bj

Hi All

In an emergency situation I was forced to replace the rear Bridgestone RE71's with B.F. Goodrich Comp T/A's V-rated. The mismatch of tread between the B.F. Goodrich's on the rear and the Michelin's which were on the front created quite an unsafe tramlining problem. After matching the front tires with B.F Goodrich's the problem disappeared. If I had the option of originally purchasing a Z-rated tire, I would have but I'm happy with the V-rated knowing I would never reach the 149 mph limit and also saving a few dollars.
I would also like to thank everyone who responded to my original thread when the problem surface.

Thank you
Bill

Thomas Linser

Hello BJ!

I'm just curious!! Is it allowed by your road rules and insurance companies to run 'V' rated tyres instead of the 'Z' or 'ZR' rated ones? Can you run no 'N' (porsche accepted) tyres also?

I'm asking this bbecause here in Europe, at least in Switzerland, if you have an accident with lower than recommended speed rating tyres and (or) not Porsche approved 'N' tyres, you can get in bad trouble with your insurance company.

Thanks for the Info Cheers THOMAS

Adrian

Dear Thomas,
The problem for us in Switzerland is that Porsche issued a document in which they sort of cancelled approval to use V rated tyres on Porsches from the 1989 911 Carrera 2. They did approve a mix and match policy(VR and ZR) but ended with the statement that when tyres are replaced they have to be with ZRs. The authorities here take these words as gospel so if you turn up with say a 964 with VRs fitted they will get very agitated. I know on the old 944 they checked the tyres, rating and load factor at the last inspection. N rated tyres are never questioned despite the fact that they are designed now only for the 996 and 986,
Ciao,
Adrian
911C4

DaveS

I just find the differences between the police actions and insurance regs within Eurpose and especially as compared to the US amazing.

Having lived in big urban cities here (Chicago, DC, Atlanta), you can barely get the police to come to the scene of an accident to write a report, let alone inspect the car for proper equipment.

It sounds like some of thsoe Swiss police are better qualified than some of the Porsche "mechanics" we have here.

Thomas Linser

Hi Adrian ! Nice to read you, how where your hollydays? Hope fine.

So far so good, I knew that we had drastic laws in Confedaratio Helvetica, but I din't knew that it was Porsche itself that put some oil on the fire.
as for the 'N' rated tires my Bridgestone 205 and 255ZR's are N rated, but this is a dimension which is no loger used on the 996, I dont know if it's used on the 986. At leat thanks for the Info i've learned something new today!

Best regards THOMAS

Thomas Linser

Dave,
As far as for living in Europe, and specially in Switzerland which is still not part of the European Comunity, we are not living in POLICELAND. But swiss administration is...Hum...very administrative If you see what I mean.

F.E.Road legal speeds are higher than in the states, and (I touch wood!!!) getting caught while speeding on the Highway is quite uncommon. It's not rare that quite a few users of the Highway are doing between 150-160 Km/h (BTW our speed limit in CH is 120Km/h on the Highway). Average speed I can observe, quite daily, is about 140 Km/h. See our police isn't really that restrictive.
As for Adrians quote, I have to explain that we have every two years a what we call "visite" which is basically the same as the MOT in England the "Contrôle Technique" in France and the TÜV Check in Germany. During this visite, technical controle, the car is examined quite thoroughly by a mechanic which is employed by the State. So when you arrive with your pride and joy, that you're quite young, that your car is quite pristine, all they want to do is to p.ss you off by finding something just something to let you fail the "visite", fix the problem and get back for another control. They are numerous stories around this beloved institution, so every P-car owner has his own tricks to pass this fu...ing "visite".

Hope I wasn't to long Regards THOMAS

DaveS

Please, no offense intended on my earlier comment.

BTW: I think that the viste has some definite advantages. For one thing, it would keep the POS (that's piece of s**t) cars off the road that generally lose a muffler 30 feet in front of you while your doing 80 MPH on the expressway.