After my incident with the flat early this month I had to get a new set of tires. I had been running the set of Dunlops that came with the car, they were 225/40 and 265/35 on 18" wheels, and the car rode quite hard. I had attributed this to the 18" wheels, which I have heard can give a hard ride.

I had a great experience at America's Tire (Discount Tire in some areas), they were very careful doing no wheel damage, and they do road force balancing so I had that done to the front set. I replaced with the same size Dunlops, ordered online in advance so they would be at the shop when I got there. I was in and out of the shop with an appointment in 45 minutes, I could hardly believe it.

And now, my ride has gone from buckboard to Cadillac. Amazing difference! I have never owned a car with performance tires before so I have never noticed such a huge difference from riding on hard old tires (they were from 2006). My 944 runs on old-fashioned touring tires, and you do not see this kind of difference when getting new tires.

I recommend America's Tire (Discount Tire) and I have dealt with them in other parts of California for 12 years always with good results. Plus their prices beat Costco tire by around $70 each for this size. I went with the cheaper W rated tires because I don't plan to hit the track too much.

-Sean

 

What kind of Dunlops? I'm tire shopping too. Thanks.

 

I, too, like my local America's Tire (Discount Tire) store. Their prices are below TireRack, they have the road force balancer, and they actually listen to me when I request something (like: No clip-on weights).

They have done a wonderful job on my Saab last year, have done tires on the 928 in the past, and will be my go-to place when my rear tires on the 928 are finally done.

 

They are Dunlop Direzza, which are the cheapest Z-rated tires from Dunlop, because they are subclassification W instead of Y, the latter being the highest speed rating but costing plenty more.

The front tires are priced at $110 each and the rears are $184 each. This shop charges $16 each for installation which includes lifetime spin balancing and repair. Road force balancing is $20 extra per tire. There are also the usual disposal fees etc. adding up to around $10 per tire. You can optionally pay extra for some kind of "tire warranty" so if you destroy a tire beyond repair they will replace two as needed for free. I skipped this, I walk on the wild side.

Fortunately it is impossible to install with clip-on weights on my Cup II wheels.