Tires thread

Just wondering what tires everyone is on and/or what they recommend. I haven't purchased tires for performance in a long time (Falken 912s are on my Audi).. Some details: My Kinesis K28s are apart and about to be color matched (faces) to my 996 (GT Silver). The wheels are turbo offsets 18x9 front and 18x10 rears. My suspension should be here this next week and the car will be lowered about 2-2.5 inches. I know alot of you are against putting turbos offsets on NB cars but I am quite sure it will be ok. I am thinking 245-35 fronts and 295-30 rears Purpose of car: Car is a toy to me, weekend only. I bought it for spirited driving and would love to do some track days (maybe 2-3 times a year). I am wanting sticky tires. Wear rates aren't too important because it won't be a daily but track only tires will not work because I still have to get it inspected once a year. As noted, last time I paid attention to performance was when I autocrossed and time trials in my ITB sciroccos...(hoosiers and BFG R1s) which was roughly 12-15 years ago! So any insights would be appreciated.

The turbo wheel sizes are actually 18x11 in the rear. I don't think 295s will fit on your 18x10s. U may have to go with 285s. That being said I think that a great bang for the buck tire is the Hankook ventus v12. I have used these on the street as well as a few open lapping sessions on the track. They hold up well and are pretty sticky. If you wanna go with a fantastic tire, go with the Michelin pilot super sport. They are more spendy but offer much more grip on and off the track and great performance in the rain. If u wanna go even more stickier without going full slick, go with the pilot sport cup tires. They are way sticky when hot, but with these if there is any sort of standing water you will be sliding.

I have Bridgestone RE050As with 235x35x19s in the front and 285x30x19s in the rear I tried 295s in the rear but they wouldn't fit . I like Bridgestone tires, they seem to give me good grip in the canyons, and I got 10K miles out of the rears

Kinesis are awesome wheels. I have the K18's with 295 in the back and 235 in the front lowered on PSS9's with no issues

Thanks pnamueller, I was saying turbo offsets not sizes. and I am pretty sure the 295s will fit a 10" wheel. I have 285s on the 10' rears of the stock 40th wheels currently and it looks very subdue and not as aggressive as I would like. I even thought of 305s but thought that would be pushing it. This car won't be driven in the rain (not that I think it would melt but more that I would rather some idiot plow into my pathfinder instead of my 911), so rain traction isn't a concern. I was thinking something like the Toyo Proxes R888s, Yokohama Advan A048, etc.... or is that extremely overkill?

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thanks guys! I will look into bridgestone! and yes, I love Kinesis!!! I have K18s on my Audi!

A few things guaranteed in life of a Porsche owner: Death Taxes Ixx discussion Oil discussion Tire discussion Blinker Fluid discussion "Is that a new Porsche" discussion Feel free to add...

I don't track the car. Thread wear is very important for me. None of this 5k thread life bull **** people are posting here about. I already put 10k miles on the car, no wear on F or R since I got it in mid July. Tires are Continental ExtremeContact DWS.

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that's what I said...until I went in for my first ever DE track event tech inspection this past spring...rears were corded on insides, with less than 10k on them, Toyo Proxis 315's on 19" Turbo rims (love 'em). Had full 4 wheel alignment, and new Toyos put on. Since car is lowered, the propensity for inner cord wear is relevant, and you cannot see it unless you crawl under or put it on a lift, they are so wide. Sent from my iPad using Rennlist

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I am pretty sure mine are 100% fine on inside as well. Alignment was done before I bought it, and I crawl under the car enough to check every tire weekly. I believe that Continental DWS have one of the highest threadwear ratings of any performance tires. TW of 540.

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Pics please !! And I have run Hankooks on many of my cars. They are great, very sticky, and give plenty of warning before losing traction. The FalkenAzenis are also a great choice. (The tread pattern looks really cool too, that is a plus)

I put the Nitto NT555's on a few months ago, they make them in the stock sizes and so far are great, they eliminated any shaking/loud noise problems I was having with the Pirellis that were on the car when I bought it. I tried the Nittos on this car as I have had them on a few others with pretty great success as well.

