Can I mix tire brands front/rear?

[selby]

2006 Carrera S

I need new rear tires, but not new front ones.

My Porsche dealer service manager says I can't mix tire makes/brands between front and back. Currently I have Bridgestone Potenza Pole Position A/S on both (different sizes front/back). I'd like to replace the rear tires with Continental ExtremeContact DWS in order to save about USD $100. The car is not raced. Would I be taking any serious risk with my plan?

[jworden]

Selby,

Just a note re: my experience with the Continental DWS( 245/40ZR17) - I just removed the rears with only 14,000 miles and worn down to the wear indicators. Not mounted on a Porsche but a 97 Mercedes AMG used for commuting to work. Not impressed. I bought them to save money too. There is a 50k warranty on these tires but not applicable to my car perhaps because of the different front and rear which means the tires cannot be rotated.

John

[Carmon997S]

Hello Selby,

The only problem you may encounter is an ABS warning light. If there is enough grip or tread depth difference the computer will interrupt it as tire slip and cause a warning. Other than that, no problem unless you are driving aggressively.

[PAULSPEED]

Mixing tires is not a great thing to do but

sometimes you do it anyway.

Good luck.

Paul

[logray]

I've read that C2 not as serious an issue mixing tires as C4. +1 to ^^^^ posts.

[michelin]

I had Potenza's on the back and Pirelli's on the front, this caused issues. Basically the car was trying to lift off when doing over 120mph. I spoke to a friend on another forum and Porsche say do not mix tyre brands. I've followed their advice and all is fine now.

:king:

[coleta]

Michelin, what do you mean by lift off? Can you discribe it a little more? Thanks

[mxt_77]

Lol @ mixed tire brands resulting in aero lift. Seriously? This forum is always good for some laughs.

Having mixed tire brands is not going to cause that type of problem. Now, if you are using improperly rated tires that aren't designed for 100+ mph speeds, then it might result in their shape deflecting (or even tire failure) which could result in instability, but it has nothing to do with having different brands/compounds on the front than you have on the rear.

For normal driving, it doesn't matter what mix of tires you have on the car as long as they're all properly sized. It's only at the limits that these types of changes have an impact. If you're cornering aggressively and you have grippier tires up front, then it's going to result in oversteer. Likewise, if you're threshold braking, it could result in the tires at one end locking up (or engaging ABS) earlier than the other end. So, you might not have optimal performance at the limits, but for everyday driving, there will likely be no impact whatsoever.

I'd recommend using equivalent or similar compounds just because the car was engineered to perform better that way. But if all you're concerned about is getting from A to B, and you're not concerned about performance, then go ahead and mix tires all you want. Then again, I'd argue that if you're not interested in performance, maybe you shouldn't be driving a Porsche. ;)

[mxt_77]

As a follow-up, I did take a look at the specs on the tires the OP is considering. They have a treadwear rating of 540. In general, high treadwear = low grip. I don't think I'd want sticky tires up front and low grip tires in the rear, especially in a RR car. While it won't inherently cause problems, it could make the car less predictable if reacting to an emergency situation, etc.

YMMV.

[ALL911]

2016 991.1 C4S:  I'm about to replace my rear P-Zeros with scrubbed Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2's leaving P-Zeros on the front as plenty of rubber remains. I'll bed them in for a couple of hundred miles then ramp up the heat. Not expecting any theatrics but if the electronics spew or the ride is erratic I'll throw Michelins on the front.

[White987S]

13 hours ago, ALL911 said:

2016 991.1 C4S:  I'm about to replace my rear P-Zeros with scrubbed Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2's leaving P-Zeros on the front as plenty of rubber remains. I'll bed them in for a couple of hundred miles then ramp up the heat. Not expecting any theatrics but if the electronics spew or the ride is erratic I'll throw Michelins on the front.

This is an especially poor tire combinaton. Compounded by the fact that it's a 4S. Good luck. You'd be better served with 4 Pilot Super Sports or 4 Pilot 4S (thier newest tire offering). I'm currently running a new set of the MPSS on my 991 C2S PowerKit Cab.

 

The good news is that your Cups will wear out very soon!:)

[jl-c]

Lets face it, anyone can put any tyres they like on their car, the questionable thing is, is it safe? Now, I run a full set of Michelin Pilot Sports N2's on my C2S and find them inferior in grip to the Bridgestone Potenzas that were on it. It's all personal choice. As to safety, Porsche (with due deference to you yanks love of litigation) recommend (note the word recommend) certain tyres that they have tested and certified as suitable for the 911. Whether you take on that recommendation or not is up to you, but don't go saying " those 911's are crap, it threw me off the road" if you fit Linglong specials!

[wizard]

On 11 December 2011 at 1:07 AM, selby said:

2006 Carrera S

I need new rear tires, but not new front ones.

My Porsche dealer service manager says I can't mix tire makes/brands between front and back. Currently I have Bridgestone Potenza Pole Position A/S on both (different sizes front/back). I'd like to replace the rear tires with Continental ExtremeContact DWS in order to save about USD $100. The car is not raced. Would I be taking any serious risk with my plan?

Without wishing to sound rude, if you need to save that amount of money, perhaps you shouldn't be driving a Porsche.

 

It's not only Porsche who recommend not to mix tires ......!