Recomended Daily Driver Tires

[dsnow]

For a daily driver I am asking the forum what you would recommend for a daily driver tire. This has not and will not be tracked. I have a 2002 C4S with 18" wheels and P-zero's which are getting ready to be replaced I like the look and feel of the P-Zero but they are quite noisy.

Thanks in advance

:renntech:

soutahc4s

[demosan]

For a daily driver I am asking the forum what you would recommend for a daily driver tire. This has not and will not be tracked. I have a 2002 C4S with 18" wheels and P-zero's which are getting ready to be replaced I like the look and feel of the P-Zero but they are quite noisy.

Thanks in advance

:renntech:

soutahc4s

Soutahc4s,

I also have a MY o2 C4S and I just recently replaced my P-Zero Assymmetrico's ( that were extremely noisy) with Kuhmo SPT's. I do not track the car either and I am sure I will get flamed by some here as the kuhmo's aren't approved by Porsche and don't carry the N-spec designation. However, when I researched others choices and recommendations on this site, several recommendations came back with the Kuhmo's and they were half the price of the Pirelli's. Wear rating of Kuhmo's is also nearly double that of the P-Zero's ( 340 vs 180). They are also very quiet and have been good in the rain. My $.02!! demosan OBTW, you can get them at Dicount tire for about $800 drive away price with roadside hazzard included. :cheers:

[Izzy]

Correct on your pre-flame-cognition, you should only use Porsche approved "N" tires inflated by approved trained technicians using clean bavarian pressurized air bottled and imported. And the tires have to be super high speed "Y" rated tires, in case you have to drive at Autobahn (175mph+) speeds on your way to Starbucks.

Or, do like I do, and buy Falkens FK452s for the daily driver. Great tire for dry and wet, look good, easy on the wallet. I do change to Azenis for track days as I do break the sound barrier now and again. Also had used Kumhos before, they are just as good.

[Team996]

Sout,

By no means am I an expert, but I was recently in the same place as you are right now. I've just ordered 2 rear tires through <www.tirerack.com> shipped to a local installer. When I was asking around on this forum, the practical crowd all basically pointed at Kumho Ecstas...which is what I bought. I understand that they're much quieter, more endurable, and certainly less expensive than anything endorsed by Porsche. After reading demosan's post, I checked <www.discounttire.com> for pricing on the tires I bought, and they're considerably more expensive than Tire Rack offers them at. A Tire Rack-recommended installer will install your tires for between $18 and $35 a tire...pretty standard stuff. Good luck!

Edited December 15, 2007 by Team996

[fredkhaz]

called my local tire store he got me nexens for $120 each for rears 265/35/18, 3000 miles on it so far .. so far so good

http://www.nexentireusa.com/contact.htm

best

fk

[every day]

I'm a huge fan of Bridgestone SO2a tires for the street.

[Hroussard]

I have a C 2 99 6 speed and I have had all the usual suspects of tires on the car . Then, I got Fusion ZRI mounted on the back ( 265 /35/ 18 ). I am now at 61K miles and the tires have at least 5 K miles more on it. Time to check to invoice for the tires which has the mounting mileage on it. It said 45,xxx Miles. Therefore the rear tires have been on my car for 16K miles and I bet I easily will get 20K miles out of them.

I could not believe it!!

For the record, my front tires are the standard Conti's (N1) 225/40/10 ZR and they are on my car since 32K miles ie close to 30K miles and there is also another 5K miles thread on them.

My driving is about 50 / 50 freeway versus city.

Free way speeds are generally around 80-82 miles / hr. I do a lot of braking on the engine and double clutch on the way down and refrain from skidding and agressively loading the tires.

So my next tire purchase will be Fusion tires.