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Already for blasting, prepping and paint!! Pics will be in my ongoing thread... And thanks for the hankooks and Azenis comments!!!

Anyone have a suggestion as to which tire is the quietest? I just put a pair of Sumitumo HTR Z3's on the back of my 2002 and at highway speeds the noise level is bordering on unacceptable.

Like Kalashnikov, I put Continental DWS on all the way around and got great mileage (fronts still good at 25K); really nice, quiet, comfortable tire. At about 20K the rears got a little thin. Couldn't resist the offer on a pair of Cooper Zeon RS3-A for the rear - similar tread design & specs. I understand the prevailing thinking on mixing tires, but these seem completely compatible. (don't track either). Have ~5K on them now, couldn't be happier. If they produce decent tread wear, might do all four next time.

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Sumitomos are cheap tires. Great for blasting through canyons, tearing them up, then throwing them out. Not exactly good for track days, not very informative to the driver, but a great value to go shred up.

I have Pirelli P-Zeros. Excellent tires. They do tend to wear relatively quickly, but that's the trade-off you always have with sticky tires. These are great for street or track. Every review I have ever seen of the Michelin pilot sport has been excellent, too. Can't go wrong there.

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The Pilot Super Sport is an incredible dual-use tire. It's quiet and comfortable on the road, wears well and is cheaper than the PS2. To the OP, though you said that wet traction isn't important in your case, the MPSSs are the best street tire I've ever used in the rain on track. Nothing else has even been close. They do have soft sidewalls, though, and this means that when you start them soft, you'll have to spend your first lap deliberately stretching them to build the pressure you need, even though you have the grip. Also, avoid R888s and the Nitto NT-01 for street use in my opinion. The noise is horrifying, and only gets worse as you wear them down.

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It's tread genius, the threads are on the inside!

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Don't forget these too: Brakes = Breaks Calipers= Calibers

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And pedals NOT petals LOL

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...Aluminium not Aluminum

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Doesn't that partly depend on what side of the pond you're on?

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Correct. I refuse to waste an "i" when not needed. I also refuse to waste all those superfluous "u's" you folks toss into words like "colour," "humour," and others. And, to spell "tires" as "tyres"? Absurd.

Dunlop ZII's are excellent tires for track days, autocross and also being able to be daily driven. They do have a very stiff sidewall though (great for crisp turn in, bad for bumps and road noise) I did read that the BF Goodrich G-Force Rival's are great tires as well. the last few years when I autocrossed the Dunlops Direzza star spec's were always within the top contenders for quickest street tires, if not the feastest. The ZII's are supposed to be even quicker, but from my experience are a little more of a sacrafice for comfort on the streets. I've never liked tires that are compromises of everything. I always hated the Michelin Pilots... they are pretty good street tires, and have pretty good grip. For a daily driver, they are great tires but if you are planning on doing any sort of track days, or autocross you will quickly realize you really want the best in the street legal tire classes for overall grip. Are my ZII's great in the rain? they are ok, but are hydroplane prone. I accept some sacrifice in other areas to have one of the best in one area. One thing about the dunlops is they are great tires for autocross because they work very well without much heat in them. I've read they can get a little greasy when really heated up. It depends how long your sessions are at track days I guess...

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LOL, I "realise" that you are over "analysing" this to death. Gotta run to the loo now. Better get Hurdi in here in the mean time...

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Thanks for the correction. Now please go park another press fleet car. You can entertain the owner with your "torque take-off theory", maybe he will give you a better tip.

The spectrum from dual purpose to full-out race would start with Pilot Super Sports and Direzza star specs (although I heard the newer ones aren't as sticky as the originals), then there are some street tires that stretch the definition of "street" tire like the Rival, which is awesome in the dry but has very little tread depth and pretty much zero wet grip. After that you have stuff that is in the gray area between DOT R-comp and street tires, like the 888's, and Pilot Sport Cups which some people use as dual-purpose. There is no reason that I'm aware of that DOT R-comps won't pass an inspection since they are DOT approved, but I wouldn't drive on the street with them. If you're never going to drive it in the rain, it's hard to go wrong with the Rivals. If you want something a bit more comfortable and has good wet grip as well, go with the Pilot Super Sports. If the Rivals aren't ballsy enough for you then you could try Pilot Sport Cups but I wouldn't.

