Kiwi Carguy

Hi guys,

Any experience or opinions on the following two tires? I need to buy a set and these are what are available to me. The Yokohama is a bit cheaper. Both I understand are Porsche approved.

Yokohama Advan V108 http://www.yokohama.com.au/ourtyres/tyre.aspx?tyreid=58
These appear to be the same http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes

Bridgestone SO2 http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes

Mainly street use with the occasional trackday.
TIA

CalvinC4S

I have always loved SO-2's for the way they communicate, I speak there language if that makes sense?!?!

Ed Burdell

I used to run SO-2's before I switched to Sumis.

I loved them, but seeing how my car ran thru a set of rears like a box of mints, I switched to a cheaper tire.

guardsredcab

I've had two sets of the SO2s and also have them on my 996 cab. As Ed says, the rears wear pretty quickly, especially if you have more aggressive camber setting. But, they've been great both for street/hwy and track. In order to preserve them for street, I just bought Nitto NT-01s for the track.

nile13

S-02a is a better tire than S-02 in every respect. So much so, that it's not even close.

Having said that, there are better tires. Without knowing what's important to you on the street it's hard to suggest. But if you can find Dunlop Direzza Z1 StarSpec (make sure that's the full name, StarSpec not just Direzza), you should be a happy camper.

I also used Falken Azenis RT-615 if you can find them in Kiwi-land. Excellent tire with a few shortcomings, but couldn't be beat price-wise for the past 4-5 years until StarSpecs came along. There are also several others, but availability is different in NZ, I'm sure.

anto1150

I do not agree!
I run S-02a on my 964, made 6000 km in 18 months. The grip dropped down A LOT after 4000-4500 km, even if they apparently still have another 8000-10000 km to go. I wouldn't suggest S-02a; don't have experience with S-02 on P. cars, but I remember on my old SLK they where not as bad.

ciao

black ice

Wouldn't drop my money on S02s again. Like other said, wear is not so great for what you get in traction. In addition to what Antonio said, wet traction seems to get lousy as the tires age.

I've done a few sets now of Potenza 750s and 760 sports. I don't know how they would hold up to occasional trackday but they are pretty good all-arounders in terms of traction, wear and price.

ave

nile13

How old are your S-02? Certain tires just heat cycle themselves to death over time regardless of miles/kilometers. My fronts on the previous 993 were original S-02, plenty of thread, no grip at all.

Staying with Bridgestone, though RE-50 is not a bad tire at all.

And, oh, this "Porsche approved tire" stuff... I don't pay _any_ attention to it. Porsche doesn't test more than a few tires, so why would we care what's approved and what's not?

timothymoffat

I've never run either on my 993 so am of little help (My S2000 had S02s but that's a different kettle of fish).

Although I think the S02s have one of the coolest ever tread patterns on a street tire, they are a very old design at this stage. Heck, they were original fitment on many 993s!.

anto1150

They are less than 24 months production (DOT).

That's true, some tyres do it more, some do it less... S-02As belong to the first group!

95 C4 993

Hankook Ventus V12---I own 2 sets, good tires.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes

Henry964

I vote for the Yokohama´s V103 they give me magnificent grip in dry or wet conditions and are wearing nicely.

I have to say that my next tires will be Hankook Ventus V12 because they are much cheaper here than the Yokos and reviews say it is a very good tire

clib

just tried the hankooks as well. I know they weren't aren't your original question/list. I couldnt stomach shelling out over 400 per rear tire again to get 7-8K miles out of it. So I tried these. 500 street miles and 1 DE - partially in the rain. great tires. everybit as quiet, comfortable and sticky as the PS2 I had been using which I loved. Better grip in the rain. And about 1/2 the price. I have heard good things about the sumi's as well.

Kiwi Carguy

Thanks for all the replies guys. I ended up going with the Yokohama's and so far they seem good. Haven't gone for a good hoon yet though. Decided to not go for anything too aggressive as I have another set of rims that i intend to put some trackday tires on.