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New C4S owner and boy am I hitting a wall all over the internet trying to find a suitable Wheel and all season Tire combo that is safe for the c4S. Feels like every thread either has tires that aren't made or concerns with the viscous clutch being ruined by the sizing. Is there an easy button or preferred combination available now for those of us in the frozen north who want to run the car all year long? I would be fine with any stock or other vendor supplier ideas for wheels. Is it as easy as just getting a Wheel +Tire combo for a C4 and adding spacers in the back?
Not super worried about deep snow, that is what the Macan S's job is.
Last edited by Frozen_Andy; 01-09-2023 at 06:26 PM.
When I faced this problem with my wife’s BMW, I called Tire Rack, the local dealer, and a local tire shop. They should each give you what you need for a good tire choice.
You should be able to get Michelin AS/4 for your car, one of my favorite AS tires.
OP - Should you even bother with A/S tires? They only get you an extra few degrees. Through the years many 996 drivers have gotten winter 8” and 10” wheels with Blizzaks (etc) and enjoyed the snow.
I feel your pain. My 03 C4S came with summer tires when I bought it, and I definitely wanted to drive it all year. Finding all seasons is not impossible, but it isn’t as easy as many other cars. In the end, I dis get another set of wheels with dedicated snow tires; now twice each year I get an additional workout as I swap them on/off. In my experience, when you do get some snow on the road, snow tires are vastly better than all season tires. If you can afford it, the snow tires is the way to go (and there are some snow tire options that won’t break the bank, if you don’t turn your nose up at the brand name).
Invest in a set of rear winter rims for the 4s, I did after wrongly stretching 265 on the summer 11" rear rims. It looked a little weird but I survived one winter and then found 10" rims and have used them the past 3 winters including this current winter season.
Last edited by Optionman1; 01-12-2023 at 07:49 PM.
If your getting wheels/tires for the snow, and have summer tires/wheels, well, with a name like "Frozen_Andy" assume you intend to do some extended deep snow driving. Thats cool.
Some of the most fun I've had in a Porsche is pushing thru the back/mtn roads in fresh early morning snow going skiing in Vermont/NH/MA.
Car was more on the 'Rally Car' set up then the road racer norm. You've got a C4S,,,Go for 4 quality snows on 8 & 10 rims, go at least stock ride height imo, with the biggest snows that will fit. You'll luv it.
Have really enjoyed the Blizzacks.
What a sweet rally snow car the 996 is. Thing hangs in there impressively well, can push it hard for a ton of smiles... Had some high speed cable type 'snow chains in my Frunk in case needed, then it was like a snow plow...
There aren't many options for winter tires either. I just put Michelin Pilot Alpin 4 on my TT which has the same tire sizes, using the stock 8" and 10" rims as listed in the Porsche document mentioned above.
I've used these tires, the Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus, with zero complaints even with snow and ice conditions. Drove from Great Falls Virginia to southwest suburbs of Philly during a nasty winter storm. It snowed/icy rained during the entire trip and along the way saw multiple, multiple cars pulled over to the shoulder and stopped because of conditions and several cars that slid off the road completely. It was about a 150 mile trip and my 1999 911 C4 handled it without a problem. Had traction and control of the car at all times, felt solid as a rock.
All the advice is super helpful. Goal of the car was to allow me to drive all year in a fun car. Leaning now towards dedicated snows. Makes more sense with my temp/frequent snow on roads in WI.
Sounds good, where is the best place to get a good 8in/10in setup that I can buy? Is that the stock wheels on a C4?
Invest in a set or rear winter rims for the 4s, I did after wrongly stretching 265 on the summer 11" rear rims. It looked a little weird but I survived one winter and then found 10" rims and have used them the past 3 winters including this current winter season.
I have a set of 265s stretched on 11” rear rims right now. It works fine and doesn’t look too bad. Sure, Porsche recommends 10” for this set up, but the tread width remains constant (contact patch unchanged) whether you have a 10” or 11” rim.
As others have said, winter tires make a tremendous difference. I drove 400mi on the interstate to Ithaca and back during that mid-December snow storm that went through the northeast. Not an issue for the C4S at all. Others were not so fortunate.
When I was searching, I could not find stock size snow/winter tires (295/30-18) for the rear wheels on my C4S.
I ended up going with Blizzaks on a spare set of rims (8" and 10"). 225/40-18 on the front and 255/35-18 on the rear. The 255s are borderline stretched, but do fit on 10" wide rear wheels. The wheel circumference differs by only 0.4% between front to rear, with the rears being very slightly smaller than the fronts. I believe this is ideal for the viscous coupling AWD.
01-09-2023, 05:52 PM
All Season Wheel/Tire options for C4S?
