GT3SanDiego

I looking for some decent, reasonably inexpensive street tires for my 2004 Turbo that will last longer than 7000 miles. I just went through Nitto Invo rear tires that wore out after 7000 miles--approximately one inch of the inside edges completely wore down to the cords even though the wear lines were still OK. The same thing happened after 5000 miles on the Michelin pilot sports that I previously had on the car. Is this normal for these cars or is my alignment totally screwed up? I only use this car on the street, and the the suspension is totally stock. I also have a GT3 for the track that does not have this uneven tire wear. I am OK with pricey high performance tires for the track but I don't need that for the street.

I currently have 19" wheels on the Turbo but I am planning on switching to 18" HRE wheels that I had previously used on my GT3. I am considering two different tires in 225/40 and 295/30 sizes:

Sumitomo HTR Z 111 ($500)
Falken Azenis FK453 ($685)

Does anyone have experience with these tires or are there any other suggestions for tires in this price range?

Macster

Based on my experience over the years the alignment is off. Too much rear toe. With a proper alignment tires should last -- at least the ones I run -- should last 20K miles and tread wear across the tread face even. And the proper alignment doesn't have the car all squirrelly at speed above a walking pace.

I have no experience with those tire brands. I've only had Continential and and Bridgestone tires on my Turbo. The two brands were indistinguishable from each other. Oh, of course they were N-rated tires.

The above tires are probably designed/intended for other less demanding vehicles and their use on the Turbo could overload them and lead to their premature wear. But the alignment doesn't help regardless.

Get new tires. Which ones I'll leave up to you. Fill the fuel tank. Empty the car of junk. Be sure the space saver spare and toolkit/etc are properly stowed. Then get the car properly aligned with a tire life friendly alignment that still has the car stable at <static> speeds. And for <static> trust me I'm talking serious speed if you know what I mean and I think you do.

Before you buy the tires be sure to plug in the numbers at a tire site that can calculate at least revs/mile for both the front and rear tires. The rear tires and front tires want to be sized so the rear tires make a few more revs/mile than the fronts. This causes the viscous coupling fluid to heat up (its working temperature is 350F) and transfer torque from the rear axle of the car to the front axle. But don't go overboard thinking if some few extra revs/mile at the back is good then more has to be better. To much difference in revs/mile can cause the fluid to get too hot and this can have the discs in the coupling come apart or the sealed bearings fail. This ruins the coupling and the front diff.

Flewis763

Alignment is messed up. That's your issue, not the tires.

GT3SanDiego

Thanks for the feedback! I was planning on getting the alignment checked after I put on the new wheels and tires. Should have done that when I first bought the car!

Third-Reef

i have 10K on my set of PS2s with one full track day and I still have about half the tread left. i am running about 1.2 deg camber with a 1/8" of toe in (difference in the measurement between the front of the tire and the back).stock suspension except Ebach sways bars, solid thrust bushing in the rear LCAs and 6 mm wheel spacers. Maybe it is my titanium lug nuts that make my tires wear well Probably not but they look good. H&R springs and Bilstien B8 shocks going on next week. We shall see how they do after that.

Third-Reef

I forgot about the real question, I think the Sumitomo HTR are probably the best bang for the buck for a street tire. about 1/3 the price of the PS2s and about 70% as good as a track tire and 100% as good as a street tire.

Carlo_Carrera

This.

turbodrummer

I've used the Sumimoto's on my E92 M3. Definitely not a track tire, but not bad for 'puttering' around town, decent in the rain (never driven in snow). They will get very greasy at end of life, but don't they all.......

Road King

When I bought my car 3 years ago it had new Falken FK453s out back and 1/2 used 452s up front, which were very loud. Car also had a terrible alignment, felt like I was driving home from San Diego sideways. I also immediately experienced PSM buzzing due to the mismatch (and my driving style) so I replaced the fronts with fresh 453s. They were good tires for the first 5-6K miles, almost all backroads and canyon runs. Excellent traction and not too noisy. Then, the rears just went away. They were about 1/2 worn but grip just disappeared. So I replaced them with Yokohama Advan AD08Rs, which are phenomenal.

Here's my rear falken about 6K miles of use.


Alignment is spot on and wear was even both front and rear.

Bottom line: The Falken FK453s are fine for daily driving/commuting, but are not a serious performance tire. FWIW, Falken is a Sumitomo brand and I'd expect a similar result with the Sumis per above.

jeanmarcboilard

I have the exact same results with my Falkens 453. Very good for the first 6K miles, but now the grip is gone even with some tread left.
Oh, and get an alignment, lol.

993GT

inner inch or so of wear indicates a toe issue with alignment
that said, these cars wear through tires fastttt if driving it at all like they're able to... I WISH I'd ever see 7000miles from a set lol
lots of experience of Sumitomo's on bmw's , great street tire

leftlane

I have had Michelins, Pirellis, those Sumitomos, and also Hankook EVOs on my various Turbos. For what I need - lazy street driving, very rare occasional bursts - the Sumis and Hankooks have been just fine. Track guys will tell you to go with higher quality, but for regular street driving it's hard to beat the price and you won't have any problems. I'm sure to a lot of folks the N spec is critical but it wasn't for me, although I did stick with Michelin N spec for my Cayenne GTS - the pricing wasn't that different for those tires.

The only tires I hated were the Pirellis - they got so freaking loud after a few thousand miles that I couldn't stand it.

"02996ttx50

i run michi ps3 in frt 235/40/18 and now swear by the falken rt615K+ rears in 315/30/18 on 8.5 X 12" wheels but I'm rwd so no issues with a "mismatched" front to rear tread pattern or revs per mile ratios.

best rears ever including ( i think? ) even as compared to ps2's or p zeros. i'll stay with ps3 is front and the fkn falken 615's. after 9 years I'm done experimenting with tire choices.

however that said? i'll never get 7k miles on a set of rears either LOL. perhaps in the next life ha