Truth...
I feel much the same as you do.

It's funny everyone has a different experience on pretty much every product you ask about. I can tell you since I had them installed the 7 miles i drove home were the nicest this 996TT has felt since being in my possession. It had mismatched old tires on it before (PO's choice, not mine), pretty much all they did was hold air. Out of balance, tracked horribly, and were noisy. So anything is better than what was on the Turbs before this.

 

My second or third set of HTRZIIIs just wore out. Stunned they are no longer available. The Z5 is a Ultra High Performance tire, the ZIII was a Max Performance tire. There is a difference - particularly in sidewall stiffness. You pay for it in mileage. The all season GMax is a great tire - run them on my BMW. I'm guessing the UHP General is good too. But on a Porsche that gets driven hard? Nope. Went with Conti Extreme Contacts.

Eventually 18s will be like 16s and 17s - few good choices.

 

I have a 2003 C4S and I turned to the Turbo forum since the tire size is the same on my C4S. Definitely finding more useful conversations here.
I just don't I can afford the Michelins, and I don't think I'll get much benefit with the driving I do. I definitely have some nice curvy roads nearby, but track days seem unlikely until I'm sure I can afford to fix whatever I might break.
Currently I have Hankook V12s from the PO. They replaced the rears only last time. Matching tires, but different vintage. At this point, all four are toast.
I just finished a six month DIY project to put in Ohlins R&T coilovers. My car has 160k gentle miles on it, but I went ahead and replaced all the control arms and trailing arms, plus all 6 of the rear link. Even with all those miles, all the ball joints looked fine.
Lowered the front about 30mm and the rear about 20mm. Was able to make new OE end links work, but the Hunter alignment guy said he had to max out the settings to match the ROW sport alignment specs.
Car drives great. Ride is much more controlled and neutral, but just as punishing as before.
New tires are an absolute must now.

Based on comments here, the Generals might be the way to go, as the soft sidewall would make the ride nicer, even if it's the reason for the sloppy handling when pushed.
No one seems terribly happy with the Sumitomos.

Here's my question: why don't the P Zerro Rossos show up for our cars on Tire Rack? The size looks right, so I assume it is because the 88Y on the fronts is below the factory spec. All the front tires served up by Tire Rack are 92Y. (Pirellis match the rest with 98Y in the rear)

88Y = 1235 lb / 560 kg
92Y = 1389 lb / 630 kg

Even with some luggage in the frunk, 2470 lb on the front axle seems more than adequate.

Thanks!

 

I just checked with Tire Rack and they have only one 295/30 P Zero Rosso in stock. No more coming. Looks like it's discontinued.

 

I've always been opposed to 19's but being able to run the PS4S has me thinking about it.

 

I really like the PS4. Waaaaayyyyyy better than the previous version.

 

Hey Guys I know I posted on this topic a good while ago but after further review I have a different opinion. The wheels for me made a big difference the BSA wheels needed hub rings which weren't installed by the PO I did get them but they finally arrived after I swapped back to the stockers. I used the same tires the Sumos for those wheels also and a big difference. The car rides 10Xs better than before so much so my daughter 14YO noticed as soon as we pulled away from the house. As far as cornering we have plenty back roads close to my house and the carving was solid no complaints here anymore and I like some others just don't want to pay Michelin prices for a good set of tires to drive on the street with I'm never tracking anyways. Well just my .02

 

Thanks for this info, but I can't tell from you posts exactly what tires you are running. Sounds like you ended up with Sumi Z5s and like them. I would definitely give us some near-the-limit squishiness for a big improvement in ride quality.

 

Yes I have the Z5s and a fairly new set of 285/30/18s in the Z3s if someone is interested.

 

Ok a bit more than a year in on the Generals, they have been ok, ran over a trailer hitch in the middle of an on-ramp this weekend, one of the rear sidewalls did not fair well. Spare on the way home... now I have 3 tires with 4k miles on them and have to start looking for 2 rear replacements. I'm not going back to the Generals this time, I need something with a little more sidewall than the 295/30/18's give me. Here's my shot with my failed sidewall/wheel riding in the passenger seat on the way home...

 

At least it had a nice view.

 

Artistic right? The bright red/orange spare gets all the chicks. I swear laughing at this whole thing entertained me on the "mild" drive home.

 

I am confused. What do you mean by more sidewall? You hit a trailer hitch. What other brand of tire is going to survive that?

 

Don't be confused, it's mostly said in jest...life is too serious. Just a bit more sidewall, I swerved hard almost missed it, still kissed the edge of the tire with that burly steel edge. TBH, not much will survive that except being in my ram 2500. Regardless, a 30 aspect ratio tire wont take much abuse.

 

Yea 295/30 is pretty decent sidewall. Not many tires fare well when running over a steel hitch.