Base Cayman tires

[TarHeelCroc]

May have been asked before, but, who has studied the best price on a pair of replacement rear tire for the base Cayman? My dealer, in doing his annual inspection, says I have about 3/?? left.....

[Snakehips]

Well, if you want Michelin Pilot Sport IIs, which are on a lot of Cayman S cars from the factory, you're going to pay. If you want to know going rates on tires, the most useful website is www.tirerack.com. A lot of local tire dealers buy at least some of their tires from Tire Rack.

I'm perfectly happy with my Nitto NT555s for 19" wheels. I got these at Discount Tire. They were about $1100 for the set including mounting, balancing and rebuild kits for my TPMS units (one per wheel). The ultimate handling is a little less but the ride is better than with Michelins. Not sure about tire life yet. I have seperate tires for track use and another set for winter use, I use the 19" wheels in summer on the street simply because they look so swell. There are other Nitto tires with a more radical tread and look to them, but the dealer told me he's had complaints about tread noise, so I got the 555s. They look very similar to stock tires. I've used Nitto R compound tires for several years. Quality is very good.

Because I don't use these summer tires on the track, I'm not concerned about tread chunking or other concerns that come with continuous real hard use. They are fine in the rain and stick well enough to entertain me.

For 18" wheels, the cheapie tire of choice seems to be Sumitomo HTRZ III. Tire Rack lists 235/40/18 for the fronts at a paltry $105 each. Rear 265/40/18s are $161 each. You will pay shipping and have to take them to a tire shop for mounting and balancing. If you have a good shop in your area, they will probably welcome your having the tires shipped from Tire Rack directly to their store. You can take your car in when the tires have arrived, eliminating one trip. Also you will be able to know the price for mounting and balancing before you make the decision to purchase tires this way.

For 17" wheels, Summitomo sells a 215/50/17" HTRZ III for the front 10mm wider with the same 50 series profile should be fine. Price is $65 each. They also make the stock 235/50/17 for the rear. Price is $109 each. This is A LOT cheaper than Yoko or Michelin or other Euro tires. I have not used these Summis on my car because I needed 19" and they didn't have good sizes for me. A lot of Cayman and Boxster drivers are using these Sumis in the 18" size.

I did not find a suitable 17" size for a Nitto tire that I'd use. If you're using your car for daily driving and not strenuously, Either the Nitto or Summi tires will work great.

I have heard that the earlier version Summitomo HTR Z II tires are not good and that they should be avoided, but the IIIs are a stellar bargain. Note that none of the choices I've shown are recommended for cold weather use. They are summer only tires...50 degrees and above.

Have fun shopping.

[driver8]

I really liked the Bridgestone Potenza RE050A. I even used them for AX and a few track days when I corded my Hoosiers. I am looking into the Bridgestone Potenza RE-11 for this season.

[motucayman]

I just installed a pair of Continental Extreme contact DWS all seasons on the rears of my cayman. 275/35-19 at $220 a tire. I know it's frowned upon to install all season on a porsche but I do not track my car yet. I wanted a tire that had a little longer tread life. Once the fronts wear out I'll probably install the same tire in the front. After they wear out I will go back to my PS2 or RE11.

Edited March 26, 2010 by motucayman

[motucayman]

TarheelCroc, how many miles did you get out of your rears?  I got 17k.

[danieldolin]

I just installed a pair of Continental Extreme contact DWS all seasons on the rears of my cayman. 275/35-19 at $220 a tire. I know it's frowned upon to install all season on a porsche but I do not track my car yet. I wanted a tire that had a little longer tread life. Once the fronts wear out I'll probably install the same tire in the front. After they wear out I will go back to my PS2 or RE11.

I am going to be upgrading to 19" sport design wheels this summer and had seen these tires on tirerack as immediatly noticed the long treadwear rating. They are too new to have any customer reviews on their site as of yet, so how do you like them? is road noise okay? does the funky tread pattern look funny when viewing the car from behind? Any input would be great, I am debating between these all season ones or the Extreme contact DW summers...

Thanks,

Dan

[motucayman]

danieldolin, I literally just installed these tires yesterday on my sport design 19". So far I have driven 40 miles and I find that road noise is lower than the PS2's but the PS2's are close to end of life. Comfort I would say the same maybe a bit more comfortable in the ContiextDWS. If somebody installed these tires and didn't tell me, I don't think I would notice any difference in responsiveness or handling, especially since they are only installed on the rears. During turns I do not notice the rear of the car being mushy or any weak sidewalls, then again its not like I'm doing any autocross type driving on the streets. Overall so far I'm satisfied. I took a picture of the tire from behind. I kind of like the aggressive nature of the pattern. We get occasional snow here in KC so that and the 540 treadwear rating sold me on the DWS's.

[danieldolin]

danieldolin, I literally just installed these tires yesterday on my sport design 19". So far I have driven 40 miles and I find that road noise is lower than the PS2's but the PS2's are close to end of life. Comfort I would say the same maybe a bit more comfortable in the ContiextDWS. If somebody installed these tires and didn't tell me, I don't think I would notice any difference in responsiveness or handling, especially since they are only installed on the rears. During turns I do not notice the rear of the car being mushy or any weak sidewalls, then again its not like I'm doing any autocross type driving on the streets. Overall so far I'm satisfied. I took a picture of the tire from behind. I kind of like the aggressive nature of the pattern. We get occasional snow here in KC so that and the 540 treadwear rating sold me on the DWS's.

did you go with 275x35x19 for the size... I do not think they come in the 265x35x19 that were OEM?

Thanks again!

[motucayman]

Yes I did go with 275/35-19. No issues at all. Install for the two tires was only $36.00 and done in 20 mins. Painless.

[danieldolin]

Yes I did go with 275/35-19. No issues at all. Install for the two tires was only $36.00 and done in 20 mins. Painless.

great to know... just wanted to make sure I did not need the 5mm spacers to make the 275's work... although I may still install the spacers to give a little wider stance.

[TarHeelCroc]

TarheelCroc, how many miles did you get out of your rears? I got 17k.

Just saw your question- I've got 14k now, and 3/32 left on the tires. Guess 18 can be reached. (I'm a 67 year old guy- no hard driving...)

[danieldolin]

Yes I did go with 275/35-19. No issues at all. Install for the two tires was only $36.00 and done in 20 mins. Painless.

Motu,

So are you still liking the DWS's on your Cayman? If you would not mind, can you post a pic of the front view of your rear sport designs with the tires on as well as the 3/4 view? One thing that I was never a real fan of on the sport designs is that they always seemed to "stretch" the sidewall of the tire to make it look as if the tire actually went inwards from the outside of the rim up to the tread instead of having a slight "bulge" where the sidewall actually sticks out further than the rim. I was wondering if the extra width on the 275 tires would give the "bulge" effect I would be after.

Thanks for you help on this!

Dan