Rick Lee

I just got my 996 Carrera 5 spokes and they are soooo awesome. They came with Pirelli Rosso Asimmetricos - 285 rear and 235 front. Trouble is that there is NO marking on the tirewall as to which one is left and which is right. Tires are mounted correctly, but there is no arrow or wording stating which side is which. I called Tirerack and they assured me it was marked. I went out there again and saw nothing. Does anyone have a photo of them on the car, facing the right direction? The tread pattern is not such that the left or right side would be obvious. Thanks.

graham_mitchell

not even (possibly subtle) arrows indicating the correct rolling direction?

chris walrod

Rick, the only way to be sure is to send those wheels to me and I will run them in one direction, mark them and return to you

Sorry I cant be of any real help...

nile13

Rick, there are definitely marks on Assymetricos, I've seen them. I don;t have them on the car, so can't show you a pic, but they should be there.
Look carefully at this pic: http://tinyurl.com/2bxop At just past 12 O'clock there are 4 words: Esterno, Aussen, Entereour and Outer

Rick Lee

Yes, I saw the words stating which was the outer side. But that does not help me with which is left and which is right. There are NO arrows. I was staring at that photo while on the phone with Tirerack.

Terry Adams

"At just past 12 O'clock there are 4 words: Esterno, Aussen, Entereour and Outer"

If you put the left tire on the right side and vv, they would both have the "Esterno" pointing outwards, but they would each be facing in the reverse direction. That is what they just did to my Pirelli Assymetricos, which are not directional.

I am sure Viken will eventually opine here, but it seems to me that the only directional tire clue is, like Graham says, an arrow on the sidewall.

Chris L

Richard,

Asimmetricos aren't directional. They just have an outer and inner side. They rotate according to which side they're mounted on, with the outer side marked. Here's a picture of mine on the driver's side, looking from the rear. (Although I don't think I've got Rossos, whatever that means.)

Chris.

nile13

Terry, if tires were mounted correctly that should not be the case. Or am I missing something here?

Terry Adams

Right, Mike, I don't get it either. If you look at the "V" on the inside tread in Chris L's pic, the open part of the "V" is facing the front, as it is on mine now. If mounted on the opposite side the open part of the "V" would be facing the back, as it was on mine before they swapped it.

So which is correct on mine, the before or after? Or does it matter? I would hate to have the ABS locked up in a panic stop, and the "V" is pointing the wrong way, all because I could not properly translate "Direzzionale".

ca993twin

My guess is that if they have no arrows, they are NOT directional tires. Its not at all unusual for the tread on some tires to appear to be backwards on one side of the car. Weird, but pretty common. Anybody want to take any bets on this?

csertich

I just had Continental SportContact2's installed on the rear (fronts were ok). When I got home after the install, I searched and searched for the directional arrows and didn't find them. Just about the time I was convinced that my tires were mounted wrong, I found the word 'outside' on the 'outside' of each tire. I guess these aren't directional. ?

My previous tires didn't last 4000 miles. I had excessive wear on the inside of each rear tire while the outside weren't worn as much. I had an alignment and c/b done when my shop mounted the new rear tires. But I am watching tire wear very closely.

If I were to begin to see eneven wear again, could I swap the tires from side to side (to even out the wear)? Once they've rolled in one direction, must they always roll in that same direction for the rest of their life (I'm hoping these tires live beyond 4k miles)?

This could be my application to HWFR-being slow (mentally) by asking this unbelievably stupid question.

Of course, I realize that if I begin to see uneven tire wear, I need to go back to the shop and get the car aligned properly because this would sure indicate it wasn't done right the first time.


Didn't mean to hijack your thread Rick-It is just that I had the same problem.

Thanks to all,
chuck

cliang

Richard,

ca993twin is right. There's just an inside and outside. They may look backwards, but they're not. I think you're more worried about the different compounds in the tires and which were designed for the different sections of the tread.

Chris Liang

nile13

Terry and Chris, your tires are not Rosso Asimmetrico, they are System Asimmetrico.

It just dawned on me that I misunderstood Rick's question. Yes, indeed, the tires will rotate in different directions on the two sides of the car. Strange, but that's the way they should be. That's where the word Assimetrico (non-simmetric) comes from, I guess.
If you read this blurb: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....em+Asimmetrico it might become more apparent. Pirelli suggests asimmertic tread on the rear and directional (Direzionale) on the front for wet climates. If you look at Rosso Direzionale here: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/BigPic...wall=Blackwall you will see the arrow for direction.

Hope that clears things up.

Randy M '96 Silver 993

I have the Rossos and they do not seem to be directional. There is no arrow and the tread is going the opposite direction on either side. They are mounted correctly, at least I think they are!!

Good Luck Rick.

nile13

Chuck, you don't qualify for HWFMR with these questions They are very common and logical questions. One of them - if the tire once rolled in one direction, can the direction be reversed - is a common starting poit for holly wars