wot no tread

I fitted P zeros to my car last year. And they are down to the wear marks. That is less than 9k. I short while ago there was a thread about tyre tread not being that deep, and I am sure that is why these Rossos have worn out so quickly. Can you mix front to back tyre types? I fitted P zeros on the back as they are fitted on the front. But I was thinking of fitting something that lasted slightly longer. I don't think I drive particularly hard, so is 9k what you should expect from these tyres? What tyres last the longest, and grip the best?

i only just managed 4k miles out of a pair of contis on the rear of my c4 ! as for mixing brands ,well my experience says not on a c4. 75pno

I think 9 thousand is quite good for the rears of a 911. I only get about 11 thousand on the back of the 944 turbo. New tyre tread depth is what it is. When I bought my 996tt it had Pzeros on the rear and Bridgestones on the front. I finished those off at the Bedofrd track day in May with the 944 register. It now has Bridgstones on the rear. Interstingly I kept getting pasm cutting in on even easy bends when first fiitted but now after a couple of hundred miles it seems to have settled down. If you have more tread that would probably exacerbate the problem with pasm cutting in, and because the tread block move around more, the extra half a mm or so might quite easily not give pro rata wear rates

I used to get 12000 from the rears and 24000 from the fronts, with P-Zero Rossos on my C2. About the same for Michelin Pilot Sports, but I found them quieter and better in the wet, albeit they were the most expensive. I had a similar experience to Paul with my Turbo, and only got 4000 from each of two pairs of Contis on the rear. Other people were experiencing the same thing at athe time, and although there should be no difference in compound, new Contis seem to be a lot better. I eventually went to Yokohama Advan Sport V103s on the Turbo (non-N) and they were brilliant. Much better wearing than anything else I had had before, and I reckon they would have lasted 15-16000 had I kept the car. If you haven't had it checked recently, get a full alignment done when you get the new ones fitted. Personally, I wouldn't mix front and rears, but there is nothing legally wrong with it.

14k & counting on my 996 4S [ ] & still have 5mm + but I do expect them to start dropping off quickly now obviously not driving hard enough [ ] Conti Contact Sport N2

Dave, I too only got about 9k miles out of the P-Zero rears on my Cayman (they were down to 2-3mm); that was in general use and before I did a track day. The fronts are still holding up well though. Personally, I wouldn't mix front and rears which means that I'm hoping that by the time the rears are worn this time round, the fronts will also be due for replacement and I can perhaps choose a different tyre manufacturer. Jeff

Is it really that critical to keep same tyre front and rear? Surely new tyres at one end and part worn at other will feel different from fully worn part worn so if you replace a"bald" pair tyres by a new pair of tyres you will always get different handling characteristics irrespective of what brand you put on so does it really matter which brand as long as it is a pair of similar quality? Yes in a perfect world replace all 4 but all 4 wearing out at same time is a rare occurrance

Another vote for not mixing tyres here. We always had a policy at work for never mixing tyres (blue light service) and one could argue a 'spiritually' driven Porsche would be making similar momentum.......

I've tried Zen driving. Is that much different?

Nope - assuming all tyres match and the joss stick is suitably restrained......

Lots of people saying don't mix tyre brands, nobody actually as yet given a reason why?? It's always nice to have an explanation. The tyre manufacturers will obviously say don't do it, to sell more tyres and cover their arses. Personally having different manufacturer on the front to back, I don't think is a problem. (done it for years, bikes and cars) Also a lot of differently branded/marketed tyres are made by the same manufacuturer. One example being Pirelli/Metzeler.

It's really not such a big deal unless you're tracking the car where the performance difference front to back will lead to unexpected understeer/oversteer. You can't get an extended warranty if you mix either.

The reason for not mixing tyres is that different tyres act differently to each other, by putting different compounds on the front and rear you could ultimately cause damage to the drivetrain as the fronts may have more/less grip than the rears, or visor versa. This would be more damaging in a 4 wheel drive car than a 2 wheel drive car, but even with a 2 wheel drive car the grip element will always be there if using different makes/N ratings on the front and rears.

