Bridgestone/Conti/Michelin

[KevinMac]

First off it looks like you have an 2001, so what suspension warranty? Secondly, the recommended installer is not correct! Page up a little bit and see what the N designation is.

[mcliquid]

OK I do not want to belabor this thread, but I'm in need of 2 rear tires. My front tires are ContiSport Contact (1) as well as the rears. I'm instructed by my indie mechanic to stick with ContiSport Contact. However Tirerack doesn't have any ContiSport Contact [1,2,3] - N rated tires(back ordered with no ETA) , but does have the ContiSport Contact 2 (Non N rated) and only 11 of these.

What could go wrong with the not Porsche Blessed tires, if I am not a track driver and do not anticipate exceeding 100 MPH for a prolonged period of time or pushing the outer limits of the car?

Thanks,

Tom

[wwest]

My '01 C4, factory delivery, came with Conti's. At about 8,000 miles the tires had become so noisy that one could not hear oneself thinking. Apparently Conti was aware of the problem so that arranged a refund immediately, no questions. I chose Bridgestones as the replacement, mostly because I have found them to be the quietest and most comfortable riding on my Lexii.

WRONG, bad/poor choice. Within 5,000 miles a specialty bridgestone shop "technician" agreed that they were TOO noisy after driving the car maybe a block.

So I am now running with Michelins.

Anyone want the practically new Bridgestones...?? Fresh off the track at Daytona and otherwise maybe 5,000 miles.

Factory rep was only willing to replace the Bridgestones with same brand or Goodyear(??). Finally talked them into donating, as a compromise, $400 to my favorite charity (no, not me!!).

[Scrawf]

There seems to be no 19" N rated tyres available of any description in the UK at the moment!

So I guess the N argument is academic!

I'm having a go at getting some from a German supplier (the web site is all in German so I might end up with something completely different!)

Called Porshe HQ and Continental in the UK but neither could give me a straight answer as to why there are no tyres about and when supply will improve. My local OPC (JCT600 in Leeds) was worse than poorly informed about this. They are supposed to be calling me back - oh yeah! been waiting about a week now!

I'll let you know if i source some Conti SportContact 2's from Germany!

Scrawf

[mcliquid]

Thanks Scawf --

I went ahead an bought the 2 ContiSport Contact non N rated tires and will hope for the best. Since I do not intend to push the car too hard, I will cross my fingers and hope nothing will go awry. It too hard to see it sit in dry dock for the short Pittsburgh Driving season.

Thanks,

Tom

[stevefraser]

with all my other cars, i use continentals or bridgestone tyres... everyone rates the conti sportcontact2 or michelin ps2 on porsches... what about the bridgestone s02 or s02a... anyone with any experience of them... heard they are quieter than the other 2 but what about mileage and more importantly wet grip and braking?..

I'd recommend Yokohama Advan Neova. Really. They perform much better than the previous Bridgestone S-03

Car can now corner at outrageous speeds that would have been on the limit for the Bridgestones.

My car has 18 inch wheels and I was able to safely fit 285 on the back and 235 on the front. Wear is reasonable for the circumstances.

I'm also a sports bike rider so have learned to be cautious in the wet, but the Advan Neovas also work well on wet roads as much as I require.

[stevefraser]

Being N rated should have no bearing on insurance as long as you have the correct speed rating. The N level just means that Porsche has tested these tires on their vehilcle to meet handling ride etc specs.

As I understand it tire manufacturers that want to have an N rating have to pay Porsche to enable the testing. Porsche can then specify the tire with confidence.

However, there are lots of excellent (or maybe better) tires where the manufacturer has not seen the value in doing the Porsche testing.

As long as the tire is appropriately rated and has better performance why be limited to only N rated offerings????