OKINAWA080

QUESTION:

Do any of you more seasoned Boxster owner's have experience/knowledge to share regarding 88Y's and 92Y's front tire size performance differences and/or feedback regarding Pilot Super Sports especially in wet conditions?

Bought my first Porsche, a 2000 S (41K miles) about 2 months ago and looking to replace my YOKOHAMA ADVAN NEOVA® AD08R with some Michelin Pilot Super Sports.

Two FRONT sizes listed for the 2000 Boxster S (18") on several online retail sites:
225/40ZR18 (88Y)
225/40ZR18 (92Y)

The 88Y's: 6.3" tire width
The 92Y's: 8.2" tire width

BACKGROUND INFO:

Live on Okinawa (Japan) with rains year-round. Temps average 82F and only 3 months of sub 70F with lows reaching about 60F (with wind-chill factored).

In other words I live and drive (aggressively when safely possible) in a warm, wet climate.

Okinawan Roads can be very slick, especially since they use crushed coral in their asphalt mix.

The Yokohama's have great DRY grip but the rear wants to slide out every time I drive across WET painted pavement such as cross-walks, etc.
(Pretty much 50% chance of rain every day on this island.)

Read that Michelin Super Sports performed better than the Michelin All Seasons (A/S) and would like to try the Super Sports before giving in to All Season tires.

Thanks in advance for sharing your time and knowledge.

Tcar

Saw this post on the 986 forum also...

Macster

Generally, all other things being equal the narrower the tire the better it is in wet conditions. Wide(r) tires tend to more readily hydroplane.

I can tell you my experience with both my Boxster and my Turbo is with factory sanctioned tires (Pirelli and Michelin on the Boxster, Bridgestone and Continental on the Turbo) on either car even new tires the cars kind of suck in the rain.

I accept this as the price one pays for "high performance" tires and adjust my driving accordingly. I slow down and give myself more room just in case and mind my speed around turns and such.

This is not a suggestion you do this but I suspect to get better wet condition grip you'll have to go to a non-sanctioned tire. This is just a WAG as I have not tried any non-sanctioned tires on either of my Porsches. 'course, while wet grip could be improved the tire might deliver sub-par performance at other times.

extanker

^^^^ what he say

OKINAWA080

I may be hoping for too much but I'd like to find/purchase tires with the dry grip/performance of the Yokohama's but with better wet grip/performance. Read some promising info on the Michelin PSS's but have received some conflicting feedback thru forum posts.

Michelin also released an updated version of the A/S 3 now the A/S3+ but I definitely don't need something designed for cold weather/snow: and, can't help but think that a "zero sum" relationship exists between cold/wet performance and summer/dry performance i.e. improvements in cold/wet performance requires loss of performance in summer/dry weather--and vice versa.

Thanks again Macster for taking the time to share knowledge!

VGM911

Tire Rack sells many, many different tires, and their reps are very knowledgeable. Their website is a treasure trove of information.

Call and ask for Damon. I've always found him to be helpful.

Good luck.

Disaster

Lots of good info and tests on TireRack without having to talk to anyone...just search. Good performance summer tires are going to outperform allseasons in ALL warm conditions, including rain as long as they have tread.

One of the best rated wet performance tires are the Conti DW's. I have a set on my Boxster and they stick well in rain.

Rich14428

I had pilot sport 2's on my Boxster in Rochester NY, one a the rainiest cities in the US. They did well but I found myself changing the rear tires every 8k-10k miles. I put on Toyo Proxes 4s. The grip wasn't quite as good in dry conditions (spirited u-turns and autocross) but the miles I get on the tires were much better. Under wet/snow conditions these tires do very well.

I now run the Toyos on my Boxster and 911 996 C2 and run competitive times in autocross in both cars without complaint.

Boxstervergnügen

Just purchased a 2003 S with 19,248 miles. A week before the purchased was out driving with owner first and me second my choice (wanted to feel & listen to the car without having to worry about driving) He drove it up to 95 me 80 speed limit was 70. 3 days later PPI. During post PPI with shop owner he reported the tires were manufactured in 2002 so they were 14 years old. I noticed they had a lot of tread left before test drive, never thought to check date. He pointed out there was dry rot and cracks. The owner said he would get new tires. I said if I buy it I would rather have a credit and buy the tires. Purchased 10 days later. Did plenty of research during the mean time. I went with Extreme Contact DW. Good reviews in wet & dry and a bonus not a factor they were better priced than Bridgestone, Michelin, and Pirelli. They handle great, smooth ride would buy again.

My daily driver is a 2015 BMW w/ Goodyear and can't wait too replace.