Tire Advice Needed
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Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 135
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From: Dallas
Another good tire to consider for a less expensive alternative is the Hankook Ventus K104. i replaced my rear Pirelli P-zeros with these because I also wanted a longer lasting street tire (I have a 2nd set of wheels/tires for the track). I can get 2 of these for the price of 1 Pirelli. I also have 1 6 month old Pirelli P-zero Rosso I'd like to get out of my garage too.
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Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 3,773
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From: Right Coast
Yes, thank you for pointing that out. I am dealing with the same concern as the OP. I will have PS2's on the front with considerable life left in them when I need rears. Tire Rack offers the Sport Ribs and Costco shows the Pilot Sport, (not Pilot Sport 2) as available. So is it better to mix tires designs or increase the size by 10 mils? Probably the size change, I think. A couple of posters in this threat mentioned using 295's on the rear. Adds a touch of understeer, I guess, but probably not enough for me to notice.
Yup, Ive always had PS Rib on my 02 911. I think they're outstanding both on the streets and track.
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Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 600
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From: Frisco, TX
It's 6pm Sat night and I'm bored. Since I'm a bit OCD, I've got some more input and things to ponder about.
Given a tire size (i.e. 295/30-18), not all tires (Bridgestone, Michelin, Pirelli, etc.) are created equal. I got on Tirerack, selected all the Porsche N-rated tires for comparison, and saved the results to my web server. For kicks, I threw in the Sumitomo HTR Z III: linky, linky
My observations (using tire sizes for my C4S):
Tire Weight. For a set of 4 tires, it looks like the lightest to heaviest are:
Pirelli - 48lbs/front & rear --> 96lbs/front & rear pair
Michelin - 51lbs/front & rear --> 102lbs/front & rear pair
Bridgestone - 52lbs/front & rear --> 104lbs/front & rear pair
Sumitomo - 55lbs/front &r rear --> 110lbs/front & rear pair
Continental - 57lbs/front & rear --> 114lbs/front & rear pair
The difference in weight between the lightest (Pirelli) and the heaviest (Continental) may not be much (heck, when I take a dump, I lose 10lbs easy
), but this is rotation mass. I think every little bit counts if acceleration is your game.
Tread Depth. The Bridgestones have the least tread depth, which probably explains why it has a 140 tread wear rating. Then again, the Pirellis also have a 140 tread wear rating and it has the full 10/32" of tread like the other tires (besides the Bridgestones).
Overall Diameter. ALL the tires (brands and front or rear) have varying diameters.
Revs Per Mile. Of course, overall diameter affects Revs Per Mile, which is a better indicator. Higher Revs Per Mile is a subtle and cheap way to lower gearing, but it affects the speedo and odometer; lower Revs Per Mile has the opposite affect (raises gearing).
Likewise w/ Tire Weight, even w/ a subtle lower gearing, every little bit helps for the acceleration people.
Country of Origin. Well, does anybody really care about this?
I would love to see Tread Width specs as this is where the rubber meets the road, but almost all of the manufacturers in that comparo ain't sayin.
Given all of this info, the Pirelli or Michelin would be the best choice, IMO, on paper for Porsche N-rated tires if money was no object. I base this out of Tire Weight, Revs Per Mile, and Tread Depth. Out of that two, my pick would be the Michelin because of Revs Per Mile and Tread Wear Rating.
Coincidentally, I have the Michelin N1 on my C4S. No, I'm not biased, they were on the car when I bought it. Now knowing this info, I'm not complaining.
Remember, the Sumitomo is the only non-Porsche N-rated tire I included in this comparo. If anybody else wants to see Michael's OCD trait, then I'll do comparisons on the other tires available for the C4S. Hell, I encourage everybody to do their own comparisons and pick the tire best for them based on their own thought process.
///Michael
* I'm, by all means, no tire expert and this is just my analysis using my logic and my logic has been known to be weird and/or wrong at times.
Given a tire size (i.e. 295/30-18), not all tires (Bridgestone, Michelin, Pirelli, etc.) are created equal. I got on Tirerack, selected all the Porsche N-rated tires for comparison, and saved the results to my web server. For kicks, I threw in the Sumitomo HTR Z III: linky, linky
My observations (using tire sizes for my C4S):
Tire Weight. For a set of 4 tires, it looks like the lightest to heaviest are:
Pirelli - 48lbs/front & rear --> 96lbs/front & rear pair
Michelin - 51lbs/front & rear --> 102lbs/front & rear pair
Bridgestone - 52lbs/front & rear --> 104lbs/front & rear pair
Sumitomo - 55lbs/front &r rear --> 110lbs/front & rear pair
Continental - 57lbs/front & rear --> 114lbs/front & rear pair
The difference in weight between the lightest (Pirelli) and the heaviest (Continental) may not be much (heck, when I take a dump, I lose 10lbs easy
), but this is rotation mass. I think every little bit counts if acceleration is your game.Tread Depth. The Bridgestones have the least tread depth, which probably explains why it has a 140 tread wear rating. Then again, the Pirellis also have a 140 tread wear rating and it has the full 10/32" of tread like the other tires (besides the Bridgestones).
Overall Diameter. ALL the tires (brands and front or rear) have varying diameters.
Revs Per Mile. Of course, overall diameter affects Revs Per Mile, which is a better indicator. Higher Revs Per Mile is a subtle and cheap way to lower gearing, but it affects the speedo and odometer; lower Revs Per Mile has the opposite affect (raises gearing).
Likewise w/ Tire Weight, even w/ a subtle lower gearing, every little bit helps for the acceleration people.
Country of Origin. Well, does anybody really care about this?
I would love to see Tread Width specs as this is where the rubber meets the road, but almost all of the manufacturers in that comparo ain't sayin.
Given all of this info, the Pirelli or Michelin would be the best choice, IMO, on paper for Porsche N-rated tires if money was no object. I base this out of Tire Weight, Revs Per Mile, and Tread Depth. Out of that two, my pick would be the Michelin because of Revs Per Mile and Tread Wear Rating.
Coincidentally, I have the Michelin N1 on my C4S. No, I'm not biased, they were on the car when I bought it. Now knowing this info, I'm not complaining.
Remember, the Sumitomo is the only non-Porsche N-rated tire I included in this comparo. If anybody else wants to see Michael's OCD trait, then I'll do comparisons on the other tires available for the C4S. Hell, I encourage everybody to do their own comparisons and pick the tire best for them based on their own thought process.
///Michael
* I'm, by all means, no tire expert and this is just my analysis using my logic and my logic has been known to be weird and/or wrong at times.
Last edited by Michael-Dallas; Nov 1, 2008 at 08:38 PM.