I'd probably go so far as to say that if your rear tires are NOT wearing on the inside, you have a more-conservative-than-standard alignment. I tried having my C4 aligned to save some tire wear a while back and the results were not impressive...an "emergency lane change" type maneuver felt incredibly sloppy with this kind of alignment so I put everything back to stock. As far as the ExtremeContact DWS tires, I haven't been all that impressed with them. I run them on my BMW X5 because they're by far the cheapest tire available for it in a 315 width. I've got about 20k miles on them and the seem to be wearing fine. Since that's a lot heavier vehicle I'd expect them to do even better on a 996. I do think that going by treadwear ratings and all-season tires are the wrong choice for these cars, but to each their own.

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Yep they are cheap and I love 'em. I have done several track days and gone thru a set of rear tires each year. I learned with these tires how to slide the car around with comfort and they are awesome wet tires if you can figure the wet line. It reminded me driving in the snow when I first started driving back in the late 70's. If I started my track history on super sticky tires I'd be putting myself in a dangerous spot because there is no learning curve. Sticky tires break loose when they are at their ultimate output and its too late to react because you don't know how to react. Get what I saying? That said I have used Super Sports for street and track and they are just awesome but pricey but cheaper than PS2's. For the track now I have dedicated track tires R888's. One other bit of info is the "search" button is wunderbar whylst looking for answers.

Gotta love a good tire thread... especially a tire tread thread... Everyone has their own opinion based on their own individual experience. What works for one person might not work for the next person. To me, the things to consider are as follows: - What's your priority in a tire: tread life or performance? - What's are the typical climate conditions where you will be driving most of the time? Hot? Cold? Wet? Dry? - What's your driving style? - Will you track your car or keep it on the street? - What's your budget for tires? Once you answer these questions, there are a few other things to consider. First of all, your tires are the only connection between your car and the road. The contact patches are small. It doesn't matter how good your brakes or your suspension perform if your tires aren't up to the task. Therefore, I don't believe that it is smart to make compromises on tire quality or to dramatically change tire sizes. These things can negatively impact performance. It's also important to consider the fact that every decision you make has an impact on the way the car performs. If you run an all-season tire (a.k.a. no-season), then your car won't give you optimum performance in any conditions. It will "get by" in most conditions. For some people, that's the right choice. As for cheap tires like Sumitomos, you have to ask yourself why they are cheaper. It may not be easy to answer the question. Is it lower labor cost? Is it less rubber? Is it cheaper materials? Is it R&D by the manufacturer? It's hard to say. No matter what the answer, it's likely that you're compromising something, somewhere with a cheap tire. If your strategy is to buy cheap tires, burn them up and replace them, then something like the Sumitomos might be a good choice for you. There's not a "right" answer here. Everyone should pick the tire that best meets their decision making criteria. For me personally, I have come to the conclusion that I want to maximize performance, primarily for street driving at the expense of tread life. For my C4S, the Michelin Pilot Super Sport isn't an option due to sizing availability. Therefore, I continue to purchase Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 N3 tires, and I'm very happy with the decision. I've tried Pirelli P-Zeros and Sumitomo HTR-ZIIIs. I wasn't as happy with either choice as I am with the Michelins. I do switch to dedicated winter wheels and tires in colder weather. I'm currently running Pirelli Winter Snowsport 240 N3 tires. My advice after that long-winded post is to decide what you want in a tire, research the options that are out there and make the best choice for yourself. The opinions that you get here or on any other board or review are subjective and should only have a small influence in your final decision.

^^^ +1 Nice post Dennis!

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+996, just like when people ask about suspension, everyone immediately says "coilovers!"

I agree completely. The same could be said for wheels. Lots of people like 19" wheels or even 20" wheels. I am not among them. That being said, I couldn't care less if somebody wants to put them on their car. It's their car and they should do whatever they like. If they ask about it on the forums, we all try our best to help them understand the trade-offs associated with that choice. For some people, the the trade-offs are worth it to get a certain look. There's nothing wrong with that.