Anyone using cheap tires?
05-09-2010, 08:56 PM
#121
Instructor
Bridgestone
Hi Guys, i have been using HTRz3 and they are pretty good tires, I only got 11k miles on the Summis, while i always got 15k+ on the rears with the stones. . I am looking to get the rears replaced now and am thinking about getting the RE11s. I have had pole posititon 50as. I now have seen RE11 and RE11 XL , does anyone know what the difference is? I do not track the car, but am not sure when i last had an allignment and am wondering if that was the cause of the quicker tire wear. I have 82k miles on the car.
05-10-2010, 01:26 AM
#122
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My car came with Michelin tires. I got 21K miles out of the rear tires. I replaced the rears with the same tires because I found out that I would not get any better milage out of other tires. I take it easy when I drive.
2007 997s Cab
2007 997s Cab
05-10-2010, 11:16 PM
#123
drive it like you stole it!
I'm running the Bridgestone RE's about 100 miles a day. No issues, ok wet weather traction, great dry traction and noise is tolerable. No flat spots. Not too concerned about tire wear unless it's too little, which means i'm not riding her hard enough
05-11-2010, 01:20 AM
#124
Rennlist Member
I love my RE11s. Great street tires and they even did a decent job as wet weather track tires a few weekends ago when we had a poorly-times monsoon during an event at MSR Houston. I recommend them.
The "XL" isn't actually a different tire, it's just a load rating that's applied to some sizes of tire. There's only one kind of RE11 (or any tire, for the most part) in any specific size available.
You can see on the bridgestone site that some size/width RE11s are load range "XL" depending on the expected fitment for that size of tire. It's not a difference you need to pay attention to. This is not unique to the RE11, it's the same for just about any brand/style of tire you can find.
The "XL" isn't actually a different tire, it's just a load rating that's applied to some sizes of tire. There's only one kind of RE11 (or any tire, for the most part) in any specific size available.
You can see on the bridgestone site that some size/width RE11s are load range "XL" depending on the expected fitment for that size of tire. It's not a difference you need to pay attention to. This is not unique to the RE11, it's the same for just about any brand/style of tire you can find.
05-11-2010, 11:21 AM
#125
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My car came with P-Zero Rosso's, the fronts were new and the rears had about 75% tread left according to the CPO report. 5K miles later the rears were bald. Instead of buying 2 new Rosso's for the rear I sold the 5K-mile fronts which were barely worn, and put on a set of Bridgestone RE960AS. Net cost was less than 2 new rear Pirelli's. They're quieter and the ride is nicer. That tire series has a 45K mile tread life warranty so unless they use a different rubber for the Porsche sizes they should last a while. A friend of mine put them on his C2S and loves them too. I have no idea how they would compare to the P-Zeros on a track or above the legal speed limit, nor do I care.
06-14-2010, 02:15 PM
#126
Burning Brakes
I posted early in this thread that I had put a pair of Hankook Ventus V12 Evo K110 (nice name!) on the rear of my 2007 997 C2S, while keeping the Michelin PS2 on the front. This is an update...
I ran that setup for about 1000 miles before switching to my winter tires (all four Michelin Pilot Alpin, third winter. They still have tread but after 15,000 miles they're pretty lame in the snow now, so they will be replaced this fall). I put the Hankook/PS2 combination back on the car in March when we had warm weather, about a month before usual, and kept them on. The H's did not lose grip in low temps as soon as the PS2 did, so I feel these can be driven into the mid-upper 30s safely where the Michelin PS2 really needs to be off the car below 45F.
The Hankooks gave very good rain grip and were decent in the dry. It was my intent to only use these tires on the street in moderate driving, as all the more spirited driving is reserved for track days. However circumstances never play out according to plan, and the car was called into track service this past weekend with no track tires. So it ran on the PS2 fronts with the Hankooks still on the rear. As is typical the rears wear faster than the fronts (on the street anyway), so the Hankooks at nearly 10k miles were just about even with the PS2s approaching 20k miles. Both tires were at about 40% tread remaining before the track days. Prior to the track day I would have expected to get about 5,000 miles more from the fronts and rears, and then replaced all four together.
The car was driven three days at the track. Rain the first day was gentle on the tires, but warmer temps and dry surface chewed them up on Sat and Sun. The car was driven by my wife, an instructor. She had some difficulty getting a comfortable tire pressure, and reported the tires getting "greasy" as they heated up. Normally the cure for this is to lower the air pressure, but then the wear indicated some rolling of the sidewalls, so she just tried to make it work as best she could. All the alignment is to spec (track alignment was taken out last fall). Handling was neutral, in other words no understeer or oversteer. Just greasy.
She nearly got to the cords on one PS2 on the outer edge (missing that negative camber!), typical wear for this track. With that tire not serviceable for my typical long interstate trips, I ordered a pair of Hankooks for the front today. So now I will be on 4 Hankooks. The rears look fine but are now down to about 30% tread. I will nurse them to fall (I hope) and defer replacement until Spring if possible.
