Third-Reef

Finally replaced the Contisport DWS in 225 45 18 and 295 35 18 with the proper PS2s 225 40 and 295 30. What a difference. I had thought the conti's seemed fine except for getting greasy at the track. But it is amazing what the proper tire will do for the car. Even thought the stagger difference was very small and in the wrong direction with the 35 and 45 tires, i have noticed that the occasional PSM intervention i would get in some uneven road/water conditions seem to be completely gone. Americas tire did the install with roadforce balance, They took 3 of 4 tires back off and rotated them on the rim for better alignment of the rim and tire.

Moral of the story is: there is a lot to be said for putting OE N rated tires on in the proper size and mounted by someone with good equipment.

Jabrony

...imagine that! The engineers that designed the car are smarter than most folks that do things simply for aesthetic effects, or trying to save a few bucks.
Win Stuttgart.

Berra

They designed the car before PS2's were made. My car had first gen PS and I got rid of them yesterday, they've been on the car since it left the factory back in 2003.

Tires really do make a huge difference, but I like other brands too. Pirelli, Bridgestone, Kumho to name a few, they are all great. Pirellis P Zero Rosso are pretty much on the same level as the PS2.

996tt350

Porsche Spec has very little to do with anything. Right Size and good brand are the keys here.

I have Mercedes 'spec' MO 225 40 18 fronts...called Michelin, same thing as Porsche Spec. The 'spec' is nonsense, it's OEM branding.

Good luck finding much in matching 295 30 18's though, that's the real 'spec' that kills your options.

We would be worlds better if they killed the 2's and gave us 'plebian' spec PS4s's in 295 30 18

Third-Reef

The PS2s look a lot wider than the previous Contisports. Glad i did not go with the 315 and 235 sizes on my stock size wheels. They would have looked pinched.

manimal

Glad to hear it!

I did 10 runs of autocross + a couple hundred miles of mountain roads w/ the PCA on my PS2's last weekend and they did great.

I'm currently running 235/40/18 + 315/30/18 PS2's on my GT2-size wheels (8.5x12x18), but planning to try the BFG Rival next with 245's up front. Like 996tt350 said, I wish they would give us the PS4s's in 295/30/18 and 315/30/18.

The sidewalls on the Continental DW/DWS are simply too soft for performance cars/driving. In my experience (I've run DW's on my other car), you can literally end up with road rash far down the sidewalls if you drive them hard.

The performance of these cars is too awesome to have the tires be the weak point. Yeah, it's an expensive habit, but we all knew that when we signed up, right? Quality tires FTW.

911mhawk

Consider 245/40 & 315/30 NT-01's over the Rivals.
I just bought a set from Discount Tire Direct for $352/pr front & $494/pr rear delivered and they are great tires on the track and fine for dry streets.

Carlo_Carrera

^ Yes, nothing beats the NT-01s for the money. Nothing.

"02996ttx50

is that because you purchased 4? because i tried to grab just rears and they are 632 a pr for rears only.

manimal

Cool, thanks for the suggestion. Will check that out. How many miles are you guys getting out of them?

jayzbird

If you can live with the noise. They will also pick up nails etc more easily. I've been through a couple sets and drive to/from the track, but wouldn't want them for daily use. To each his own of course.

Carlo_Carrera

Our recommendation is NT-01s for Autocross/Track.

manimal

Got it.

Nzo

Ive been through 3 or 4 sets of rivals now with no complaints but the new version was not out a few weeks ago when I needed tires so on my first set of NT01s now. I havent had an opportunity to drive them hard yet but they are definitely louder.

911mhawk

I bought the front and rear pairs separately to get (2)$100 instant rebates if you used PayPal on eBay. Code was given in the eBay ad.
They run the special every so often and I just stock up on an extra set or two each time.