Rdelvalle

I have Brdigestones Potenza Pole Position RA050A tires. I t came with the car when I bought it, they have about 5k miles on them. Any comments on these tires? How do they compare with the Michellins and Continentals being discussed here? They are not low cost tires from what I have seen.

Ed Hughes

I have them on my "new" 993. I've only done one quick 20 minute backroad blast to try the young lass out, and they are fine for a street tire.

fast_freddy

Yep, the RE11 sucks. Turn in is dreadful, which I suspect is exacerbated on a heavier car like a 993 relative to a Miata. They are comfy as a street tire though which is what service they are seeing now.

I'm curious about the new Michelin PSS (or whatever its called) though. My experience with Conti's has been less than favorable although I do have Extreme contact Winter tires on my Benz and they are quite good in the snow but a little squirmy in the dry.

V

There is a new Michelin tire out now that has got really good reviews. It's superior to the PS3 in dry grip and superior to the PS2 in wet conditions. It's not an R-rated tire but still a very good street tire for occational track days. The sizes they come in are few at the moment but Michelin said they will release this tire in more sizes during the course of 2011. The name of the tire is Michelin Pilot Super Sport. Do a google search and you will find lot's of info.

CorrdoBrit

PSS's come in very limited 18" sizes but should work fine if you're OK with a 265 profile rear. Hopefully they'll bring out some wider sizes later in 2011.

Std tire on the Ferrari 458.... 'nuff said

f8vr993

Okay, I had to replace my rear tires last week and when I went to Tire rack I saw the Conti tires which OP was refering to... It was cheap and got great review...My RL friend recommand Sumitomo said it was inexpensive and great performance...
Prices at TR are;(all rear tires)
Conti DW(summer) $147
Michelin PS2 $262
Bridge RE050A PP $222
Sumitomo HTR $122
I went with Sumi because it was just too cheap to ignore...

Ed Hughes

I always think you get what you pay for, especially with tires.

goofballdeluxe

Tire companies love people who they convince this is true. But it's almost always not true.

It may be possible to spend the most and get a great street tire. But is also possible to spend half the money and still get a similarly great street tire.

Ed Hughes

Bur there are sub-$100 tires that have no business on a 911/964/993, IMO. I should have said "you get what you pay for-within reason".

Canyon56

Just to play devil's advocate I guess you could say these things about pricing and value with just about any product.

And as a reminder Porsche currently has the biggest profit margin in the industry. And in 1996 my 993 MSRP'd for $72k. That was a lot of money back then (and still is....) Over priced? Worth it? Were there better choices? It's your call.......

fwiw, here's a review of that new Michelin Pilot Super Sport:http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...y.jsp?ttid=141

nile13

Let's look at it slightly differently. How many Michelin commercials have you seen in the last week? How many Dunlop, Kumho, Falken, Hankook, Yokohama commercials?

Do you wish to pay for Michelin advertisement assault (which, frankly, gets on my nerves tremendously, especially when they showing all these babies and imply safety when they talking about brick-like "tires" of theirs with 80K mile warranties)? If so, it's your choice, of course.

I would like _once_ to hear from someone who can truly say: "I have driven on PS2s, Direzzas, A008s, RT-615s, Evos and made a decision that PS2 are best tire of the group, let alone worth twice the price of others". If such a person exists (and, oh, btw, I have driven on all of them and I think PS2s are good tires, far from the best, way overpriced), please come forward and give your opinions. Please. No mentioning of any magazine reviews. Lessee here. Magazines that survive solely on... oh, my, they survive on tire advertising budgets.

Ed Hughes

I''ve got Bridgestone's on the 993 that are perfectly good. I run Yoko R's on the '84 that have done well.

I have Michelins on my Ridgeline with 70K and no where near the end- I think they are worth the $250 per tire.

beentherebaby

Subjective opinions are generally worth what you pay for them. Objective testing eliminates the bias and emotion.

The Conti DW objectively tests well according to Tire Rack. The new Michelin Super Sport appears to test better than the PS2. Depending on what a person desires from a tire either might work just fine.

The Sumitomo HTR looks to be an older tire design circa 2007. It doesn't provide the grip of the newer tires like the Conti DW or even the PS2, according to TR's testing results.

FWIW, mixing tires is never good nor recommended, especially on a Porsche.

timothymoffat

Jonathon (OP), I'd never seen nor heard of that model Conti before this thread. They do seem reasonably priced. I had SportContact 2s on my 996 and liked them but that's not what you're asking.

After 8500 miles of "spirited" on-road driving and 2 auto-x, the Sumi HTRZIIIs I'm running on the 97 still impress me. Why? They offer all you need for the street at a fraction of the cost. They aren't stickier than a more extreme track tire. They aren't better in the snow than an all-season or snow tire. They don't last twice as long as anything else. They aren't "the only tire you'll ever need". But they are the best bang for the buck going for an all-around tire IMHO.

Now buy some tires for those Speedlines so we can see them on the car!!!

Canyon56

Dunlop is owned by Goodyear (75%) and Sumitomo (25%) Goodyear has a pretty massive ad budget. Falken is owned 100% by Sumitomo.

Last I looked, most Michelin tires are made in France, Germany, Italy, the UK, and the USA (where labor is higher.) They do have plants in Brazil and Thailand. And all Kumho tires are made in their factories in South Korea and China. Bridgestone has factories all over the world from Iran to Turkey to Bangladesh. And of course they own Firestone, too.

Korea Tires (that's what "Hankook" means in Korean) are made in South Korea and China.

Michelin and Bridgestone are the world's two largest tire manufacturers. Michelin also owns BF Goodrich and Uniroyal. Bridgestone has much higher profits (and more revenue) than Michelin. Bridgestone has a huge advertising presence, too.

I'm not defending any brand, but I think one needs to know what the advertising budget is with these companies in respect to their sales volume and take that into account before you can assume that Michelin is gouging people. If ABC Company sells more product and has more revenue, they no doubt can have a bigger marketing budget. In return that marketing then creates more sales.

XYZ Company may be selling way fewer units and therefore can't advertise nearly as much. I'm guessing that Kumho or Hankook probably have a much smaller ad budget for their consumer tires. Although who knows how much advertising they do in China or Russia. Maybe that's where they put their ad money? Maybe Michelin simply has more exposure in North America?

I kind of doubt that Kumho or Hankook sell their product for less primarily because of ad budget savings. Or that Michelin is so excessively profitable from over pricing and therefore flood the airwaves with funds from their bloated coffers.