Michael S.

Hello All,
I'm new to this forum, as I just bought my first Porsche yesterday. It's a Silver 1998 993 C2S with the factory aero kit, 18" turbo twist wheels & black leather. I love it! I've never seen a more beautiful automobile!

Only one problem... it desperately needs new tires! I drove it home (over four hours) yesterday in the rain and the rear end was dancing around (hydroplaning) at anything over 55mph. The previous (original) owner says I can expect maybe 12-13k out of the rear tires. The fronts are still the original P-Zero's (33k miles).

Thus my question. What tires are best loved on a 993 widebody? Here are the tires I'm considering:

Pirelli P-Zero's. The original P-Zero's seem kinda hard to me. They are really flat spotted for the first five minutes, but then seem to be just "ok".

Bridgestone S-02 or S-03's. I have expereince with Bridgestone S-02's on a 93 RX-7 Twin Turbo and I like them well enough, but threads here suggest they are very noisy (never noticed that on the RX-7). Have no experience with the S-03's.

Michelin Pilot Sports. My wife's 99 M3 has these tires and they perform fairly well. I don't think they are as stiff as the Bridgestones though.

Prices at the Tire Rack are all pretty much the same, so I'm looking for the best performing tire. I don't want them super noisy, but the car is a toy, not a daily driver so that isn't critical.

Please let me know what you guys think!

M. Schneider

FWIW, I have the same car as you and I couldn't be more pleased with the Pirelli P-Zero Asymetricals. Why PAG fitted Conti's to my 993 as a OE tire I'll never know; Lemme guess, $$-Ya think! There are currently newer P-Zero versions which ya mite want to look into.

Good luck with a great sports car-

Viken

The condition and/or the performance of the original used tires are no indication as to what they'll be like when new. All performance street rubber gets noisy and harder as it gets old. Especially, if the car is not driven frequently. If you are at all interested in maximum dry street performance, you can't beat the P-Zero Asimmetrico. If you can't find N1 specification, go for the N2. The N3 is the least desirable as it was mainly comfort oriented and installed in the newer 996 cars.

The S-02 doesn't even come close in terms of maximum dry performance but is slightly better in the wet. I don't know about the S-03 but it was designed for greater comfort rather than more performance. I believe, it is more suited to newer chassis designs.

The Posrche approved S-02A is much better than the S-02. You can find these at the Tire Rack (not on their web site). You also have the choice of running the newer Michelin Pilot Sport "Rib" as the Tire Rack is calling it. I've heard, it has good performance dry and wet.

KINGSRULE

I've had P Zero's (N1) and then,SO3's on my 97C4S. Just put Conti Sport Contact 2's on and here are my observations:
PZeros.. Hard, noisy, overrated dry grip, underrated wet grip, good wear. An old design that shows its age
SO3's.. Soft, vague cornering, good dry and wet grip which are about equal, quiet, short tread life. This tire just doesn't inspire confidence. Couldn't wait to replace them.
Sport Contact 2.. soild,even feedback, good dry and wet grip, car feels connected. Can't tell about wear as I only have 2k on them. I like this tire alot.
Also I had the original Sport Contacts and Pilot Sports on a 996 that I owned. The Sport Contacts were so bad I didn't even wait for them to wear off to replace them. I liked the Pilots alot and feel they would also be a good choice for a 993.

Allen

I have just turned about 600 miles on my SO3's and they are still as squirmy as the first day I put them on. GJ wrote "this tire just doesn't inispire confidence"...I write "you got that right"...I can't wait to get rid of them. I went from 17" Cups w/ PZeros to 18" hollow spokes w/ SO3's and was really pumped about it, but the SO3's just don't feel good. When I go through an S curve, it feels like I'm sitting on 3 inches of tread...the transition of the car is awful. I want my PZeros back. <img src="graemlins/crying.gif" border="0" alt="[crying]" /> I going to get my car checked for corner balancing this week, maybe that's the problem...but the car felt greta with the 17" PZeros...we'll see.

Michael S.

OK,

So far, it sounds like P-Zero's are the way to go. I am curious to hear from someone who has run the Michelin Pilot Sports.

Also, I can find the P-Zero N-2's but not the N-1's. What's the difference?

Mike

fbfisher

I've got pilot sports on 18" Technology rims, my sister ('95 993 cab) has PZeros on 17" rims, I think the pZeros have a smoother ride but stick just as well - both feel like the car is on rails, but I think my ride is a little harsher but don't know if its the rims or the tires. I read a post somewhere on this board about the difference in the feel or smoothness of the ride between 18" and 17" rims.

Ray Calvo

Bridgestone RE730. Good combo bet. performance, life, and damage to your wallet.

Matt Vaughan

Michael, if you want the best performing street tire, get a set of BFG GForce K/D's. They're the next best thing to DOT-rated R-compounds. They will wear quickly, giving you somewhere in the neighborhood of 3-4K miles.

S02: great performers, poor life, decent price.

PZeros: great performance, better life than the S02.

Pilot Sport: decent performance, good life, expensive.

dwe8922

I'm getting ready to replace my tires too. Has anyone tried the kumho ecsta v700 (the street tire, not the track tire)?

I've got 18" pilot sports on kinesis supercups, and they have lasted well (almost 15k miles, w/ 3 track events). I'd say better dry, and good wet performance. The grip sluffed off a lot after the heat cycles from the track. Steve recomended the dunlop sport 9000 as a good performing more comfortable street tire for those with stiffer suspensions, and track tires.

Along with the unusually long life compared to what I've read, my front tires are almost as worn as the rears

David

Michael S.

To All,

Ordered the P-Zero's (N-2's). Should be waiting on me when I get home next week. I'll let you know what I think of them.

Thanks to all for their input!

Mike

Jack Ennuste

I am very pleased with Toyo Proxes T1-S tires. I had oportunity to compete last summer in 1/4 mile and my car had best acceleration in 0-60 ft (only street-legal cars participated). This 0-60ft especially characterizes the tire traction. Competition was held on the general road.

<a href="http://www.toyo.com/tires/tire_lines/high_perf/t1s.html" target="_blank">http://www.toyo.com/tires/tire_lines/high_perf/t1s.html</a>

laurence '97 C4S

I have Pirelli P-Zero's which have performed well. My main comment is that, if you go with P-Zero's, I would try to ascertain the long term availablity of N-2's. What you will learn is that the rear tires last half as long as the fronts. Something on the order of 10,000 miles in the rear and 20-25,000 in the front. Now this creates a problem depending on how quickly you put miles on.

My rear tires needed to be replaced (I had N-1's all around.) When I went to replace them (fronts did not need to be replaced yet) I found that Pirelli was no longer making N-1's (at least that is my recollection- in anycase I could not get my hands on a pair of N-1's). Just N-2's which have different characteristics and are not recommended to be mixed. (Although I never got a good reason why from Porsche.)

So in a long winded way, I would make sure the n-2's are going to be around a while.

Tito

Bridgestone S02A.
These tyres are much much better than the S02s. The car feels more stable wet and dry.
Tito

Viken

[quote]Originally posted by Tito:
<strong>Bridgestone S02A.
These tyres are much much better than the S02s. The car feels more stable wet and dry.</strong><hr></blockquote>

I agree as I have these on my other car. Also, the S-02A is another OEM tire installed on 2002 9x6 cars.