Tire Comparison

Looking for new street tires. I know how much everyone likes the Sumis - HTR Z IIIs. As I'll be buying track tires too, I'm looking to save a couple bucks over the traditional Pilot Sport 2s for street. Wondered if anyone had any experience with the Hankook Ventus V12 evo K110, or the Continental Extreme Contact DW. Both seem to get good reviews as well. The Hankooks look like a newer model as Tire Rack doesn't have a test on them yet, but I know Hankook has made nice shoes in the past. Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks, Kurt

I just put on the Ventus, but only have about 50 miles on them. So far, so good.

Had the Conti DWs on my 06 GTO, loved em! Smooth and quiet, didnt try much in checking the handeling characteristics, but the 420 HP..... I was able to put to the ground quite nicely!!

i run falken fk452's and iv been very happy with them! my roommate runs them on his audi and loves them. there very inexpensive onlinetires.com look em up! i also ran them on my previous car (BMW 330I).

the fk452's are very grippy! great in rain and so far have very good wear characteristics

RE 960 Bridgestones have made me very happy so far, a bit loud on worn asphalt, but you can really throw the car around.

Has anyone ever seen a thread where someone is searching for a tire BETTER than PS2 instead of cheaper? Don't forget to factor in how long the tire will last for your cost calculations. Also you will prefer just about any NEW tire to any tire with irregular tread wear, improper inflation, out of balance, etc. especially if it is more than 4 years old.

Kurt, I bought the Sumis from Damon at the Tire Rack a couple months ago. So far I am very happy with them. I have gone through several sets of the Continentals on my two 996s. The Sumis seem to be just as good, at half the cost. Damon convinced me to buy them, after I went through a $650 set of rear tires in less than 5,000 miles.

speaking of rear tires, sorry about the mini-hijack, what is the average REAR tire life that one could expect?

Have contis DWS. Happy so far. FM

I have had the Hankook V12s on for 5 months or so...... love them so far. I don't track and came from P-Zeros.

I have the Hankooks and I love em. I've driven about 1200 miles on them and so far they are great. Very quiet. I recall reading they got 2nd in a Car and Driver tire comparison last year, you might be able to look that up.

I got 19K miles out of my last rear set of Continental Contact Sport II's. The fronts have been on for 26K. Unfortunately, an overly aggressive alignment has consumed them so I'll be getting 4 new ones before the spring.

Have put about 6,000 miles on a set and they are wearing very well. I would expect to get close to 20K miles out of the rears. Like them quite a bit for all round wet and dry performance. My only complain is that they are a bit loud, but the 285 wide in the rear does that. Have the Sumis on my 951 and would probably go for them next time to compare the loudness.

I am gonna need rears soon, when i bought my car back in Feb, the dealer had just put on fronts. I dont see why, but does anyone think I would have any type of issues with different tires...front and back?

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I'm going with these in the spring.

I've got the V12's on my 996 and I'll say that they're the best bang for the buck tire I've had on that car yet - and I've run many sets over the 4 1/2 years and 75,000 miles I've driven it. They are reasonably quiet, wear very well, have very predictable handling (if not the highest absolute limits), and handle rain better than any tire I've yet run on that car. I'll get another set when these wear out someday.

Thanks for everyone's feedback. Good perspectives and input. Seems any of the three would be a good choice, with the falken and bridgestone getting some thread time too. Rob - regarding your q about mixing fronts and rears - porsche generally frowns on that - as you know you have to match the series specs if you buy michelins. I think the handling characteristics are so different with each design that you would get the best out of your car by keeping the tires the same. So buy whatever matches your new fronts - I think you'd be the happiest and wouldn't question your decision if ever you felt the handling was compromised. Just my 2 cents.

I think for tooling around the neighborhood mixing wouldn't matter. I say that because I (not planned) have Pirelli's on the back and Conti's on the front and I just don't have the opportunity on city streets to really stretch it where I could tell a difference. For DE's I run PS Cups and that's a completely different matter. Those of you who have some lightly traveled roads where you can push it it may make a difference but in the city I say mix it up if it works out that way.

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Wow .. after stating that I was going to go with the Summi's I now am really thinking about the Hankook's. I found another big distributor (like TireRack) and they sell them at a great cost. Let's see if I can change my mind again tomorrow.....

mixing tires= exactly how much difference is there performing emergency evasive manuevers on a public road @60mpf vs. a 60mph turn on a race track? THAT is a good reason NOT to mix and match tires.

