Alex_c,
Last November we had a track day... and as the event came close the temps dropped into the 30’s and 40’s. In a panic I bought the Bridgestone AS tires and mounted them. Turns out the actual two days were sunny and warm (60’s)... but these tires did amazingly well on the track. Good enough for any real-road situations.

 

My previous Targa had Continental A/S. I lived in Baltimore and drove my Porsche year round. Sometimes fast! Sometimes on very curvy roads. Never felt the slightest bit uneasy. No personal experience with the Bridgestones but have heard good things. I will never track my Targa 4S. Wrong car for that and I knew it going in. GREAT touring car for my wife and I to travel in.

I was hopeful Conti would do something for us 991.2 owners. Not so far. I live in south Alabama now and could probably run summer tires year around, but when the Michelins wear out, I am going A/S and I guess with the Bridgestones for lack of a choice. I am not critical of those that care to have winter and summer tires. Go for it. I am also not critical of those that want one set of tires for the entire year. Makes sense to me when you don't care to swap regularly. To each his or her very own. Drive on!

 

I went with Pilot Sport A/S3s to replace the PS4s on my Lexus and they have been great. I was losing traction constantly with the summer tires in wet or slightly icy conditions.

I’m also considering going all season on my C4S. Looks like Bridgestone has a nice model for the 20” wheel. Interested to hear some reviews.

 

One thing that people tend to forget is sidewall strength, Bridgestone has about the strongest sidewall in the industry. This may not be important for some people, but in winter when the roads tend to get potholes, it could save you from a blowout. I have used them on many cars. I do keep two sets of tire Alpin4 in winter and though I will not drive the Targa (I have 4 other winter cars) in snow the Alpin4's are very good and if you drive with traction controls on you will have a hard time getting them to break loose.

 

I was at an informal get together with some other Porsche owners today and spoke to one of them who is a very serious racer - has a 914 race car as well as a Mustang GT 350R which is not street legal and I asked him about tires. He laughed when I wondered if I could use all season tires. He said that on the street it is nearly impossible to get to a situation where the all season tires could not handle the situation. He said all of the safety overrides on the car would stop you from getting into serious problems unless you are stupid in the way you drive. He also said so long as you have the same tires on an axle there is no reason why you cannot have one brand on the front and another on the back. He even suggested that when transitioning you could have all season on the rear on summer on the front.

 

I have a set of Bridgestone RE980 A/S stacked in the garage that I will get mounted when cool wx returns here in VA. Am looking
for a reliable place to get them mounted in SW VA that will not damage the wheels on my 991.2 C2S. Am confident that I
will not miss the original Pirelli. I did have to wait until spring to find the A/S, all of which have 2020 production dates.

 

Alex,

I ran the RE70s for years on my 993 in Houston - they were great performance wise, but loud past half-lifetime. Maybe a *touch* less feel than the Pilot Super Sports (which I also ran for a long time) - but overall I liked them. I'm probably the only one who actually likes the N1 PZeros, but if it were me (and it will be soon) - I'd be swapping for the MPS4S (because I'd like to try them).

I can tell you that this winter I ran my Cayenne with 21" wheels on Advan Sport Summer Tires in -40 temps in Colorado. It's not an experience I'd recommend...but the traction control on these cars is amazing, and I never had a problem getting where I wanted to go (even in deep snow) - and the tires are just fine this summer (no degradation, and I had PNH check them at my recent annual).

cheers!

 

I decided to just roll the dice on the RE980. Ordered them from Costco, hopefully, they don't ruin my wheels during install - I also need to be clear about my wheel spacers and the bolts being a different length front/rear. Suppose I could time a nice thorough wheel and wheel well cleaning with ensuring the correct bolts were used at all 4 corners after the new tires go on.

 

Wow, thank you all for your thoughtful responses!

One thing is clear, NOBODY suggests keeping the Pirelli...

I think I will give the Michelin a try.

 

Has anyone run the 19" wheels with Conti rubber? If so, how is/was it?

 

I used to run Continental All-Seasons in Chicago winters on a 19" wheel on my E92 few years back... never had any complaints and felt very confident in February!

 

You have a lot of faith in the Costco hacks. The only think I will let them install is on my work trucks with steel wheels. Good luck with your expensive wheels and bolts/spacers! Sounds penny wise and pound foolish to me.....

 

Worked out fine. Just picked it up now. They were more thorough than my local Porsche dealer. They even let me watch them get it up on the lift