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When was the last time you saw OE Pirelli Cinturato P7 225/50 16s?
I still have the original tires for my 79. I recently checked them out and took a few shots. They've been stored for 30 years so are very dirty. I'll give them a wash this summer to get a better look at them. They needed replacing so are worn in spots, but it's just nice to see that old tread pattern again. I wish they still made them as I don't think that they've been improved upon aesthetically. I was struck by how wide they appeared. They looked significantly wider than my current 225s. Next time I'll measure them to compare. If anyone has a set (all 4 on my car are 225/50 16s) that still has the full/most of the tread let me know as I'd be interested in buying them.
Actually, I did. But the pics of the tread don't look anything like the originals. Unless that's just a generic pic and they actually still look the same. Anybody seen the current P7 in this size?
Any tire over 6 or 7 years is unsafe and should not be on the road . The tires date of manufacture is the last 4 digits of the DOT number , on the side of the tire , for example 3412 is the 34th week of 2012 . any tire without this date code is really old . It takes sometimes 6-12 months for a tire to be shipped / stocked etc. to arrive at the dealers . So check the best before date on your tires , or get a unpleasant surprize .
Indeed. I would never run old tires, but it would be nice to have them for potential show purposes some day in the future. If Pirelli made the exact same tire new, I'd buy a set to run (despite improvements in today's tires, because I really don't think anything else suits the OB as well--I'm not familiar with the CN36, couldn't find them) and set to keep for show purposes.
928 Rears seem to have that center of the rear tire worn most due to (over)inflation to factory-recommended pressures. Fronts wear on the edges, outsides from spirited cornering and insides from sagged suspension toe-out. At least with all four the same size you could rotate them to even out the wear some.
FWIW, my US '89 S4 was delivered with BFG T/A's as original fitment. Rocks! Rode like rocks, cornered like rocs, lasted like rocks. Mich Pilots brought the car to life, an amazing transformation. Jump to PS-2's was another significant improvement.
On the four-digit date codes: That wasn't on the earliest P7's, and they would wear out long before any five-year projected life passed. They were really cool looking and they drove well at the time, but were not shy about wearing out rather quickly.
Well, my penchant for originality strikes again and I made good on what I said in my post 5 years ago....Pirelli made the P7 again and I had to get them on the car. I never thought I'd see the day but I'm glad I did . Below are pics of how they were packaged on arrival, installed on the car, and a comparison of how the conti's (which I really liked) and P7s look.
Those look nice. The blocky tread pattern does make them look wider. I will be interested in your driving impressions - new P7s vs. what was on there before.
Through what MY were P7s OE equipment? Wondering what my 84 Euro might have had when new...
I only took it for a short spin. I didn't notice much difference. Maybe a little more road noise. I found the conti's to be really good tires.
Not sure when Porsche changed from P7s, but someone here will know and hopefully chime in.
The 1983 service info book says that OE tires for that year were either P7s or Gooyear Eagle NCTs, but there's no such tire info in the '84 or '85 books.
I confirm the '83s came with P7s or NCTs. Unfortunately mine came with NCTs, and I hated them -- stiff sidewall, relatively poor ride, lousy handling, and as mentioned previously at the recommended pressures wore like crazy in the middle of the rears. I'm not a fan of the old Pirellis either, for that matter, the tire technology of the day was really quite bad.
03-26-2014, 09:39 PM
When was the last time you saw OE Pirelli Cinturato P7 225/50 16s?
. Below are pics of how they were packaged on arrival, installed on the car, and a comparison of how the conti's (which I really liked) and P7s look.
