z rated tires on a 996 ?

So what's the deal with the speed ratings on the tires for my (soon to be delivered) 996? I think we're supposed to run N rated tires, but a quick google turns up not a lot of information on that speed rating. I do know that I am paying through the nose for a pair of OE Pirrelli Rosso rear tires. Is it the least bit acceptable to run just z rated tires? Obviously the selection and pricing are going to be much better, and so long as I keep my sustained speeds down below 150 mph, I should live to tell the tale. What gives? If I hit 175 mph on a good set of z rated tires am I going to die instantly? Or is it just a risk tolerance thing ?

first, the N rating is not a speed rating, it is a Porsche spec. rating. A tire with the N specification means it is endorsed by Porsche. Speed rating are not all about speed either, it also has to to the weight of the vehicle for a certain speed. The 996 is really heavy back there with 60% of the weight. You are buying an expensive car. Don't cheap out on tires. Also, most people hear don't have the best things to say about the Pirrelli's. They say they are noisey for one thing. Check out the Continentals and the Michelins, maybe the bridgestones.

Here is a primer on tires. It includes info on Porsches N ratings. As the previous poster mentioned they are entirely different from speed ratings. http://www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible.html

Ray - Thanks for posting this link, very informative and an excellent resource!

FYI Continentals are garbage A good option that is a bit more reasonably priced are the Toyo T1Rs

Any thoughts on Yoko's AVS Sports - only one's I've had to date so nothing to compare them to. TIA

I have had Pirelli P-Zeros and really liked them (great grip) but the rears lasted only about 9K miles. They get loud as they wear down. I curently have Michelin PS2 tires and really like them. Not as loud as the P-Zeros. They have about 2K miles on them so I can't offer any first hand experience on total tread wear.

I will second that the Pirellis are NOISY.

i have conti on mine..... seems okay but i just cruise with mine.....

Hey, watch it there...I have those on my car...oh yes, they are garbage as you say

Excellent resource I agree.....but I am not convinced (so far) that a N rated tyre is necessarily better than a high quality Z rated tyre....only that the N-rated tyre has been tested and certified according to Porsche's no doubt stringent (read expensive) testing regime. I guess what i'm saying is that if a tyre is good enough for say, a Ferrari Maranello or a Laborgini Murcielago, then *maybe* it's good enough for a Porscehe 996??? I was born to question authority, so forgive me. Has anyone ever crashed their 996 because their high quality but not N-rated tyres failed?

My opinion (educated guess from working with a very large manufacturer of vehicles and machines) is that Porsche tests and N rates only those tires that they have chosen to purchase as OEM fitment from the factory. They proabaly work with 3-4 tire suppliers in order to get competitive prices and multiple sources. The tires they buy, they test, approve, and give the N rating to. This does NOT mean that there are not many other high quality suitable tires available from other sources or in other sizes. It's just that Porsche is not going to offer 20 different brands of tires. I don't think the tire chassis / match on a Porsche is anywhere near as important as say on an F1 car where the dynamics of the tire must be in harmony with the chassis setup. if this were the case for a Porsche, there would probably be only 1 N rated tire/supplier. As Porsches have come with Pirelli, Bridgestone, Michelin, Dunlop. and Continental, there can't be that great a need to "tune to the chassis" as these tires would all be different. Just my opinion, YMMV.

I don't think it's that they're "better" per se. People forget that tires are a suspension component. Every manufacturer calibrates their suspensions to a benchmark tire, usually whatever comes OEM on the car. My understanding of the N rating is that it partly identifies tires that are like those used in the car's development.

Well there you go. It would follow then that if I upgrade my suspesnion (as I am planning to do), the N-rating will become even more irrelevant. I'm starting to think this ferocious tire appetite might not bankrupt me after all.