One comment on the tires, they are quite slippery the first 500 miles and they look a bit narrow compared with other tires. They also have a nice beefy rubber bead on the outside which saves your rims from curb rash. VERY Low noise compared with ALL the other tires I have had on the car ( obviously not as quiet as a sedan / luxury car) and good in the wet and VERY GOOD in the dry. I am sure they will not be a race-ready like Pirelli's and some others but hey , it's my daily driver. B)

[iponline]

Be sure you match, or exceed, the OE speed and load index. There are MANY quality tires available at reasonable prices other than Pirelli, B/S, Conti, Michelin, etc. Kumho, Nexen, Falken, Hankook, Toyo, etc are all good options. Many of these will also last longer than the OE, but not give quite the same performance at the extremes. I've driven on (and sold) just about all of them and think you'd do fine with any for a daily driver.

[JeTexas]

Tirerack has a set of Hankooks on closeout for about $420. I've been using Bridgestone Potenzas, but just the rears cost me more than that and I'm only getting 13,000 miles out of them. All I do is commuting and highway driving. Seems like an incredible deal, but is it worth it or will I just be back to buying Bridgestones or Michelins in 6 months?

[Topless]

Some recent suggestions:

Type 1 Driver- Car is a daily driver doing 10-20k miles/yr. Cost, longevity, and road manners are more important than ultimate grip. Nexen 3000, Sumitomo HTRZ III, or a performance all season tire would be a good choice here. They don't cost much, have good grip, ride nice and last a very long time.

Type II Driver- Car is a weekend joyride with occasional Auto-X, track days. 5-10k miles/yr. Max grip and road manners are more important than cost or longevity. Mich. PS2, Bridge. RE050A Pole Position are good choices.

Type III Driver- Car is a weekend warrior. You live for track days, Auto-X and canyon carving. 3-6k miles/year. You take your track days seriously but don't want to drive around town on R-comp tires. Max grip is everything. Ignore the cost or longevity. You don't care if the ride is more harsh or a little louder. You are in a PCA points race in Stock class and you want to win. Dunlop Direzza Z1 Star spec, Yoko AD07, or Bridge RE01R, are your best choices here.

[perucho]

South,

I also have a 996 C4S. I have Michelin PS2's and love them but have heard good things about the Sumitomo HTRZ III. If money is a big factor, these are very inexpensive and wear nicely.

EDIT: I just noticed that this was started over a year ago :oops:

Edited April 30, 2009 by perucho

[Benjamin Choi]

i've run re050A PP, PS2s, and now Conti3s.

they're all very close in performance. i got about 20K miles from the rears of my last set (PS2).

[JeTexas]

EDIT: I just noticed that this was started over a year ago :oops:

I just revisited the thread this morning for advice on the Hankook closeout deal. I was hoping somebody had actually used them to see if they were worth bothering with.

I always try to post in relevant threads instead of starting new ones.

[cyclocross]

snip

I also have a MY o2 C4S and I just recently replaced my P-Zero Assymmetrico's ( that were extremely noisy) with Kuhmo SPT's. I do not track the car either and I am sure I will get flamed by some here as the kuhmo's aren't approved by Porsche and don't carry the N-spec designation. However, when I researched others choices and recommendations on this site, several recommendations came back with the Kuhmo's and they were half the price of the Pirelli's. Wear rating of Kuhmo's is also nearly double that of the P-Zero's ( 340 vs 180). They are also very quiet and have been good in the rain. My $.02!! demosan OBTW, you can get them at Dicount tire for about $800 drive away price with roadside hazzard included. :cheers:

I also have the Kuhmo SPTs on my 2002 C2, 235/40-18 and 295/30-18, and I am very satisfied with them. Good price from Big-O in Walnut Creek, good ride, lookas as if they will last a long time.

[carsareart]

I have been running Nexen's on my 18s and I like em. They do a good job and are affordable. I only get about 10 k out of the rears so cheap is good for me.

On my 17s I just installed a set of BFGoodrichs. They are doing fine too. I drive my car year around and autocross every chance I get.

[lenobleb]

Hey,

My 2000 Cab came with 'Sunny' tires. I did a little research and found they are a Chinese knock off of something (I forget which). Anyway, they must have been cheap, but they suck. They are quiet, but the grip is not very good. I can't wait until I wear them out so I can put something else on.

