2005 996 C4S All Season/Winter Tires Advice Needed!!

I just purchased a 2005 4S and could not be happier! With that said, it came with Michelin Pilot Sports but I live in New England and will drive this year round. I truly tried to do my due diligence, search online and this forum, but my head is spinning and I feel a bit lost. I can't find any all season winter tires that fit the stock wheels and while I know changing the wheel size is an option, it scares me a bit. So with all that said, I am really hoping someone can help me - as in explain this to me like I am little baby, haha. 1. Is it possible to get an all season tire that won't make me regret them in the summer and allow me to drive year around (including in some snow) or should I get winter tires? 2. If I can't get one set of tires for year round use, do swap out my tires for winter or just get a second set of wheels and if so, what size wheels? 3. What specific tires (and sizes should I get)? Thank you all in advance. I know there have been similar threads but I have been unable to find an actual answer. Any help would be so appreciated. Thank you!

Tire Rack has 225x40x18 and 285x35x18 Continental DWS 06 Plus Michelin Pilot All Season 4 Yoko Advan Sport AS+ They have snow, wet and dry testing on their site for comparisons. I have put the DWS on both of my kids cars and they have been exceptional. From past experience, C2 performs extremely well in the snow with a LSD and snow tires. Its easy to throw around and it track where you want it too. Bet the C4S does as well. Yep, I would consider getting another set of Carrera wheels if you want to run a summer then wintet tire. Pretty easy to change them in the garage. However, you may be able to get away with a good set of all seasons since the technology is so good today. But that's if you don't need to drive in more than 3- 4 inches of snow. You will start plowing. Especially if you have a front lip. Keep us posted in what you end up doing. Many of us love to talk tires.

That is super helpful, thank you very much. I have a really dumb questions, will those tire sized fit on the stock turbo wheels? I believe it is suppose to have 225/40/18 front and 295/30/18 rear but I cant get all season's in that size. So if I go with your size recommendations (those Bridgestone look perfect), would I need to change the size of my wheels also? Again, apologies but anything and everything wheels & tires confuse me! Thanks in advance.

OP - This calculator is useful and will be helpful for tire and wheel knowledge. You�ll be better able to interpret offset and size discussions. http://www.tire-size-calculator.info/

I haven't seen any 285x30 or 295x30 all seasons for our cars. So your next choice is 285x35 or 275x35. I would much rather fit a 285x35 to a turbo wheel than a 275x35. The other thing you need to be aware of is the circumference if the tires in relation to front and back. If you run 225x40 in the front and 295x35 in the rear, you will have an inch difference. I don't have stability management on my 996 but youi probably do with a C4S, which means you may have some problems with such a large circumference differential. However, I can't confirm. There are plenty of guys that own a C4S that can provide guidance. I figured I would help you out to get the discussion started amd point you in the right direction.

I believe the consensus for stock rims is the Conti DWS 285/35 and 235/40. Diameters of those tires are 25.9 and 25.4

I have the same car '05 C4S. I did some headscratching and checked the calculators, talked to my trusted indy. I ended up going with 225/45 and 285/35 Michelin *** fit onto my stock rims. The tough part was honoring the concern over having a slightly larger front tire diameter to not cause wear problems with the viscous clutch in the front axle. I've been running them happily in NJ for a year. Prior I had Hankook Ventus *** on my Boxster and loved them as well. As posters have said, use the calculators. What I mention above work great for me year round.

Thank you all for the great responses....the whole thing really makes my head spin. I spoke to my local Porsche dealership but they were only able to confirm what I already knew (there are no winter or all season tires made for the stock wheels). With that said, based on all the great info provided here, it seems I have two options; either 225/45/18 or 235/40/18 on the front and 285/35/18 on the back. I totally understand that either way I will experience a different ride quality than with performance summers, just want ensure it will still ride great and not mess with the AWD or anything else in the car. My understanding is that for the AWD to work, the rear tires must be slightly smaller than the front. So calling all 996.2 consigliere's! Which do I go with or is there a different recommendation? And again, thank you all in advance.

I have 265/35 rear, 235/40 front PZero AS+. Great tires. But I have them mounted on 9 inch rear, 8 inch front rims that are offset for a Cayman. I have to use 25mm spacers in the back to bring them out to the same distance as my summer wheels (295/30 but with 15mm spacers on stock rims). These are all 18" wheels. I swap wheels around as soon as morning temps drop below 10C (42F).