Michelin Pilot vs. Continental ContiSportContact 2/3

[mbodo]

Hi All -

Sorry if this question has been beaten to death in recent times .. I wanted to check the waters as of today to see if opinions may have swayed one way or another.

Its getting to be time for some new tires; I have about 14,000 miles on the set.

On Tirerack I noticed that there were two OEM manufacturer's listed for the 19" tire size (235/35/19 Front, 265/35/19 Rear): Continental and Michelin.

I've used the OEM M3 Conti's on another application a few years ago and have had reasonable results with them on the sedan; but comparing it to the Porsche would be an apples to oranges comparison. Knowing that many of you are probably at LEAST on your second set of tires, which route have you gone?

One interesting point - I've noticed that the Michelin's are about $100 per tire more expensive than the Continentals. Considering they are both listed as "OEM" I would only imagine that this may have been a cost-cutting measure that was done by the factory (can anyone verify if 2006-07s come with Contis as opposed to Michelins?)

Thanks in advance, and don't forget to vote in the poll :thumbup:

[dflohr]

My first Boxster 00S came with Contis and while they rode well, they were gone in ~10K miles.

I requested Michelins from the dealer when I placed the order. Dealer told me they have no control or a way to spec the tires. You get what you get.

My new 07S fortunately came with 18" Michelins. The other 07 987S that I have seen all have Michelins. Don't know what the base comes with.

[geoff]

My '01 Boxster came with the original Continental Sport Contacts as the OEM tire. Rears lasted 27.5K miles, fronts just under 40K. At 40K miles, I replaced front and rears both with Michelin Pilot Sports. In hindsight, I should have gone with the Michelins the first time I replaced any tires. Vast difference in terms of driving and huge improvement. I realize these aren't the exact models of tire your are comparing (the original ContiSports had an awful reputation), but you get the idea and can draw your own conclusion. As long as you don't compare them to anything else, the Contis are OK.

By the way, America's Tire easily beat everyone else's price, including Tire Rack and Costco

Edited December 13, 2006 by geoff

[Westcoaster]

I had a my03 Boxster with Conti 2's and now I have a my06 with PS2's... both factory spec'd tires

They are both good tires, a good comparison test can be found at this link, but to spill the beans right now the Conti 2's came in ahead of the PS2's, both tires faired well but had somewhat different strengths, either way you can't go wrong with either.

Have a read: http://www.caranddriver.com/features/10252...-the-tread.html

[Jonesy08054]

I have an 04 Audi A4 that came with Conti's as standard equipment. The tread life was awful, only about 16,000 before they were bald. I switched to Yokohama Avid H4S's (high performance all season) Car rode better, handled just as well as the summer tires, and I'm sitting about about 45,000 miles now on the car, and the Yokohamam's still have at least another 5K miles left in them. Best part is, is that they are relatively cheap. For my 06 Boxster, original equipment is the Michelin PS2, but when those are done, I'll probably be checking out the Yokohama Advan Sport.

Here's the link to them on tirerack.com:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?ti...Y&minLoad=S

[berty987]

I've had yokohama tyres on other cars and can vouch for the dry weather performance, but in the wet they can sometimes let you down. Do these tyres carry the N rating as specified by Porsche?

[M99]

I have an 06 S that came with the 19" Continental's. I have about 18,000 miles on the car and I'm on my third set of rear tires. All have been replaced due to catching debris (nails etc) and forming bubbles on the side walls. I'm 100 miles from the dealer so I have to deal locally and order the tires from Tire Rack. After this third time I called the dealer and he recommended I switch to the Michelin Pilots next time. From a driving point of view the Continentals are great, I'd just like to see a bit more life from them.

[beedub]

Hi All -

Sorry if this question has been beaten to death in recent times .. I wanted to check the waters as of today to see if opinions may have swayed one way or another.

Its getting to be time for some new tires; I have about 14,000 miles on the set.

On Tirerack I noticed that there were two OEM manufacturer's listed for the 19" tire size (235/35/19 Front, 265/35/19 Rear): Continental and Michelin.

I've used the OEM M3 Conti's on another application a few years ago and have had reasonable results with them on the sedan; but comparing it to the Porsche would be an apples to oranges comparison. Knowing that many of you are probably at LEAST on your second set of tires, which route have you gone?

One interesting point - I've noticed that the Michelin's are about $100 per tire more expensive than the Continentals. Considering they are both listed as "OEM" I would only imagine that this may have been a cost-cutting measure that was done by the factory (can anyone verify if 2006-07s come with Contis as opposed to Michelins?)

Thanks in advance, and don't forget to vote in the poll :thumbup:

My 2007 Boxster S has just arrived from Finland wearing 19" Michelins. Will be taking delivery March 23rd.

[John Y]

Hi All -

Sorry if this question has been beaten to death in recent times .. I wanted to check the waters as of today to see if opinions may have swayed one way or another.

Its getting to be time for some new tires; I have about 14,000 miles on the set.

On Tirerack I noticed that there were two OEM manufacturer's listed for the 19" tire size (235/35/19 Front, 265/35/19 Rear): Continental and Michelin.

I've used the OEM M3 Conti's on another application a few years ago and have had reasonable results with them on the sedan; but comparing it to the Porsche would be an apples to oranges comparison. Knowing that many of you are probably at LEAST on your second set of tires, which route have you gone?

One interesting point - I've noticed that the Michelin's are about $100 per tire more expensive than the Continentals. Considering they are both listed as "OEM" I would only imagine that this may have been a cost-cutting measure that was done by the factory (can anyone verify if 2006-07s come with Contis as opposed to Michelins?)

Thanks in advance, and don't forget to vote in the poll :thumbup:

My 2007 Boxster S has just arrived from Finland wearing 19" Michelins. Will be taking delivery March 23rd.

MY 07 Boxster also arrived with the PS2s, but I have seen that both tires are still supplied on new cars. Only about 350 miles so far, so I can't give too much of an opinion on the Michelins - so far so good!

[987Berto]

My 2005 Boxster 987 came with Michelin PS2s and when I first got them I was thoroughly impressed. Prior to the PS2s I'd not been a fan of Michelin. They changed my persception and I've truly enjoyed them.

However, I currently have a 2007 Boxster loaner while mine is in for some warranty work and it has Continental ContiSport2s. WOW!!! Clearly I won't know about durability/wear, but man are they fantastic.

On my Boxster I already replaced the rears at 10k and have the originals up front with 18k on them now. The Contis by far are much sticker and are as responsive as the PS2s... then again it may be hard to truly compare handling since on my 05 I have PASM and the 07 doesn't but given the bad rap Conti's seem to get on Boxster boards (could be thanks to Michelin marketing prowess compared to Continental, i mean after all most everyone on the boards enjoy Conti's brake fluids, ATE Super Blue Racing is made by them, but not many know that, oops, I guess people may now flock to Castrol or some other fluid :unsure: ).

Ok seriously, given the experience with these contis (they have 1600mi on them) I'd consider trying them on my Boxster when its time to replace all 4. I've driven them for about 260mi so far. I'd be curious to take them through more rigorous testing and longer, but in terms of steering response, braking (they seem to bite in much harder than PS2), and grip they are hands down awesome, if not marginally better than PS2s.

BTW, these are the 18" variety that I'm comparing.

[mbodo]

just replaced the rears with the PS2s... maybe I'll swtich over to the Conti's when its time to replace the fronts. I dunno, I like matching shoes.

My set-up is the 19" CS optional wheels, not sure if I mentioned that earlier.