todd.

Would like feedback on using Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS Pole Position, Ultra High Performance All-Season tires year round, M+S rated.

In Massachusetts the cold season extends well into March, making the Summer tires useless much of the year, then Spring brings significant rains. We don't get a lot of snow, but the below 40° temps are the problem. I do not track this car, and would like a good performing one tire solution, so I can actually use my C2S more often. For those rare deep snow days I have a 4WD truck, my daily driver, not that my C2S would have the ground clearance for deep snow anyway, the roads here are plowed.
The real tradeoff is Summer driving, but I would think this tire would perform very well on dry pavement, and give me a huge advantage in the Summer rain, which is tough to avoid in Mass. Living in Newport Beach was so much easier.

What do you think?

uvgaal

My tires are almost done and i'm gonna do just that. If you dont track it and dont live in germany you dont need the summer tires. This by far the cheapest and smartest solution.

ricster

all season tires on a performance car....hmm sounds like a trade off to me. I would much prefer a dedicated performance tire and dedicated winter tire to take advantage of the wonderful performance you car is capable of.

todd.

Yeah, but for the few times it snows where I live, I would think the Potenza RE960AS would still make a better dedicated winter solution if I went that route, as it would get me though March. Like I mentioned, the sub 40°, not the snow is the real issue, and I don't think a true performance snow tire is necessary for Mass, and would diminish performance most of the time over the Potenza RE960AS.

luisimo

I had been running Potenza RE960AS on 997 (19's) for about 3,000 miles. They are a cheaper, longer lasting option but you do compromise performance. Mostly noticed when you push the sport button. My P-car is my daily driver and only missed the summer tires when I take the long way home (back roads).
I am going to get a second set of wheels for summer tires as the wear difference is HUGE.

CarGuy21

As others have said the all season solution is a compromise all around. If it were me I would run the AS and have dedicated tires for the track. But that's me.

equ

We have those 960AS's on my gf's Honda Si. They are good in their category and great for most cars. She loves them for her long (75mile round-trip) commute. Even if you would not noticeably slow down in daily driving, I think they would diminish feel and fun factor a good amount compared to michelin PS2's, say. So, I personally, would not put them on a porsche.

I have a second car, so my cayman only sees performance tires. If it were my only car and would see northeast winters, a better solution is to run the summer tires as intended and run a winter performance tire from about now to end of March, about 4 months, depending on the conditions you see. These would be H or V-rated winter tires (michelin alpin, dunlop winter sport, blizzak lm). I have been very happy with a bunch of dunlop winter sports I've run on sport suspension rwd bmw's. I take it easy on them to reduce wear, but then when it gets snowy, that's when the fun begins (instead of the white-knuckling that you would have with the 960AS).

RonCT

Can't say about other brands, but I know from many years of experience that PS2s are good for well under freezing. There are many days in the early spring or late fall when I leave the R-comps home and head to the track with a set of PS2s and it's in the mid 20s and the PS2s are just fine. 40 degrees might be an "old" standard, but not relevant to the newest tire compounds.

sclemmons

Agreed. I have had a couple sets of PS2's on my BMW and one on my Porsche, year round, with no problem. It rarely snows here but we have many days in the 30's and quite a few in the 20's. It rarely goes below 20 degrees here during the day. I have not tried the C4S in the snow or ice, but the BMW does ok with 100# of sand in the trunk.

todd.

Hmm, I wonder if my stock Potenza RE050A are good to 20°, I don't see myself driving below that, and temperature is really my only concern here, I don't need to drive my C2S in the snow, I have 2 other AWD/4WD vehicles.

My Turbo came with PS2's and I do remember diving those in freezing rain, and light snow without a problem, but the Turbo was AWD, so there may have been some manipulation going on that kept me from feeling everything I should have in regards to the tires cold temperature capabilities.
Maybe I should just get a set of the PS2's, but they are pricey. I could get a second Winter setup for within a few hundred of the PS2's, and that includes new wheels.

ricster

I find the PS2's you do need to get warm before you can do any aggressive driving as they feel greasy to me at below 50 degrees.

Frino

No problems here with driving on PS2's when it gets really cold (15-20 degrees) so long as its dry and you don't push it. Any threat of cold weather precipitation or snow/ice cover on the road and the car stays in the garage.

I would echo others and suggest a second set of 18" winter tires on a separate set of wheels rather than year round all seasons.