Flat tire. Advice needed

have stock 18" turbo looks with Pirelli P-Zero Asimmetricos. 225/40/18 fronts, 265/35/18 rears. What size can I mount on these stock wheels if I want to go wider without dealing with new offsets, etc? Suggestions? Happy with P-Zero's, wonder what major difference between standard Asimmetricos and Rossos are. Thanks!

Eric, You can go with 245/35 (if you can find them) and 285/30 without changing wheels. I agree with you, the P-Zero Asimmetrico is the best tire for these cars. The newer Rosso's will be slightly quieter, will ride a bit better, its wet performance will be higher but it will not have the dry grip of the P-Zero neither will it have the razor sharp steering response. IMO, the slight benefits in those areas are not worth the sacrifice in dry performance.

Eric, that looks like it can be repaired, if the tread is still fine.

I am also looking at new tires for my '99 996. In doing some research I noticed that the porsche website isn't accurate so I went to the dealer to ask. The new carrera brochure lists 225/40s and 285/30s as the standard size for the 18" turbo look wheel option on the 996. The wheel is 8" up front and 10" in the back (website lists the 18" turbo look option as 9.5" back). I decided to go with 225/40s and 285/30s since this is what Porsche is using. Also, in looking at my current setup (225s front 265s back) you can tell that the back tire could be wider whereas the front 225 tire looks like it fits well on the 8" rim. I have head good things about the Pirelli Assimetricos and the Bridgstone S-02s. I decided to go with the S-02s because the local (San Diego)porsche performance shop said that their cutomers have been very satisfied and preferred them over the Pirellis. I don't think you can go wrong either way. Dima

Just by way of comparison - I'm in the process of replacing the factory stock Continenntals on my '99 c4 with Bridgestone pole position S03s. I opted to stay with the 18" turbolook rims that came with my car - and to stay with 225/265s. I don't think the rim size of my factory 18s supports the 285 without risk of blowing tires. I believe the standard rear 18" rims on the '02 are larger - thus the 285s - curious if others agree.

[quote]Originally posted by brobbinson: <strong>Just by way of comparison - I'm in the process of replacing the factory stock Continenntals on my '99 c4 with Bridgestone pole position S03s. I opted to stay with the 18" turbolook rims that came with my car - and to stay with 225/265s. I don't think the rim size of my factory 18s supports the 285 without risk of blowing tires. I believe the standard rear 18" rims on the '02 are larger - thus the 285s - curious if others agree.</strong><hr></blockquote> The factory rear wheels on the 996 have always been 10" wide which is a perfect size for the 285/30 tire. Also, pre-'01 996's came with a 7.5" front wheel which will not accept anything bigger than the 225/40 tire it comes with.

Hey Eric, as usual Viken is right on the money. Offsets will have nothing to do with your front wheel size, rather the rim width is the problem for you. As Viken says, the rear 18"s are the same for all year 996s and only the fronts changed in 02 (from 7.5" to 8"). As for your tire, I disagree that it should be fixed. First, you will lose your speed rating upon patching or plugging that tire. Second, the tires really need to be replaced well before you "reach" those wear bars. I'd be changing my tires anyway by now if they looked like yours. As soon as I wear out my Contis, I'm putting on a set of BF Goodrich KDs which should provide slightly better dry grip than either the Pirelli Assym or Rosso, and will provide considerably more lateral grip than either of those two tires. It will come at a cost of increased wear and lessened ride quality (and probably noise). It all depends on what you're looking for. Here it doesn't rain, snow, etc and ALL I care about is grip. The Contis came on the 02 Carrera 5 spokes (8" vs. 7.5" fronts and much lighter - 25 lbs total) I bought to replace my worn out Assym equipped turbo look rims. My second choice to the KDs was the Assyms, and I won't know if the KD's were a mistake until I try em. That said, I really liked my Assyms quite a bit. BTW, if you don't like the understeer your car presently favors, you're going to like it even less when you go wider on the rears without making any adjustments on the fronts. You might try spacers up front if you go wider in the rear, especially if you stay with the 7.5" turbo looks. You can buy 8" turbo looks (ALL 996 18" wheels in 02 were 8").

Thanks for all the help and advice! Here's the plan: today or tomorrow I will reshoe the beast with P Zero Asymm's, same size, rears only. Last night I was able to plug it using a plug kit (hey, I am the plug guy). It's holding air well so I think it's driveable, but I only plugged it so I could drive it to the tire shop! So, again, many thanks for the advice and thoughts. Appreciate the feedback!

I just put new Bridgestone S03's on my car and was using Pirelli Asimmetrico until now. I decided to go with the S03 after reading reviews on TireRack.com. I didn't really want to switch from the Pirelli, since I'm Italian and I wanted to have SOMETHING Italian on my car, but I gotta tell you, I think these tires are really good! I'll be trying them on the track in a few weeks, so that'll be the true test. BTW, my rears weren't that worn, but after patching 3 punctures, it was time to retire.

In a recent Porsche training class I inquired about 245 tires on the front to reduce understeer. The answer I got was: Yes, it will reduce understeer a bit, but there have been a few problems with the 245 not letting the airflow goto the brakes the way the inner brake ducts and inner bodywork is designed to flow, causing warped rotors due to heat. I will stay with the 225's. To reduce the understeer, I will goto aftermarket springs(coilovers for corner balancing). Thats the word from the Porsche trainer......