Tire Choice

I need rears now, the fronts still have life. Holding the economic side of the decision out (for now) and considering most of all ride, handling, road noise; then wet roads, durability and useful life; Would I be better off switching to Michelin Pilot Sport Rib? I have about 16K on my Continental ContiSportContact 2 (My original equipment). (Will I get this type of wear from the Michelin's?) Which tire would you choose? Which one is on you car? My dealer said they would allow me to buy and ship to them for the install. Are there any other vendors worth looking at besides Tire Rack? Thanks Gary 2004Cab

I got the PS2s in 315s, but are they worth $470 each? Hell no. Bridestone needs to stop the Michy monopoly in Porsche sizes... RE050A PPs are every bit as good as the pricey PS2s. I don't like any other street tire other than the two mentioned here.

I currently have Pirelli P-Zeros and aren't crazy about them. When they were new they were OK, but the rears are about 50%-60% worn and they are getting very noisy and road shock and tramlining are more noticeable as well. Prior I had Dunlop 9000s and liked them much better. Wife has Yokos ES100s (?) on her Boxster and they feel pretty good. I'm looking to get rid of my tires soon and go with something better. I just looked at Tire Rack and have a strong interest in the English Avons. I read several of the reviews and everyone seems extreemly happy with them. I know a lot of Porsche racers have been using them since the '70s. I used them for roadracing motorcycles a few years ago and have used them on my street bikes for many years. I know they build an excellent tire and they have been available for cars in the US for a very short time. Maybe because they are a small company and relatively unknown they are keeping the prices down. The motorcycle tires are more expensive than Michelin, Dunlop, Conti, Bridgstone and all the popular brands. Anyone here run Avons?

Nick: I have a brand new set of Dunlop 9000's on some new turbo twist rims that I got with the car and have had stored for over a year.... and I was wondering how they ran...you said you liked them? What is it about the Dunlops that you like? Right now I'm running Pilot Sport II, and they only recently started tramelining a bit...first I've noticed that. Have about 10K miles on them, and was thinking about putting on the Dunlops....but not too many P-car folks seem to be running Dunlops.

I have PS2's and really like them. 235/4018 on the front and 295/30/18 on the rear. They are quieter than the P-Zeros.

I'm on my second set of Bridgestone RE050A Pole Positions. I've been very happy with them. The guys at Tire Rack will tell you that it is superior to the Pilot Sport Rib and very close to the PS2. If there is significant price difference between the PS2 and RE050As, the choice will be easy.

I agree with this. I got a local tire chain to mount and balance 4 RE050's for $1000. Great tire!

I dont mean to hi-jack this thread but Anybody use non N spec tires? The reason I ask is that for daily driving (commuting) I have found that the T1S was amazing in the rain but suffered from soft sidewalls. Now with the new generation T1Rs the problem has been fixed. I am very new to porsche ownership so would like the opinion of the experts, is it a sin to even look at Toyos?

I had Toyo tires in 335mm on my last Corvette (593HP). It needed them. They were only rated to 100 mph (probably an autocross tire). They were the best traction tire I've had in my life. You could drive almost as fast on the wet too. Only problem, the 4 month life. (But it was worth it).

I bought Avon Techs for my 944. Tires are great, I think. But I have barely 500 miles on them, and have not tracked my car, so I might not be the best judge. The Tirerack survey loved them as all-season tires, so I bought them. That said, I am gettting the Bridgestone RE050 PP's - seems to be a no-brainer in the non-N tire selection.

I have Potenzas S-03s and like them many times over the contis

"I have PS2's and really like them. 235/4018 on the front and 295/30/18 on the rear. They are quieter than the P-Zeros. __________________ Tim K." Are these mounted on OEM Rims 18X8 and 18X10? My OEM Rear look like they should go wider but not the front. How do they look? Is your speedomete reading correct? Chris

My 996 had Dunlops that were about 50% worn on the rear and 20% worn on the front when I bought it. On the 1600 mile drive home, I wanted to experience the car in different areas so I pushed it pretty hard in some turns,got a taste of speed at 155 mph and not by choice but drove in an incredably hard rain for nearly an hour at up to 125 mph without using the wipers btw. I was very impressed with the Dunlops needless to say and I don't remember them being nearly as noisy or harsh as the P Zeros as they wore down.