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I get about 8k miles out of PS2s in the rear.

PS. has anyone used the Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec? http://www.dunloptires.com/catalog/d...1StarSpec.html

Mixing tires: I can't imagine evasive manuevers at 60 MPH anything near the speed and temperature at track speeds. Sorry I don't have any science behind this but I can't imagine a differnt brand of tire making a negligiable difference on city streets. I'm not hard headed so anyone with data please chime in.

I have about 500 miles on the Conti DW's, very good so far. Haven't pushed them beyond some on/offramp fun, but I'm happy. w

Putting different tires in back is NOT what i really want to do, I like balance and would feel better withall4 the same type tire, but the $438 per tire pricetag got me thinking bout it. I could actually do ALL 4 new tires, such as the Conti DW's or Sumi's, for about the price of the 2 Michelins in back ..............I just looked on Tire rack and cant even FIND my Michelins on there. And they show diff tires as OE!!?? strange, cause I distinctly remember seeing mine and they were $438 for rears! Gotta go look at my tires right now and see what is up!!

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Tire Rack removed the tires from their site because they are currently out of stock. If you call them they can be ordered (I have some on order with them). The told me last week they expect to receive new stock from France around Dec 10th. However, if you can wait Michelin is making a new version (the Super Sport) next year which should be even better. Details here; https://rennlist.com/forums/racing-a...-in-dubai.html http://www.michelin.com/corporate/ne...lot_SuperSport

From what I can see by tread design, my tires look like pilot sport PS2's

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Look at the words on the side of the tire...

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I have them on our 335i coupe. Great track tire. Kind of noisy on the street and short wear life. As far as I know, it is not available in sizes that fit a 18 inch 996. I wish they were.

My tires say "Pilot Sport" with a little checkered flag after the word sport....but they are not anything like the tread design of the pilot sport that is shown online. My tread design is the 2 outside edge tracks, which are the same at both inside and outside edges, and 3 middle treads that are the same as well. Strange, cause I cannot find these anywhere now. im gonna get a pic so u guys can see...... in a few.... As narrow as these look in the pic, they are the correct 285/30/18's.

PS2s look like this: What you have are the "Pilot Sport Ribs":

Kurt -- About 1,000 miles ago I replaced the front Michelin Pilot Sports on my '03 Cabriolet with Continental Exterme Contact DW's. The reviews on Tire Rack were very accurate -- they are quiet and smooth, but lack steering feel. The steering now feels significantly less direct and even a little numb. Next time I'll go with the PS2's -- despite the additional cost and worse wear. Rob

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Thanks for that clarification . So if I decide to stay with these when I do my rears, would I need to specify "Ribs". Or is that just a nickname for them?

You would have to specify the Pilot Sport Rib when you order them. Make sure the spec number matches the fronts too.

Yep - "Rib" is the official name...

Thanks!! From what I have seen trying to find these online, nobody has em, or not the size I need. Tire rack shows them, but doesnt under a search. was mentioned earlier they are out of stock there. I cant find them. I have about 1/3 tread life left W/ 46500 on em, so I will be lookin by spring I think. Anyone know where I can find these other than the tire rack?

Rob - wheel enhancement lists them on their site. You could call them and check for sure.

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Will give em a shot! Thanks!!

This is the reply from wheel enhancement about the back PS Rib tires ii will need........."Sorry Robert, the Michelin 285/30ZR18 Pilot Sport rib N1 tires have been discontinued and superceded by the Pilot Sport PS2 N3 tire. We no longer have any of the Pilot Sport rib tires left in stock and the PS2 N3 tires are currently on National backorder. Please call us at [phone removed] or e-mail us if you have any additional questions." Well thats nice Looks like I may be putting 4 new tires on instead of the 2 back as I planned.

I might get crap for this, but I'd think that the difference between PS Ribs in front and PS2 N3s (that replace it) on the back would minimal. Just my 2 cents. I wouldn't use two PS2s and two sumitomos, however.

For Street driving, I'm with Van. For Track, I wouldn't do it. Remember, Porsche is very **** about matching the N Spec number on all 4 corners, so if your Ribs are N1s and the PS2s are N3 that would be an issue with Porsche. However, like Van said, it may not be much of an issue.

bigrob - you can contact Carroll's Tire warehouse [phone removed]), about a month ago when I checked, they had about 80 of them in stock. Perhaps they can ship them to you ?