How about Bridgstone Poetenza's? Any good?

 

I agree with Lex on getting a good tread depth gauge. They cost just a few bucks and will give you a definite idea on if your tires are wearing properly. Don't be surprised to find insides worn about 2-3 3/32nd more in the back when worn as the outside shoulder. Camber wear. Fronts will come every other set.

Check out our selection of depth and air gauges here.

 

I'm thinking of going with the 20" MPSS. I see there are 3 different rears in the same size 295/30 on tire rack, two of which are on back order. The one that is available is labeled as "Mercedes". Does this matter - they all look to have the same specs - or is it just that Porsche doesn't have an approved version?

 

My guess is that the Mercedes tire is specked for a Mercedes, similar to the idea of N rating for Porsche. I would check carefully before I bought that one designated "Mercedes." It may be perfectly OK for your car, but may not be. For example, I think the new BMW M4 has Michelin PSS, and the front and rear have different tread designs, not just different sizes. I don't think you would want to buy the Mercedes coded PSS if it was specifically designed for the Benz in a similar manner as the M4.

 

Potenza's don't have an "N" rating so no go for Porsche. "N" rated tires possess a specially designed Porsche compound, anything else won't do.

 

N rating is pure marketing; lack of paying Porsche for an N rating means absolutely nothing. The fastest drivers are NOT on N rated tires, and MPS2 & MPSS are way overpriced; you can get better tires for cheaper. Lots of info online, or Damon can hook you up.

 

Well, its not quite pure marketing. Porsche (and other car makers) do work with tire manufacturers to develop tires fine-tuned to deliver what the company considers the best balance of performance, ride quality and noise levels. The resulting tire, while visually identical to the normal production model its based on, has internal construction different enough to affect handling if mixed. Thus, the N-designation so we can tell them apart. More here- http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=26

The one thing they don't mention is that because the N-spec versions are made in smaller numbers they cost more than the more mass-produced version of the same tire. The differences are slim, with the biggest difference being price, which is where a lot of the "marketing" perception comes in. But mix them up on your car, you will learn real fast they are different! And that's the real message- don't mix your tires.

 

When I look at tire rack I see Mercedes, BMW and non-descript (only the Mercedes is not on back order). These all come up when you plug in the type of car so assume they must be viable to run on a Porsche?

Anyway, when I go through America's Tire (there is one local to me I have used before), I see rears that are described as OE and the fronts as coded Fer for Ferrari I believe. They said it is fine, but not sure.

Would they really be different, or is this just an approval from the car manufacture of the exact same tire?

If I hadn't looked closely at the order I wouldn't have even noticed this.

 

Tire Rack has some info posted on their site, see link below (Chuck, the link in your post took me to the homepage). I am on the fence with regards to the level of actual differences versus the marketing/financial arrangements between Porsche and the related tire company. I suspect that Pirelli paid a pretty Euro to get N rated and be the OEM tire on all 991's, but I'm sure that they did some specific engineering as well.

Personally, after going through two sets of Pirelli's, which I liked, I switched to the MPSS which I like better. I am not particularly concerned with the N rating as I believe lots of companies can make quality tires that will work well on my car, and I go through them quickly enough that I can change them in 6 months if I don't like them. In fact, I think that if you are looking for more grip, you have to go with non-N spec tire. Not sure if there are N rated winter tires either. I will probably try the Nito or MPC2 when I wear out these tires.

I agree with the posts above that all four tires should be the same. I would not want to find myself in a situation where my front tires had different levels of wet grip than the rears, or one rear tire had less grip then the other. I am not even sure I would track a patched tire, although I would not worry about street driving on one.

With that said, if you want your car to be absolutely stock, then only use N rated tires.


http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=26

 

Having settled on MPSS, not having N-spec does not concern me. If there are MPSS that are actually different, versus being the same tire just endorsed by a particular car manufacturer (Ferrari, Mercedes, BMW) - then the difference would bother me.

 

One thing is when you get Damon to get in on your thread, then you did good.
THis is BS. Take your car in for Trade in with non N tires and you will immediately get $800 knocked off your trade in price because the dealer wants those on there for CPO. I had 2 different dealers sat the same thing. I had JUST bought new Michelins from Tire rack to replace the rears and that was the first thing they saw. I HAD NO IDEA Damon that tirerack had sold me a NON N tire. Make sure you get the N on your tires.
ALSO get the SAME tires that are your fronts. CHANGE Brands to what ever you want but change all four at the same time. You can change brands any time you want but if youre keeping your fronts keep the brand the same as the fronts.
ON EVERY 911 I have had, 993,996,997.1,997.2 the formula has been 2 sets of rears for every ONE sets of fronts.

 

Good point. That was the reason for my first question on tread depth as I plan to remove the Pirellis while they have sufficient tread depth and retain them for later. While using MPSS in the meantime.

 

Drive more, worry less.

Drive the wheel off of of it and enjoy ... then trade it in with bald rubber.

 

Just to circle back after talking to a few different tire establishments. The standard, Ferrari, Mercedes, BMW can have slight differences in size and possibly interior casings etc. Just like the responses above, all noted a preference of matching front and rear and some were okay with at least matching the fronts or matching the rears (acknowledging there could be an impact on handling characteristics but only likely at the track).

I ended up going with America's Tires based on prior experience and availability. The website only showed them having K1 Ferrari available for the fronts (rears are available in standard), however the store manager called their Michelin rep who noted that there is a version 2 of the MPSS out now and that also the K1 Ferrari model was being discontinued. Their website was not up to date on showing the standard MPSS - but gave the store manager the correct code and it will be on Wednesday.

Probably way too much thought and effort for what maybe no perceivable difference, but I feel better about it now!

 

I had the Porsche technical rep on the phone and he was not a stooge and he said "N" rated or nothing they have a custom engineered Porsche rubber compound. Take it from there. Pls check out the Goodyear "N" rated version if you want maximum miles.