ankuse

Recently got a certified 991 C2S and this morning I had my winter wheels and tires put on the car (Michelin pa4 Nspec on Victor Equipment Innsbruck (20inch)).

Can anyone describe how these tires handle? Understand that they are winter tires, but should I be concerned about some occasional spirited driving?

Thanks

signes

They handle very well for a winter tire but obviously need to be prepared for lower cornering and braking limits. Once you have it out in some snow report back in your experience.

chuck911

Go have a look at your tires right now while they're new. See how many small tread blocks there are compared to a summer performance tire? Notice all the squiggly little cuts in the tread blocks? Those are called sipes. Push on a tread block with your thumb. The tread block squirms sideways exposing the edges of the sipes which cut into your skin. All these little sipe edges are what gives winter tires so much traction on snow and ice.

So you don't have to ask anyone, you can see for yourself how these tires- any tires, really- are going to handle. The little tread blocks are going to squirm all over the place, making for sluggish, mushy handling. Edges that would cut into snow are just going to rub right off on dry pavement, making for less traction than a sport tire. Worse, driving them hard on dry pavement is going to round off all those edges, ruining the tires performance when its really needed on snow and ice.

So the smart thing is to mount winter tires only when you need them, drive them as hard as you want on snow and ice, and as easy as you can when not on snow and ice.

Grunty

Isn't the point of winter tires that they perform better in wet and dry conditions due to the rubber compound being suited to cold temperatures? One would assume that sottozeroes and alpins are designed to offer a safer and better driving experience than summer tires in cold temps without being intended for deep snow.

StudGarden

^ that's what I thought too. Mounting special tires just for frozen contamination on the roads and no other time would be ridiculous and no one south of Leno/Seinfeldian levels of resources would ever do it. It would be far better to just use chains if that were true.

enzom

Bingo. The pirellis lose grip when it gets into the low 50's because the compound gets too hard. The Alpins keep grabbing at much lower temps.

oceanz

do you guys think the innsbruck rims are ok for winter? I am looking for some winter rims and am hearing mixed reviews on them!

eg991

The Pilot Alpins handle just fine. I ran them last year on my C2S (and have ordered a set of Alpins on HRE FF01s for my new Turbo) and they will handle anything you will be able to responsibly throw at them on a public road. Not sure if I would track them, but for street driving -- sure, they're great.

ankuse

i went with the innsbruck bc they were reasonable priced and lighter than the stock wheels. I wanted to get a set of OEM wheels, but could not find a reasonably priced used set, so went with the innsbruck. I also wanted 20inch not 19, since many said michelin alpines were better than pirellis.

So far so good.