I had terrible problems with S03s. Myself and two local Porsche friends all had similar experiences. Squirmy and prone to outright failure. Running Dunlop SSRs now.

 

Errr....OK, I somehow missed the whole "S03's Bad" advice when I bought tires last summer. Since I will need at least rears before too much longer, can anyone give the quick down and dirty of why/how S02A is preffered over S03? And any thoughts about having S03s on the front and S02As on the rear also appreciated. (and when I have time over the weekend, I'll dig into the archives for in-depth info....just looking for the "one over the world" info on this request)

 

In my opinion, the S03s are not bad. It is just that, in the view of many, the S0sAs are better. How have you liked your S03s so far? Mine gave good, but not great, dry grip for most of their life. I can't speak to the wet grip. They were predictable on the track. The tread life was ok. They did, however, tramline when worn to slicks, but so did my prior tires. S02As are Porsche approved. So they have that going for them, which is nice. The rubber compound on the s02as is softer, so they are supposed to have better dry grip, but will likely wear faster. I would not mix the tires.

 

Well, the S03s were the first tires I bought for the car. The P.O. gave me a set of...well, I can't remember....There was only enough tread on them for the drive from Houston to Las Vegas, and it was just a commute, not really exploring the limits. (And, I parked the car in storage for 4 months, so any impression I had was gone)

I have done a AX on the tires, and I didn't like them, but I don't like AX anyway for our cars. To me, AX is fun for great handling little cars that don't have a lot of power. For something with the power and setup of a 993, DE is much better. So, I am not sure how much my dissatifaction was from the tires or the event.

They have been OK for street, but there was a bit of understeer that I didn't like. I'll just keep looking at other's opinions and comments. I don't want t buy a full set of tires now, so I guess I'll have the S03s until the fronts wear out.

 

I know they are two different cars but I have S03's on my SC and love them. Great grip in the turns and no squeal when pushed. They are also a quiet tire from what I've seen. Maybe the 18" are louder, I don't know.

I have S02's on my 993 and they have a little less than half the life left. They are very noisy at low speeds and follow every line in the road. Consequently, I have a new set of S02A's ready to go. I decided to wear the S02's down a little more before I put the new S02A's on. I'll probably run a DE and autocross on the S02's before installing the S02A's. I'm curious about the difference myself.

As far as mixing S03's with S02A's, I would not do it. I talked to Bridgestone and they don't even recommend mixing S02's with S02A's. One other difference, if it makes a difference to you, is that the S03's are not N rated. I understand this may be more of an issue in Europe for insurance reasons than in the US.

 

What size rubber front and rear?