With over 10k miles on the Hankook rears and the three track days this past weekend, I am very happy with them as a competent street tire. Obviously they were not a good choice at the track, although they performed no worse than the PS2 (but nowhere near as well as R-comps). I suspect that those who enjoy pushing their Porsches on the street would prefer another tire. But for me as a high mileage driver (nearly 60k miles on the car now) on rough roads, interstates and in all kinds of weather, I am very satisfied with the Hankook's ride, comfort and performance.
The replacement Hankooks for the front are $163/tire from TireRack and others will match. We bought from Discount Tire for the same price because the local shop mounts and balances the way we like, and we buy all of our track tires there. That price is about 1/2 the price of the PS2. Also noteworthy is that this summer there seem to be a lot more tire choices in the lower price range for this size than previously.
We never did experience any problems as a result of mixing tires front/back, but I still wouldn't recommend doing this without carefully thinking it through and comfortably understanding the risks.
I ran that setup for about 1000 miles before switching to my winter tires (all four Michelin Pilot Alpin, third winter. They still have tread but after 15,000 miles they're pretty lame in the snow now, so they will be replaced this fall). I put the Hankook/PS2 combination back on the car in March when we had warm weather, about a month before usual, and kept them on. The H's did not lose grip in low temps as soon as the PS2 did, so I feel these can be driven into the mid-upper 30s safely where the Michelin PS2 really needs to be off the car below 45F.
The Hankooks gave very good rain grip and were decent in the dry. It was my intent to only use these tires on the street in moderate driving, as all the more spirited driving is reserved for track days. However circumstances never play out according to plan, and the car was called into track service this past weekend with no track tires. So it ran on the PS2 fronts with the Hankooks still on the rear. As is typical the rears wear faster than the fronts (on the street anyway), so the Hankooks at nearly 10k miles were just about even with the PS2s approaching 20k miles. Both tires were at about 40% tread remaining before the track days. Prior to the track day I would have expected to get about 5,000 miles more from the fronts and rears, and then replaced all four together.
The car was driven three days at the track. Rain the first day was gentle on the tires, but warmer temps and dry surface chewed them up on Sat and Sun. The car was driven by my wife, an instructor. She had some difficulty getting a comfortable tire pressure, and reported the tires getting "greasy" as they heated up. Normally the cure for this is to lower the air pressure, but then the wear indicated some rolling of the sidewalls, so she just tried to make it work as best she could. All the alignment is to spec (track alignment was taken out last fall). Handling was neutral, in other words no understeer or oversteer. Just greasy.
She nearly got to the cords on one PS2 on the outer edge (missing that negative camber!), typical wear for this track. With that tire not serviceable for my typical long interstate trips, I ordered a pair of Hankooks for the front today. So now I will be on 4 Hankooks. The rears look fine but are now down to about 30% tread. I will nurse them to fall (I hope) and defer replacement until Spring if possible.
With over 10k miles on the Hankook rears and the three track days this past weekend, I am very happy with them as a competent street tire. Obviously they were not a good choice at the track, although they performed no worse than the PS2 (but nowhere near as well as R-comps). I suspect that those who enjoy pushing their Porsches on the street would prefer another tire. But for me as a high mileage driver (nearly 60k miles on the car now) on rough roads, interstates and in all kinds of weather, I am very satisfied with the Hankook's ride, comfort and performance.
The replacement Hankooks for the front are $163/tire from TireRack and others will match. We bought from Discount Tire for the same price because the local shop mounts and balances the way we like, and we buy all of our track tires there. That price is about 1/2 the price of the PS2. Also noteworthy is that this summer there seem to be a lot more tire choices in the lower price range for this size than previously.
We never did experience any problems as a result of mixing tires front/back, but I still wouldn't recommend doing this without carefully thinking it through and comfortably understanding the risks.
06-30-2010, 03:58 PM
#128
There's a middle ground between the stupidly expensive OEM tires and the "cheapo" end of the range.
I just put a set of Bridgestone RE11s on my GT3 for my street tires. I like them more than the PS2 Cups the car came with (for street, at least, I'm sure the Michelin would be better on track) and whole lot more than the PZero Rossos I had on my C2S. They were $282 per front, $308 per rear for 305 width.
I also notice that Yokohama makes an ADVAN Neova in the right size for a 997 now. I had the previous generation of those tires on my BMW and they were -- no lie -- the best street tires I've ever encountered. I'm sure the current generation is great too. Tire rack says $258 per front, $293 per rear for 295 width.
I just put a set of Bridgestone RE11s on my GT3 for my street tires. I like them more than the PS2 Cups the car came with (for street, at least, I'm sure the Michelin would be better on track) and whole lot more than the PZero Rossos I had on my C2S. They were $282 per front, $308 per rear for 305 width.
I also notice that Yokohama makes an ADVAN Neova in the right size for a 997 now. I had the previous generation of those tires on my BMW and they were -- no lie -- the best street tires I've ever encountered. I'm sure the current generation is great too. Tire rack says $258 per front, $293 per rear for 295 width.
