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The last time I was in the market for tires for my 1985 911, 205/55-16 and 225/50-16, I made sort of a radical jump to a set of Michelin A/S3+ all season tires, and I am very happy with the results. My decision was based upon the fact that both my 85 911 and 2011 997 were running summer high performance tires at that time, and, consequently, they both resided in my garage for several months during the winter. Now, with my 85 911 on all seasons, I drive it during the cold winter months, and only the 997 sits. To be clear, I don’t drive in snow, or if there is any salt on the road, nor do I track this car. Mike
The bridgestone potenzas on my targa are from 2004 so I have started to shop for tires.
front 205/55r 16
rear 255/50r 16
This size seems to be pretty rare. What did you put on yours?
Thanks!
I have 7/9 x16 and run 225 and 245, Potenza RE11. And I love this tire. Then again, I hardly have much of a choice given there are scarcely any options in these sizes.
If you have 7/8 x 16 you may want to run 205/225 as others here have already suggested. Definitely more tire options in this size.
I am in the same situation with my cracking-tread Bridgestones from ~2006. Michelins are worth it if you put over 10,000 miles on your car a year. I do not anymore so I figure I will buy a sticky and short life tire since dry-rot is going to determine the life for the next tire. My plan is to go with Hankook R-S4. It is a effective and cheap track/street tire.
I am in the same situation with my cracking-tread Bridgestones from ~2006. Michelins are worth it if you put over 10,000 miles on your car a year. I do not anymore so I figure I will buy a sticky and short life tire since dry-rot is going to determine the life for the next tire. My plan is to go with Hankook R-S4. It is a effective and cheap track/street tire.
what ??? over 6 years on a tire ?? how dare you !! there are thos eon this forum who thinkks you tires wil explode with catastrophic results and youa re a hazard to everyone .. lol ....
My Bridgestone's are in the same boat.... after 15 years I was thinking i should look at changing them lol ..
I agree about the Michelins, I bought Pilot Sports for my 997 and what a difference it made from the cheap tires that were on the car when I bought it. On my 85, I bought FIrestone FIrehawk Indy tires, which are apparently rebranded Bridgestones. They were a noticeable improvement over the aging Sumitomos than came with the car. For 2k a year street and canyon use these are a great value and I think sticky enough. On one of my favorite decreasing radius on ramps I have to work to stay in my (non-sports) seat. Plus they look great, nice retro-look.
I agree but only if you are going to put the miles on the car. The Michelins are not the best tire in any single category but they have no weakness either, other than tending to dry-rot sooner. They are by far the best well rounded tire and are actually one of the cheapest tires per mile if you wear them out before they rot. If you do not rack up the miles you are spending more for fewer years. That is my sensible view on it.
None of this would apply to their specialized race tires and I don't know anything about their race tires anyway except I would not expect very many miles out of them.
My propaganda on Michelin:
They are the best build quality.
Many are made in the USA.
My Michelin Pilot Exalto's had more traction in the wet than Douglas (cheap American) or Chinese Replacement Auto Parts (CRAP) did in the dry.
Michelin sport tires have as much ride comfort as a touring tire. Michelin sport tires have fantastic steering response like other sport tires but not the awful ride.
They do not make noise until they are worn out.
Michelin is going to be within 10% of the best tire in every category for that class of tire.
Michelin tires can be driven hard and easily rack-up 80,000 miles.
They last so long, I have had the same Michelin plugged or patched 5 times.
So if there isn't a category you can overlook, Michelin wins. It is not likely many people are racking up 10k miles per year so that opens other options. So I am putting R-S4's on the 911sc and Michelins on the long term family car. Uniroyals (cheap Michelins) often go on our back-ups.
not always true.... some higher costs are due to place of manufacture, currency fluctuations and what not .. assuming something is better just because it is more expensive is a fools game..
Nowadays, even buying the exact same product you purchased in the past doesn't mean it will be the same quality! Companies are having to use what they can get, not what they want.
I agree about the Michelins, I bought Pilot Sports for my 997 and what a difference it made from the cheap tires that were on the car when I bought it. On my 85, I bought FIrestone FIrehawk Indy tires, which are apparently rebranded Bridgestones. They were a noticeable improvement over the aging Sumitomos than came with the car. For 2k a year street and canyon use these are a great value and I think sticky enough. On one of my favorite decreasing radius on ramps I have to work to stay in my (non-sports) seat. Plus they look great, nice retro-look.
my views also , the Indy 500s are very well suited to our cars being weekend drivers, and good price point.
03-09-2022, 11:15 AM
