Penn4S

I am not a fan of the PZero's on my car. I have never been a fan of the Zero's so nothing new and no disrespect to those that are admirers. Just a personal preference.

I was on Tire Rack because I will flip them in the Spring to the Michelin 4S. Tire Rack has 2 4S tires listed with one having a Porsche certification NO rating. Does any one know if the difference is the $60 more per tire Porsche value added " We said its good therefore it costs more" or if there is any significant structural or material difference?

Any help appreciated.

Jim M.

If you look at the specs on the tire rack site the NO tires are one pound lighter and made in Germany instead of France. Often Porsche will specify a different rubber compound, cord style etc. Porsche does it for max performance on their vehicles. How much better for $60.00 per tire and if it's worth it, is up to you. My car is 99% street driven with maybe 10 spirited drives per year so my choice will most likely be the cheaper tire.

Penn4S

Thanks Jim. Good catch on the comparable specs.

Penn4S

No hate, just less love.
I do find them noisier than the Michelins.
Michelin both front and rear have a protective band to help protect the rims, PZero's only on the front, who knows why.
I feel the Michelins are better in the wet weather.
Again just personal preference.

stealthpilot

Some will disagree, but this is what a Michelin rep told me at the Detroit auto show this year:

He told me the best version of the tire is the Michelin version and not the OEM customized ones.

He said OEMs customize various things - some want less wheel protection for style reasons, others want less tread depth for out of the box weight or performance reasons. Michelin believes they have selected the optimal characteristics for performance.

He told me the real reasons OEMs have custom versions is because they get royalties on them. So the reason the N0 costs $60 more is because Porsche gets royalties on the N0 designation, and they made some minor tweaks to justify the royalties.

Penn4S

I do not find that difficult to believe at all.

Tomcatz

the PZero N1's have the rim protection band on the rears also. (the N0's did not)

Randyc151

I've also encountered that sometimes Tire Rack may base pricing on inventory levels, too. I always buy the N version, but I have previously decided that next time...I won't.

unotaz

I just replaced my N0 Pzero with the N0 PS4S. Thew new Michelin is superior to the ****ty Pirelli in every aspect!

gtallegra

i myself wasn't a big fan of the pirellis so Im currently driving on the Non N0 and i can say the they have been nothing but GREAT !!! Is the n0 worth it?.. highly doubt it absolutely agree its a royalty thing. At the end of the day everything comes down to $$

porsche42

Agreed. I have the non N0 tires and there are fine for me. Exactly are the tires worth the extra bucks, IMHO no.