Another ' Best Tire for Boxster' Question

[fasterjames]

I've read through about every thread concerning tires but am wondering if there are new experiences/updates. It's Tire Time and I'm looking for the best tire for my needs. Here is the experience I've had so maybe it will help someone else down the line.

Yokohama AVS ES100 : Great grip but unbelieveably loud, even with lots of tread left. They are a cheaper tire however and came on the rear of the car.

Toyo T1-S: These came on the front when I bought it. Great for FWD racers but lousy for Porsche. Like driving on a bar of soap.

I would never buy a mismatched set of tires but since I do a lot of city driving I figured I'd wear them down a bit.

I am open to other suggestions as well, but research here and TireRack have helped me narrow down to these. That being said I'm considering the following 3 options:

Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Pole Position

Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3

Michelin Pilot Sport Rib

I need excellent wet/dry traction. Will never be in snow but will be in lots of rain. I conduct business calls on the phone sometimes so a quiet tire would be preferred but I know I won't get Lexus quiet no matter what I do. I drive spiritedly-agressively (with no one around) but will not see any track use. 70/30 City/Highway use.

MY02

5 Spd

17"

Does anyone have any opinions or experiences on these tires? Thanks in advance.

Edited July 20, 2007 by fasterjames

[986fan]

I'm considering the following 3 options:

Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Pole Position

Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3

Michelin Pilot Sport Rib

I just replaced my original Continentals (18's - 2001S) with the Potenza RE050A's. This after many hours

of reading the customer feedback on the TIRE RACK web site. My car has only 9k miles on it and the

Conti's still looked brand new but they were 6 years old, dried up and the rears were getting noisy.

So far I'm very happy. I don't drive in the rain (at least haven't got caught in it yet) but the feedback

indicated that these were good wet tires. They look good too and I like both the sidewall and the tread

design. These are plenty sticky (I could just blow the old ones off with the throttle). I have about $900.00

in these after mounting.

For 17's....and to save some $$$ I would look very seriously at the Kumho's Ecsta SPT's that the

TIRE RACK offers. The feedback was outstanding and at only about $450.00 a set (delivered) they

are a steal! Only $95.00 for the fronts and $101.00 for the rears. (see link)

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/CompareTireR...splayResults=28

[5thtonbench]

I love my PS2's. As long as they make them, I will buy them.

[kabel]

The ES100 has been the same for the last several years with out any update, “old technology” if you will. And their grip level marginal compared to many other tires out there.

I have the PS2 on the boxster now, yes they are expensive and I expect they will last less than 10k (at least on the rear) but they have earned my full confidence even in the rain and I live here in Orlando too.

Sounds like you have done your research well and while I have no personal experience with the three tire choices you are considering, I have read many positive comments about all three as viable options.

Let us know what you decided to go with and give us a review after a few hundred miles on them.