How important is the "N" rating on tires?

[tntmarchand]

I have bought a 2000 911 cab. I have Bridgestone S03 n008 on the front and Bridgestone S02 n002 on the rear. I went to my local dealer for my 45k service and was told that I had major tire issues. They made it sound as if my car was unsafe to drive on the road because all 4 tires do not have the same "N" rating . I was told that even though my front tires are new and the rears are getting worn and will need to be replaced in 3000 to 5000 miles that I have to do all 4 at the same time to get the same "N" numbers. I went on to tirerack.com and read all about the "N" rating information that they had.....it still didn't answer my question. It is not a matter of buying 4 new tires it just seems like a waste of 2 good tires. Thank you for any comments.

[philhan]

I have bought a 2000 911 cab. I have Bridgestone S03 n008 on the front and Bridgestone S02 n002 on the rear. I went to my local dealer for my 45k service and was told that I had major tire issues. They made it sound as if my car was unsafe to drive on the road because all 4 tires do not have the same "N" rating . I was told that even though my front tires are new and the rears are getting worn and will need to be replaced in 3000 to 5000 miles that I have to do all 4 at the same time to get the same "N" numbers. I went on to tirerack.com and read all about the "N" rating information that they had.....it still didn't answer my question. It is not a matter of buying 4 new tires it just seems like a waste of 2 good tires. Thank you for any comments.

I'll be concerned with mixing and matching different models but not the N rating. I'm on my second set of Yoko's and they are not N rated and never had an issue

[yeeha68]

I just had all 4 replaced and asked for the Michelin Pilot Sport Rib. When I got home I discovered the front tires were sport ribs and the rear were pilot SX mxx3 tires. I think the ribs are N2 and the SX are N0. The dealer claims they made a mistake, but they are all good tires. The dealer said he would swap them out. Should I care enough to go back and change the rears out to sport Ribs?

[mjw930]

I just had all 4 replaced and asked for the Michelin Pilot Sport Rib. When I got home I discovered the front tires were sport ribs and the rear were pilot SX mxx3 tires. I think the ribs are N2 and the SX are N0. The dealer claims they made a mistake, but they are all good tires. The dealer said he would swap them out. Should I care enough to go back and change the rears out to sport Ribs?

Yes, you should care and you should get the rears swapped out with the Sport Ribs. The main reason is to maintain a consistant compound/construction between the front and rear. That's why Porsche says specifically to not mix N types front to rear. i.e. N1's on the front and N0's on the rear are a big no no and that's within the same tire model. When you cross model types it's even more of an issue as N0 in one type and N0 in another are still not compatible.

Get them all the same, especially for the money you probably spent doing tires at the dealer.