Just put Michelin on rear with Conti still on front

I just installed two new Michelin Pilot Sport 265/35ZR18 N1 on the rear. The Continental Sport Contact N2 are half worn on the front. I took the car out for a spirted drive on some local twisties. Since I don't race all I can say is I noticed no difference in handing from before. Also the new tires are just as quiet as the Contis. It even looks like they have the same tread design. YMMV but I'm happy.

Unless you have a C4, I think matching fronts and rears for the street is somewhat over rated...JMO of course..

Just hope you don't have a 4WD car. Why didn't you just replace all 4?

Dell said: Just hope you don't have a 4WD car. Why didn't you just replace all 4? __________________ Dell It's a C2 and the fronts have a lot of tread left. I was ready to replace the fronts as well if I noted any big handling difference which I haven't so far. As an aside I have found that in my home theater system having a different brand of speaker in the rear is also undetectable. I think some of these matching things are marketing and legal CYA stuff. Steve

Is that like things that come in pairs are supposed to be identical? That's what I've heard but it's hardly ever true........

I often replace the rears before the fronts, usually fronts last twice as long. My AWD has no problem with it on the street or track.

But, speakers by different manufacturers definitely have different tonal balances, sensitivity and response bands....

LedZec Of course but could you hear the difference when a movie is playing? It's like putting on rose colored glasses at first things have a rose tint but soon everything looks normal. Steve

Your car is going to blow up!

PorschePRH So is the earth someday maybe shortly after the sun.

That's why I always put 4 matching tires on the sun!

I noticed a big difference going from Contis to PS2s. The plain old PS also outgrip the Contis. Given the 911s inherent balance, I would not want my rear tires to have better grip than the front tires. Probably does not make a difference though if you are just cruising around town taking it easy. Seriously, you have a 911 and we are talking about $ 450 to keep the car's traction balanced properly. I once spun and totaled a 911 because I procrastinated about putting new tires on it (garage queen) and I got stuck in a sudden small thunderstorm. The tires were not bald, but needed replacing. I was traveling at 60, the car hydroplanned and I spun and took out a light pole. Could have killed myself or someone else. $ 450 for two new fronts is worth it to me.

Why would you attribute the accident to the tires? Can't see the connection there....

The tires were pretty worn. I hit a big puddle and it let go. I have owned about 15 911s since the 1980s and I unforntunately have wrecked a few from rear ends breaking lose (930 on boost in a corner and an 81 SC on the track). I have also intentionally spun a few and spun some on tracks learning to drift without any damage. Speaking from experience, that rear end would not have broken lose that day going in a straight line had I had a good set of tires on the car. I actually rebuilt that car even though it was totaled because it was 1 of 400 1988 Commerative Eddition cabriolets. I have driven that same car in the rain since with a good set of tires with nary a problem. I just don't think it is worth it to scrimp on $ 450 bucks for tires on a 911 and I think it is very important to keep a good well balanced matching set of rubber on all four corners on any high performance sports. The car is really only as good as its tires.

See....your car is gonna blow up!!!!! Spend the $$$$

My car is not going to blow up! The front tires still have over half their tread left. I can not detect any handling difference from when I had Conti's on all fours. Maybe when the Michelin's are fully broken in I will but I doubt it. I don't push the car to the limit on the street anyway. I hardly ever drive the car in the rain and never in the snow. If I have any other experience with this combo I will report my findings. OK here is the big disclaimer. I do not advocate running different tire brands on the front and rear. Porsche says it is a bad thing to do. The tire manufactures and tire retailers say it is a bad thing to do. If you do this you do so at you own risk. Your results may differ from mine and you could die. You might also kill other innocent people. Your car might implode or explode. The earth might disappear or worst. Life on the planet might cease to exist.

Almost every 911 owner I know replaces the rears twice as often as the fronts, including if they have a C4, C4S, or Turbo. You just shouldn't replace only one front or rear tire at a time (from a blowout, nail, etc) if the other is >15% worn.

I'm so jealous... I have 11k on the clock and the car is still on the original tires...With 50% tread left... I wanna try the new PS's or the Bridge Potenza... I'm I not driving the car hard enuff??

I was helping a guy with an '02 turbo do some brake work. He's still running on all 4 original tires with almost 22K on the clock

Steve, I always laugh at the doomsday predictions about what will happen if you don't have the same tires front to back or if you don't have matching N numbers or whatever. (btw, the blow up thing was a joke) The only problem I could imagine is that you will likely have a little more understeer at the limit of adhesion. In the event that that happens, feather your throttle to settle the front and off you go. $450 richer. Hey, you should take that money and join us at BIR for a DE in Sept. I'll ride with you. Screwy tires and all. Jim

I agree about safety issue and said originally that it probably won't make a difference unless you track. The car I spun in the rain was an 88 which is very different from a 996 model in the wet. The 3.2 can be squirely in the rain even on a perfectly good set of tires. My PS2s and PS1s last about 10k miles and the rears definitely go way before fronts, but I still chuck the fronts. $ 450 to have a matched set of tires on a 911 seems like and easy question to me. Then again I pay the dealer $ 187.00 to do my oil changes so maybe I am just ignorant when it comes to money. I, however, had a Porsche while I was in law school that probably had four different brands of tires on it at the same time. I think that car did blow up . . .

I spent some time with two different tires, a bridgestone and a continental, on the rear while waiting for some new tires from tire rack. I figured this was prefereable to driving on the donut. I have to say that I didn't notice any difference in normal city driving (wet or dry) and even when pushing a bit on on/off ramps the car didn't feel unusual or unsafe. YMMV...

JimB Thanks for the invite to the DE. I have been racing but it has been Mountain Bikes. I ran in the Buck Hill Spring cup. The Afton Avalance and I ran in the last thursday night at Buck Hill. At 64 I'm the oldest guy in the races so it's hard to lose . I just manage not to come in last. I beat some 26 year old in the last race. My 10 year old grandson ran in the last race with me. My son is nip and tuck for first place in the State Championship Sport div 30-39 year olds. I wouldn't mind doing a DE if I could beat up someone elses Porsche.

Steve, Great work on the bike. I've done a lot of road biking and some mountain biking. I hope to still be at it at 64. Check the Nord Stern web site calender and take a drive up to BIR when we're up there. It's a nice drive and a lot of fun. Jim