Tire Recommendation

[softroop]

I have an 02 986 with Michelin Pilot Sports front and rear. I need to replace the rears, so I'd like to know if anyone would recommend replacing the rears with Pilot Sport A/S's as opposed to the standard Pilot Sports.

Thanks

[White987S]

Never a good idea to mix tires on the car. Especially a perfomance/sports car.

[diego996]

I did it on my '99 C43 AMG with no problems, however I babied it around until the newer tires broke in a little.

[grover]

The PS2 will grip better than the A/S in most conditions, and will oversteer under the hardest cornering. The A/S will provide better grip in the snow and the car will tend to understeer when it gets slippery.

Basically, the car will exhibit the worst characteristics of both tires. Which really isn't that bad in this case, but still. Why not just use PS2s? You can't drive in the snow with PS2s up front anyhow, so there's little drawback.

Edited March 2, 2009 by grover

[Loren]

Never a good idea to mix tires on the car. Especially a perfomance/sports car.

I could not agree more - this is one chance you do not want to take.

[softroop]

Thanks for the responses. Please excuse my lack of understanding with these issues. Grover's explanation leads to my next question: Even if I replace the rears with new PS2s, wouldn't the car still handle different, since the front treads are less than 100%? So would it make sense to also replace the fronts, even if they still have 75% left? Basically should I replace all four tires at the same time? Again, thanks in advance for recommendations.

[White987S]

Thanks for the responses. Please excuse my lack of understanding with these issues. Grover's explanation leads to my next question: Even if I replace the rears with new PS2s, wouldn't the car still handle different, since the front treads are less than 100%? So would it make sense to also replace the fronts, even if they still have 75% left? Basically should I replace all four tires at the same time? Again, thanks in advance for recommendations.

If money was no object (hard to say in today's ecenomy) this would be the ideal situation, but not required. Mainly, you need to replace the rears with the same tire model and brand.

How old are your front tires? If more than 5 years old, then yes, I'd replace them too.

[JeTexas]

Thanks for the responses. Please excuse my lack of understanding with these issues. Grover's explanation leads to my next question: Even if I replace the rears with new PS2s, wouldn't the car still handle different, since the front treads are less than 100%? So would it make sense to also replace the fronts, even if they still have 75% left? Basically should I replace all four tires at the same time? Again, thanks in advance for recommendations.

It's not just the amount of tread on the tire, it's the characteristics of the tires such as tread pattern, sidewall flex, etc. The car is going to handle better if all the tires are displayed the same performance attributes.

Personally, I wouldn't worry about the tread wear. Rear tires seem to wear out so much faster than fronts, so after a few thousand miles, they'll probably catch up to the fronts. Then after a few more thousand, be more worn than the fronts.

However, the point made about tire age is important. As tires age they get much more likely to come apart - especially at high speeds. If the tires are more than five years old, I'd replace them as the last thing you want is to throw the tread on a front tire at 100 mph and go careening into another lane or the retaining wall before you even know what's happened.

[Dave S.]

From everything I've read it sounds like most people have to replace the rears twice for every set of fronts. Its probably the best combination of economics and safety to replace the the rears now with a similar tire as the fronts and then next year when they are both completely worn out, replace both with a set that fits your needs.

When I bought my '03 Boxster S last October the rear Dunlop SP Sport tires were completely bald and I had the same decision to face. I may have have made the wrong choice but I wanted a little more mileage out of the tires and I never plan to track it. I also live in the mountains of Colorado so you never know when you could run into a little snow, even in the summer, so I didn't want an ultra-performance tire. I went with Bridgstone Potenza RE960AS tires on the rear. I didn't notice any handling issues with the way I drive, but I don't really push the car's handling to the limits.

So.. Contrary to all the good advice on this board, I'm running Dunlop SP Sport 9090's on the fronts and the Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS' in the rear for this season. I may consider replacing the fronts with the corresponding Bridgestone Potenza AS tires sometime this summer. The risk I run is that in an emergency situation, or bad weather I could end up with the front tires handling a little differently from the rears. I am aware of this risk and at least for the weather issue, plan to take it down a notch until I really understand how the car will handle with this combination. On dry roads I have not noticed any bad handling characteristics so far, but of course I didn't really have anything to compare to, since the rear Dunlops were really worn out when I bought it.

I believe the Dunlops on my car are not as high performance of a tire as the PS2's on your car, so your handling differential could be greater than what I have experienced. I just couldn't buy a tire that I can't drive in heavy rain or light snow where I live. I've talked to other Porsche owners who have to replace their tires every 3,000 - 6,000 miles and I also wanted something that would last at least 3 times longer than that.

Edited March 7, 2009 by Dave S.

[Jay H]

The risk I run is that in an emergency situation, or bad weather I could end up with the front tires handling a little differently from the rears.

This really is the key sentence in Dave's post. You just never know when you will run into an emergency situation and require the entire limits of your tires and the car's suspension. Porsche can get quite loose at the limits with mis-matched rubber. Been there, done that.

I agree 100% with the advice of running the exact same brand and model of tire in front and back.

Jay

02 986

90 964

84 911

[softroop]

Thanks for the responses. Please excuse my lack of understanding with these issues. Grover's explanation leads to my next question: Even if I replace the rears with new PS2s, wouldn't the car still handle different, since the front treads are less than 100%? So would it make sense to also replace the fronts, even if they still have 75% left? Basically should I replace all four tires at the same time? Again, thanks in advance for recommendations.

If money was no object (hard to say in today's ecenomy) this would be the ideal situation, but not required. Mainly, you need to replace the rears with the same tire model and brand.

How old are your front tires? If more than 5 years old, then yes, I'd replace them too.

Thanks for the reply. I bought the car last year...no idea as to how old the tires are.

[softroop]

Thanks to all for the replies.

[White987S]

Thanks for the reply. I bought the car last year...no idea as to how old the tires are.

The tire has a code date in the side wall. Use the Tire rack web site to decipher the date.

[ciaranmac1]

I fitted p zeros n4 rated on the rear,18inch.Tremendous grip,even in the wet.

[jmatta]

Very important point on the date code; it will tell the week and year the tires were manufactured. My buddy's '02 S had Pirelli P Zeros that were five years old...tread was just fine, but the tires had turned to hockey pucks. There was little grip on dry pavement and forget wet driving. He replaced them with Michelin Pilot Sports and couldn't believe how improved the handling and ride was on the car.

I won't comment on mismatched tires, because all the prior DO NOT warnings should be well taken.

[Jpeterson]

Dear Forum, I recently installed a set of Nexen 3000's all the way around. I had Pirelli's P-Zero's but they wore out. The Nexens are almost the cheapest tire you can buy but they are worlds above the Pirelli's as far a grip, driving noise and looks. They are made for "Drifters" and they are very cheap. I would replace these tires when they wear out with another set as they are the best tires I have ever had on a sports car. Thanks, Jerry

[White987S]

They are made for "Drifters" and they are very cheap. Thanks, Jerry

Those **** "drifters" get all the hot chicks! :)

[jmatta]

Tanner Faust (2008 Formula Drift Champion), here we come!

Edited March 13, 2009 by jmatta