While hanging around the sales floor, awaiting the service department today, I noticed that the Michelins have a treadwear rating of 200, the Pirellis 200 and the Bridgestones 140. I'm on my second set of Bridgestones, and have found then to be quite long-wearing, with super adhesion, and priced competitively--completely the opposite of Michelin's and Pirellis shorter life and higher costs. I can't speak for their road-holding.

With such a difference in treadwear numbers I would have expected to see the Bridgestones going out much earlier.

Thoughts?

 

Interesting. I am on my first set of Bridgestones after two sets of PS2's but can't comment on longevity (nor have I had any spirited drives on the Bridgestones), other than they seem to be holding up well.

On my recently purchased 09 TT, I did have the dealer swap out the Pirellis that came with the car for Michelins from another car, based on my general sense that the Michelins are better than Pirelli.

 

You can't compare treadware ratings between manafacturers, each one has a different way of rating. They should standardize this rating as it can be very misleading.

Dave

 

From the Tire Rack site:
"Treadwear Grades

UTQG Treadwear Grades are based on actual road use in which the test tire is run in a vehicle convoy along with standardized Course Monitoring Tires. The vehicle repeatedly runs a prescribed 400-mile test loop in West Texas for a total of 7,200 miles. The vehicle can have its alignment set, air pressure checked and tires rotated every 800 miles. The test tire's and the Monitoring Tire's wear are measured during and at the conclusion of the test. The tire manufacturers then assign a Treadwear Grade based on the observed wear rates. The Course Monitoring Tire is assigned a grade and the test tire receives a grade indicating its relative treadwear. A grade of 100 would indicate that the tire tread would last as long as the test tire, 200 would indicate the tread would last twice as long, 300 would indicate three times as long, etc.

The problem with UTQG Treadwear Grades is that they are open to some interpretation on the part of the tire manufacturer because they are assigned after the tire has only experienced a little treadwear as it runs the 7,200 miles. This means that the tire manufacturers need to extrapolate their raw wear data when they are assigning Treadwear Grades, and that their grades can to some extent reflect how conservative or optimistic their marketing department is. Typically, comparing the Treadwear Grades of tire lines within a single brand is somewhat helpful, while attempting to compare the grades between different brands is not as helpful."

 

That explains a lot. Thanks.

 

How about Continentals ? I am about to switch out my worn out PS2s for Continental as I have a set that came with my 2nd set of rims.

 

I have heard the Falken RT-615 have a stated tread-wear of 200, but its more like a R compound under 100.

They are supposed to be very stick and that is why a lot of stock class cars in the import classes run them.

 

Falkens are not on th Porsche approved list.

Continentals,--harsh. Much harsher than Bridgestones. (You must be running on 18s as there is no Continental fitment for 19s).

 

Thank you for the info, I didn't realize this until now.

 

This is correct.

 

I thought about the Bridgestones too as I was considering changing up to the 19" carrera sport rims. Have you guys seen the price for the 305s in the PS2s? Like $550 per tire or something. Outrageous. By contrast the same size in the Bridgestones was about the same as the PS2s in the 265s 18" that i currently have Like $350 or something. I would definitely go for the Bridgestones if i had those fatty 305s.

 

TireRack sells a ContiContact3 N1 in 295/30-ZR19 and 235/35-ZR19 (for $1234/4 plus shipping) which is the standard 19 inch size for the C2S.

I didn't look for wider sizes...

 

OK Guys!!!
The Yoka hams are the soffest. They work extremely well but the rears burn
up real fast. They have developed a new rear that I have not tried.
I have been using the Bridgestone and I set a track record with them in
the class I am in. These are very good tires but they do not last long. Take
a couple of pounds of pressure out of them at a track event and have
alot of fun.
The Michelin are just to hard. They tend to slide and do not give enough grip.
They last a long time. I have never run the Michelin Pilot Cup tires but their
softness numbers are 80, My friend ran them and they were good for one event.
Wanted to try the Pirellies but there numbers and there price were very close to the
Michelins and I could not see the benefit.
My favorite tire will always be Dunlop. These tires kick ***!!!
Paul

 

I have the Bridgestones on my car, too, and I was a little apprehensive as I've had PZeros or PS2s on my last Porsches and Audis. So far, I am very pleased - the Potenzas have TONS of grip. Adhesion and wear are the two biggest factors I look for. Cost and noise are secondary. That said, I will definitely consider putting another set of Bridgestones on this car when these are done.