RallyJon

My rear PS2s are shot, and unfortunately the fronts are over half worn, so just getting a pair of rears is risky.

I loved the Michelins' wonderful ride and handling, but was thinking of trying something a little more stiff and sticky. If they cost well under $1000 a set, that wouldn't hurt either. The Michelins have gone way up.

I'm impressed by the reviews that say the new Dunlop Direzza is a great rain tire, and also sticky with sharp turn-in like an Advan or Azenis in the dry. And while they're not a cheap as Falkens, they're pretty reasonable.

Anyone try them on a 993 yet?

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....t+Z1+Star+Spec

trophy

I put a set on mid last year in 235 40zr18 on the front and 265 35zr 18 on the rear. I have found these tires to be absolutly great. My car is predominatly a track toy, the tires have given me quicker lap times than the set of Nitto NT01 (r-compounds) i took off.

They are very progressive, heat up quickly, they do get a little greesy after 10 laps or so, a couple of cool down laps cures this pretty easily. Pressures need to be kept under 40 hot, as soon as it gets over this they get very slippery. On the road they are very good, I havent noticed if they make much noise (can only hear the exhaust). I havent driven them in the rain as yet, but from the tread styling and the relatively soft compount I think they will be great.

Overall for a 200 wear tire they are exceptional. I was looking originally at the Falken 615's as these were the tires of choise for the stock spec series, with the intro of thhe dunlop I think there has been a big move over.

I will definatly be buying another set again.

Hope this helps.....

RallyJon

Thanks for the datapoint.

I guess I'm just searching for that "RE-71 moment" when you put on a new set of tires on an old car, and they have that combination of stick and sharp feel that makes you grin every time you turn the wheel.

When I replaced the P6s on my old Golf with RE-71s. Then S-02s. Then Advan A046s. Looking for the next, oh-my-god I didn't know tires could be this good! tire.

e9stibi

I have the Falken 615 and liked them at my last DE. At least as good as the Pirellis I had before and significantly less expensive. There were to other 911 and one of them on the second set.

nile13

Jon, they are very good tires, possibly the best street tire out today. The entire street tire class crowd (autoX) pretty much migrated to them over the last year. I've had a chance to drive an M3 on them and like them quite a lot both on the street and off.

Before then I thought that Azenis RT-615 are the only game in town and that is what I have on both my cars now. Depending on the cost I might try Direzza for the next set. The only thing that is of concern is that i never had good luck with Dunlop quality, but my own last set of Dunlops was about 5 years ago.

If you are looking for that RE-71 (or Yoko AVSi) moment, you can not go wronf with either Azenis or Direzzas. Azenis will be cheaper.

RallyJon

After a couple of weeks on the Direzzas, I'm really happy with them. Very old-school feel. They're new, so the excellent rain traction and quiet ride may not last, but they're pretty great all around now.

I really can't get over how sticky they are. And they have a great feel right at the edge of traction where they kind of chatter a bit--for want of a more descriptive term--and let you know right where they are.

Only real drawback is weight. Compared to the well worn PS2s, they are significantly heavier, 7 lbs each in the back and 5.5 lbs each in the front. I can really feel it when pulling away from a stop, and the steering is quite a bit heavier.

nile13

Good to hear, Jon!

The weight difference, however, is more than surprising. What size Direzzas and what size PS/2s are we talking about here? I'd like to try and find data on new tire weights to compare. 5-7 lbs sounds excessive.

RallyJon

225/45-17 and 255/40-17. The Direzzas are about the same weight as most max performance tires. The PS2s are pretty light for that class. I think the difference would be 2-3 lbs per corner if the PS2s were new. Tirerack has weights listed.

nile13

They claim 26/28 lbs for 225/255 Direzzas.

PS2 gets pretty interesting. The Porsche-rated N3 spec PS/2s are 26/24 lbs. So the fronts weigh the same and rear is 4 lbs lighter. The MB-spec PS2 is 22/24 lbs. Very odd numbers.

RallyJon

I had the regular, non-N versions.

But I don't think the N-rated 225/45-17 is for the front of any Porsche. Isn't that the rear on the lowest spec Boxster or Cayman? The N3 front tire that goes with the 255/40-17 rear is the featherweight 21 lb 205/50-17.

It makes sense that Porsche would bump up the stiffness for N rated rear tires on mid or rear engined cars.

Think about the 225/45-17 size. That tire on the front of my Audi supports about 1100 lbs. On the front of the 993, it supports about 650 lbs. How in the world can one tire perform its best in both those applications?

nile13

Jon, interesting, I did not think of that. Plus they show 225 as "pending", so it's probably not out yet.

In either case, PS2s are surprisingly light for the size, I didn't realize that.

007DT

WOW!! I'm really surprised to hear people saying they are going to these as track tires, even sticker than NT01's? Hard to believe. I just ordered a set of these 2 weeks ago for my DD. I didn't put too much thought into it as they were a free set that I won so I just got "the best they have?" I think it is great that they are excellent handling but worried that they may not last long after hearing this (for a Daily Driver)?

trophy

I have the GPS data from a Traqmate to prove the difference (between the star spec and the NT01)... I think for a daily driver they would be a great tire, at a 200 wear rating they will not last as long but will have a lot of fun in the mean time.....

Falcondrivr

Any updates on this tire after a few months now? My rears are getting pretty smooth, (I have no idea how) and I'm leaning toward the Star Specs. A set of 4 is only $190 more than 2 rear ContiSportContact 2s...

trophy

I have been so happy i have just ordered another set, My rears are done now, overall I ended up getting a full season of track time out of them. (14 fulldays @ 120 miles plus per day, plus another 15 or so evenings of 80 to 100 miles plus the to and from the track 40 mile round trip plus miscelaneous other trips...) I bought the original set back in August last year.

Everytime I took people for rides (I am a DE instructor) everyone was amazed at just how much grip the tires have, when I tell them they are 200 wear rating street tires they call BS.... They are that impressive.

I would recommend them to anyone who wants a fantastic steet/track tire that wears well and handles and grips like an R-Comp.....