Tires for 2000 996 C4

Here's another tire dilemma thread. I puchased the car in Aug. '05 and it has the original Conti SportContacts on the front. When I purchased the car, the left rear had a slow leak and the dealer replaced with a SportContact 2. I paid for a matching right rear SC2 so that I would have matching tires on the rear. I was planning on just replacing the front tires since they have aged, the rubber has hardened, and they are getting pretty noisy. But, in roughly 10k miles I have had two punctures repaired on the left rear and just developed a slow leak on the right rear this past weekend. So, I want to just do a hard reset and replace all four at once. I want to replace with N-rated tires and Michelin PS2's, but they aren't available in my sizes. (225/40, 7.5x18 and 265/35, 10x18.) In N-rated tires, I'm leaning towards Michelin PS Ribs or Pirelli PZero Rosso Asimmetrico's. Dell -- Maybe you can way in. You seem to be a string proponent for both PS2's and N-rating. But, in my case they are mutually exclusive. Any advice? Does anyone know for a fact that there is a compund/construction difference in the PS2's that fit my car vs. an N-rated PS2?

The only people that "really" know is Michelin. You could contact them but in a reverse way. Meaning, pose to them a hypothetical that you have "x" car (not a porsche) and you have found a set of tires that are the sizes you need but they are "n-rated" and you want to know what the difference between them are (the same tire in non n-rating). Personally I like the n-rated choices and have NO PROBLEM spending a couple bucks more for a tire that has been "engineered" for my car. It is, afterall, the only thing keeping me stuck to the road and the most important piece of the suspension system. While I ALWAYS look to save a buck or two when shopping to get the best deal, there are some things that are not in that category--tires. Here is a excerpt from the explanation of the n-rated tires: Porsche has integrated tire development throughout their process of vehicle development. To be an Original Equipment tire provider on a Porsche vehicle or be approved by Porsche for the replacement market requires the joint product development efforts of the tire engineers working alongside the Porsche vehicle engineers. It is also important to know that while Porsche N-specification tires have been fine tuned to meet the specific performance needs of Porsche vehicles, the tire manufacturers may also build other tires featuring the same name, size and speed rating as the N-specification tires for non-Porsche applications. These tires may not be branded with the Porsche N-specification because they do not share the same internal construction and/or tread compound ingredients as the N-specification tires. Using tires that are not N-specific is not recommended and mixing them with other N-specification tires is not permissable.

I faced the same decision earlier this summer. It's a can of worms as will will see. In the end I went with N-rated Pilot Sport Ribs for my '99 C4. My interest was performance and price and in the end all of the tires that offer max performance are also expensive and N-rated or not cost about the same. In a nutshell this board will suggest that you try both as members are happy either way.

Dell -- Thanks for the info. I agree with everything you say here. Price, in this case, is not the big issue with me. I'm not making a "N" vs. non-"N" decision based on price. I'm checking with Michelin to see if I can get any info on possible differences. I'll let you know what I find out. missmy993 -- What has your experience been with the "Ribs"?

Potenza RE-750. Among the best in traction in both dry and wet conditions. Solid sidewalls.

2 things about the Ribs- FWIW I have the peace of mind that they are N-rated so I do not feel like I'm exploring new territory. (I'm up for trying non-N-rated tires next go around), wearwise- I have about 6K miles on them and the rears show wear on the outer edges. I write that off to a couple of autocross events and a DE event which I have no complaint about performance. I expect that around 10K miles I will be looking to replace the rears- which seems par for the course.

The N-rating seems to me to be a bad reason not to buy the (excellent) PS2s. There's no reason to think the lighter construction is either a safety or performance issue. Give it a thought before you narrow your options.

Blackness- I am in exactly the same mental dilemma you describe. I am seeking to replace Pirelli P Zeros w/ the PS2 and have gone around and around on the non N rated fronts. Ultimately I have been advised by the local (Portland OR) PCar expert that having PS2s is worth the tradeoff on the rating especially as it is the fronts that are not rated. What was you final decision? Post how it works out.

I ordered the PS Ribs. I really wanted the PS2's (more modern technology), but I just didn't feel comfortable not having the N-rating. In my case the PS2's aren't available in either front or rear sizes I need. And Porsche advises against mixing N and non-N tires. At least I know that Porsche engineer's signed the Ribs off. In fact the Ribs are only available in N-ratings. I think it's a pretty safe assumption that Porsche engineers were involved in the development of this tire. Even if they are older technology. And I'm not tracking this car or running at high speeds (at least not for long periods). I did contact both Michelin and PCNA customer service. I didn't pose the hypothetical with Michelin as Dell suggested. I told them straight up that I have a 911 I was trying to find tires for. And I don't know anymore now than before I called them. I don't think it would have made any difference if I had tried Dell's tactic. Michelin said that N-ratings were very important to Porsche, but that only Porsche would know if there was a difference. Which doesn't make any sense to me. Porsche customer service had only been given info on "Winter" tires lately. I told them I live in Florida and snow tires usually don't do me a lot of good. They said I would have to talk to the dealership, and of course the dealership doesn't know either. I should have the tires on the car Friday and we have a local PCA drive on Sat. I'll give an update after I've put a few miles on them.

Just be careful on your Saturday drive, because new tires are a little slippery initially. It ususlly takes about 100 to 150 miles to wear off the "mold release" agent that is used on the tires to get them out of the tire mold.

Just be careful on your Saturday drive ... Thanks Tim, good advice. I got it...I'm gone...

Blackness, I've been driving 911's for over 15 years. I recently replaced my wornout. crappy, loud, poor grip OEM N-Rated Sport Contact2s with PS2s. Yes, the rear in the Turbo size is NOT N-Rated, but is an XL load rated tire from Michelin. Although I haven't run the tires on the track, I can feel NO ill effects of the non N rated rears. Quite frankly, I think this whole N rating thing is over rated. Porsche is only looking for about 3-4 brands of tires for each model they make to be used as OEM fitments. To me this means that they have "approved" the few they fit, and haven't bothered with any of the others. YMMV,