On my previous car (an Audi) I had the T1S for daily driving and RA1 track tires. I had no complaints. They didn't have the right sizes available for my C4S, so I didn't consider them for the Porsche. I think the Pilot Sport Cup is a superior track tire to the RA1. The RA1 is being replaced. I don't know how the new one will compare.

looks like I might be one of the first ppl to give a review of the T1Rs shortly LOL

The Tire rack specialist favors the Bridgestone Potenza Pole Position (5050A) over my Conti's aand the Mich. Pilot Sport Ribs. Do you agree?

The Tire rack specialist favors the Bridgestone Potenza 5050A Pole Position over my Conti (2's) and the Mich. Pilot Sport Rib. Do you agree?

I am happy with Potenzas, despite an almost pathological tendency to toss Michelins on almost every vehicle I have ever owned. (I skipped them on the 47 ******)

I've got a couple thousan miles on these p-zeros and so far I like em. I've had michelins ps2's and I loved em for the balance they give. Meaning, I tracked em twice, drove the car 365 days a year and they lasted 20,000 miles. I'd say that's pretty remarkable. I'm curious to see how the p-=zero's hold up to that pattern of use.

I've found Michelins to be the most DELICATE of all tires I've tried. They usually break before wearing out, at least in my case.

I've had pzeros. When new they were great. They were worn out in a few months and then were noisy and lost a lot of traction when wet or even cold and damp. At the track they started chunking apart when the got to the wear bars. They wear out to fast. I just put on some dreaded non N rated tires. Kumho ECSTA SPT. I've only had them for a few weeks and 1000km. They have actually more traction in wet then the pzeros but less traction in the dry. They have little road noise so far being new but are quite squawky when pushing it around corners but they seem to have just as much grip as the pzeros. As a daily driver the tire is more then fine. I doubt many people even push as hard as I do on the streets and this tires seems to be able to take it.

I love Bridgestones - I put them on a past BMW, I put them on my 19" rims on an S500, and I will switch to Bridgestone (from Pirelli) if I still own the car when it needs new tires.

I was much happier with those than with my prior "summer" Michelins. Northern California isn't that wet, but I was much happier with the P Zero Nero (M+S) when there was any water on the road. However, they're backordered right now, so when I had to put on new rears on Friday I switched to Kumho ASXs. So far so good, but its only been a few days and about 100 miles, ask me again in a month. My main gripe with the non-all season tires was that the rear end would just get too squirrelly too easily on wet surfaces compared to an all season tire,and since I'm not tracking or anything I'd prefer more wet traction in return for giving up a bit of dry performance. Maybe that's just me. Bob

The RE050A is definitely superior to the Conti 2 in grip. I can tell you this from personal experience. Tire Rack told me it is superior to the Pilot Sport Rib as well. I do not know if it is superior to the Michelin PS2.

I second that - I have 19s, which accentuates noise issues - my PS2s (235/35 and 295/30) are much quieter & smooth riding than the previous P Zero Rossos I had...as far as mileage, I may have gotten 16K or so in the front, but went through 3 sets of rears in that time span (this was the Pirellis, the PS2s have only a couple thousand on them). I've always had the best luck with Michelins, both the old Pilot Sports on my previous M3 and now the PS2s.

I have a new set of Bridgestone Potenza S-02 N4's I will be putting on my 1999 C2 in the next day or two. They will be replacing the Pirelli P-Zero's that were on the car when I got it. I managed to get around 20,000 miles out of the Pirelli's and had no complaint about handling in wet or dry. But the noise was bothersome as they wore down. The rears are completely gone and the fronts might have about 20% left. I have had the Bridgestones in previous Porsches and always preferred them for being quiet. They also replaced Pirelli's on my 1995 993. Between the two, I will always opt for the Bridgestone just based on the noise level. My car gets used mostly for a long distance high speed commute, so I think that really prolongs tire life. I also give a break in the winter and run Blizzaks which don't seem to wear much at all. They probably have more than 20,000 miles on them, but appear to have enough tread to do one more winter.

Very good price.....were these 17" or 18"???

Are the RE050A better than the S02-A ???

I could very well be wrong, but I thought the REO50A replaced the S02-A. Anybody....?

I don't know if it is a direct replacement. However it is newer, and it's intended to be superior in performance. I think any Bridgestone dealer will tell you it is superior.