thermal management and ability of a team to predict what & when tyre temps will hit and stay in the required operating windows.. In both these cases using compressed air could introduce varying water vapour content from varying humidty from altitude and weather changes (at fill time) which makes predictability difficult. I believe very very few of us drive our Porsches (on the road) to the point we need that level of tyre management [ ]. At a more practical level its just extra money spent when you first pay to fill tyres with N2 and the either a complete waste as you "dilute" the fill if you top up at home or at a garage forecourt with Air or yet more expense to go to the tyre fitters and pay again for a 0.2 bar top up to get back to optimum tyre pressure A much better spend of hard earned cash is to simply ensure your tyres are always at the optimum fill pressure for (a) optimum wear (b) best performance and (c) fuel economy

Re costs also consider costing up a Pirelli option as PCGB members get discount of upto £120 a year https://promo.pirelli.com/tyres/en-GB/car/carclub/overview

Richard, The Michelin PS2 is an old technology tyre compared with their latest PS4 and PS4S offerings, although the PS2 probably is N-rated (and no doubt was the original spec for your Boxster) while the PS4 isn’t. The PS4/PS4S appears to be a very well regarded tyre by Porsche owners and would be my personal choice, but only you can decide. I’d agree in general with Graeme’s comments regarding nitrogen fill, although if it’s offered FOC there’s no reason not to take advantage of the opportunity. Anecdotally I’ve found that my tyre pressures are more stable with a nitrogen fill when using my 987.2 CS on track days. Jeff

Have run both tyres, PS2 on 987.2 Cayman R & E39 BMW Alpina V8 and PS4 currently on a B5 Audi S4 ... both excellent tyres, you`ll not go wrong with either

PS4s newer tyre and the tyre of choice for many Check out prices at Camskill often the cheapest imo

Do the 19” PS4s (N rated not produced?) offer the same rim protection as the 19” PS2s (N rated)?

According to Brian Innes’ observations apparently not Andrew. Jeff

The Generic version of PS4S certainly has visibly different rim protection to the N spec version. But who knows what the other differences in construction and compound are? These things are rarely revealed although it is know for example that whereas the generic PS4S has two compounds across it’s tread, the BMW specific version (star marked) has four different compounds. So a generic PS4S will not be the same tyre as an N spec. Nitrogen inflation is certainly worth it for tyre pressure stability over time and reduction in pressure increase when gets hot. This attribute is very much worth it on trackdays when it’s not necessary let tyre pressure down when they get hot; this is usually necessary with air inflation. Nitrogen inflation is now a Porsche standard, and all tyres fitted by an OPC should be nitrogen filled. There is no additional cost for this.

May be wrong but as far as I am aware for a 19" as is on my Boxster Spyder only PS2 are available on N rated Think you can get PS4S in19" but not N rated .My 981 has 20" and believe they are available in PS4S again not sure if N rated or not ..certainly better that Pirelli P Zero would not fit them out of choice even with a discount .My new daily is fitted with Michelin as opposed to the standard Continentals eco so was please as shows A+B 68 dec.

I have a spare 235/35 x 19 PS4S in the garage, from my previous Focus ST Mk4 ... I`ll add a picture later PS4S are N rated in 235/35 x 20 / 265/35 x 20 ... had them on a 981 Cayman S and 245/35 x 20 / 295/30 x 20 on the GT4

Thank you for those answers to my question, luckily I don’t need any new tyres at the moment but it sounds as though nothing has changed in the three years since I bought my PS2s, I just like the fact that they have very good rim protection, it’s a shame the PS4s don’t. Edited to add: when I recently bought new tyres for my Audi Q3 I found that ASDA tyres online were notably cheaper than Black Circles even after my Boundless/CSMA discount. Both companies offer the same service where you order online and the tyres are delivered to one of their fitting partners, such as Protyre, who fit them at a date/time selected when you order. I’ve not checked whether they can supply Porsche spec tyres.

20" PS4S are N rated. I changed my P zero's to them on my 981CS. Worthwhile change.

AndrewT 235/35 x 19 PS4S ... in comparison with the 245/35 x 20 on the GT4, the rim protection section is the same 10mm The serrated section is where the wheel rim sits The wider rears have less rim protection, 8mm on the GT4`s 295/30`s