It's about differing tread patterns which can behave differently in the wet, differing compounds and wear rates which can mean differing levels of grip. Ultimately it is the individuals choice, I have been involved in accident investigations in the past where mixed tyres was cited as a contributor to the chain of events. Your money, your risk and your call.

As I said, I don't like mixing brands front and rear, but I'd like to play the Devil's advocate a little. If Porsche issue N ratings to tyres, it is to ensure a certain level of performance in wet and dry conditions. Presumably that standard level is the same for all N rated tyres for that model. If that is correct, then there should be no huge difference if you fit N rated tyres of different makes on front and rear. We aren't talking about fitting Michelins on the front, and DingDong Superbudgets on the rear of a Bugatti Veyron.

Well, still no valid reason. You will often use a different compound and tread pattern front to rear. In drying conditions for instance, quite common to put full wet up front(very soft compound, one tread pattern) (intermidate or dry on rear, another tread pattern) Obviously you would'nt use a different rating front to rear, it's n rated all round but that does'nt mean you can't use 2 different manufacturers of n rated tyre. Does it?

Not really comparing like for like if you are suggesting track practices are transferable to the road. Get it wrong, you have an off and get some gravel/grass rash or mild panel damage - on the road....? Personal choice at the end of the day - on the road I would never mix tyres.

Well, if 9k isn't bad I'll stick to the P zeros. I think the car wouldn't look right with different tyres back and front. And it does look good with Rosso on each tyre ;-), even when I'm driving it.

A track is just a private road with different laws, it makes no difference to how a vehicle behaves or reacts to different tyre manufacturers.

You're much more likely to be at the limit on a track and therefore more likely to fully realise the capabilities of the tyres. Any difference will make itself much more apparent. Pootling about at road legal speeds won't really let you know how your tyres handle which makes mixing brands less significant

I guess there is not much chance of a consensus! lol Personal choice and risk - if you are ever unfortunate to be involved in an RTC where there is a serious injury to a third party and your vehicle is inspected as part of the Police investigation then the fact that you have mixed tyres may be cited as a contributor to the chain of events and it will be up to you to prove (legally) that this is not contributory. Stay safe folks.

Are you saying that even if the tyres are fully legal and of the correct specification, but because the front axle is of a different brand to the rears that was cited as contributing to an accident? In what way?

Hi Rod Often, tyres that meet a particular spec and are road legal perform differently (see just about every performance tyre test ever written). There are often variations in grip, roll and braking tests as well as wet weather performance - it is possible the an accident investigator may be of the view (professionally) that a mismatch of tyres had an effect on the vehicle because of these factors. Note - I said may be cited as a contributing factor. It would ultimately depend on the circumstances of the accident and other causation factors but personally (and when I drove for a living as blue light response) i never sit behind the wheel of a car with mismatched tyres. Others mileage may vary (pun intended).

Worth a read - maybe... http://www.btmauk.com/data/files/Replacing_Car_Tyres_1_June_2011.pdf

Hi Chris, Of course all tyres perform differently, it was just a bit of a significant statement you made earlier when you said I'm not trying to nit-pick, and personally I would never mix brands of tyres on my car (because I do take it on track) but there must be tens of thousands of cars running on a budget with mixed brands on both axels (and on each axle too), and I've never heard of that being a contributory factor, so I would be surprised to hear if that statement was true. I think it would be much more significant, for example, if the rears vs fronts had massively differing tread depths, because we're really talking about accidents in the wet. I'd much rather see a car with differing brands on each axle than a car with very low tread depth at the front, vs the rear (for example) So yes mixing brands may have an effect, but on the road, in the real world, in the dry, I think it's very marginal. Other factors such as tread depth/age of tyre/poor geometry etc are much more significant. IMO

Alan Interesting article with some stong statements "Porsches must take the correct N-marked fitments" Must thats a bit strong is it not?

I think it is qualified immediately before that by saying "it is not recommended". I would hope that the BTMA knows a bit more about it than most of us.[ ] Then again you could argue they have the best interests of the tyre manufacturers in mind!