So I don't recommend Sunny tires.

Barry

[achillies]

I have Falken 452s on my daily driver. Quiet, good grip for street use and they do not seem to wear like the Michelins that came on the car.

[Benjamin Choi]

with tires, you get what you pay for.

trying to buy tires based on someone else's feedback on the internet should be taken as very general guidance.

PS2s are top notch, but they are some of the most expensive street tires on the market. the next tier you're looking at BS RE050A PPs, and Conti 3s. they offer similar levels of performance and at a slightly more affordable clip than the michelins.

figure out what you want. you can't get a super sticky tire and expect long wear. quiet? what's quiet unless you know your earing capabilities are equal to some unknown stranger sitting behind a computer somewhere in this world?

i don't bother with sumitomos, falkens, whatever... i will stick with the major brands. why? cuz i trust them. with that said, i have purchased a PS2 tire where it came out of round (wheels simply would not balance).

no one's perfect. but really, for your porsche, don't cheap out on tires. spend a bit more since it's obviously absolutely vital to getting the best driving experience possible out of your 911.

people are very good at hyping up what their wallet buys including budget tires. :)

Edited May 1, 2009 by Benjamin Choi

[GranburyChuck]

I've tried Yokahoma, Falken, Goodyear on my car. The Yokahoma's were decent but a big piece of metal in the road ripped through them so had to get Falken's in an emergency. I didn't like them so much but I was stuck. Recently replaced all 4 tires with Goodyear F1 All Season, decent tire with probably reasonable lifetime. However, they are getting quite noisy. I wonder if the "chevron" style tires create more noise than ones with all parallel patterns? My next set may be Continental Conti 2. My car is daily driver and will rarely be tracked (can't risk destruction). In my 2 years of ownership gone through ~2 sets on rear, fronts look new. At about 25k miles per year I will probably go through a rear set per year. So cost versus "best" tire is a balance.

[Benjamin Choi]

I've tried Yokahoma, Falken, Goodyear on my car. The Yokahoma's were decent but a big piece of metal in the road ripped through them so had to get Falken's in an emergency. I didn't like them so much but I was stuck. Recently replaced all 4 tires with Goodyear F1 All Season, decent tire with probably reasonable lifetime. However, they are getting quite noisy. I wonder if the "chevron" style tires create more noise than ones with all parallel patterns? My next set may be Continental Conti 2. My car is daily driver and will rarely be tracked (can't risk destruction). In my 2 years of ownership gone through ~2 sets on rear, fronts look new. At about 25k miles per year I will probably go through a rear set per year. So cost versus "best" tire is a balance.

Don't get the 2s, get the Conti3s.

[stickshiftnz]

For daily driver tyres, also take into account the noise. It is not so much of an issue in countries with smooth paving materials, but where coarse chip asphalt is used, like NZ, driving over these surfaces causes a drone inside a car. Over fair distances, it makes me drowsy or fatigued. Changed tyres on my Audi from Yokohamas (the car was a Japanese market vehicle imported second-hand into the country), to Dunlops, and immediately the drone was diminished.

[BruceP]

Although price has come into the discussion, I didn't notice it as a concern in your original post, so here's my two cents: I am really enjoying the PS2s as a street tire. Yes, they're ghastly expensive. But I find them very quiet, very resistant to tramlining, superb in the rain and always there for you when the opportunity to enjoy a corner presents itself. The only other tires I'd have any right to comment on are the SO3s that came on the car, and these Michelins were in another class altogether (acknowledging that the Bridgestones were, of course, not new when I took them off).

Edited May 2, 2009 by BruceP

[judgejon]

i've run re050A PP, PS2s, and now Conti3s.

they're all very close in performance. i got about 20K miles from the rears of my last set (PS2).

we agree. Bridgestone RE050 PP's. I replaced a set of P-Zero Assym's with no lack of traction and better wearability. but the rears will make 20k only in my dreams.