mossjn

2008 997S CAB, 13,000 miles - noticed tires, both front and rears, have worn out a fair amount faster on the inside part of the tire relative to outside. Rears are, as expected, almost worn out, fronts not far off. Colleague at work has same vehicle and same experience.

Alignment is good - anyone else have same issue or know of way to mitigate the issue?

ADias

Normal with std alignment. Fronts inner wear should not be as pronounced as rears.

Edgy01

It means you're not driving aggressively enough. When you get more aggressive with a 911 you will cause more even wear across the entire tread. The negative camber on the suspension causes the insides to wear that way--it's the price paid for optimal handling. If you want a less capable (handling) car and better tire mileage adjustments can be made. Consult your alignment experts. This has been the 'way it is' for a very long time.

ADias

Well stated!

mossjn

Thanks - excellent (and fast) responses.

yemenmocha

Only odd thing I'd wonder about is why the rears aren't a lot more worn out than the fronts. If you're supposed to wear them evenly, then I'm not doing things right. :-(

mossjn

Good question. Rears are worn more than fronts but not twice as much at all. Put a fair number of track miles on - not sure if that plays into it.

mdrums

What are your alignment specs?

Too much toe in the rear will kill the inside of the tires. It's not so much the camber but the toe that wears tires more.

Wills

Recently check mine:
outer-mid-inner
Rear O/S 5.40 5.00 4.10
Rear N/S 5.50 5.20 3.90

Front N/S 3.6 3.20 2.60
Front O/S 3.90 3.70 2.90

russo

In my case, tracking my car on a regular basis causes a 2:1, rear to front, wear pattern to the inside.

Edgy01

Drive it harder! (You will still get the 2:1 wear rates on the 2WD cars but you will even out the wear across the treads).

Macster

No experience with 997s but with my 02 Boxster (233K miles so I've got lots of experience) and my 03 Turbo (on 3rd set of rear tires) inside edge tire wear -- at the rear tires the fronts have never shown anything but even tread face wear -- is a sign the alignment's off. Excessive/out of spec toe-in based on the before and after printouts of the alignment settings.

I've run the Boxster's rear tires as near max negative camber and the tire wear was still even.

On the Boxster -- Michelin tires -- I get nearly 20K miles from the rear tires and the Turbo -- Continental tires -- last rear set I managed to get 15K miles from them before the wear bars reached.

Tire wear across tread face very even.

Generally I replace the fronts every other set of rears. That is all 4 tires are new. Rears wear out. I replace the rear tires. Then the next time they require replacing I replace all 4 tires and if tire wear indicates it I have an alignment done. Most of the time the tire wear is even and I skip the alignment.

I had the Turbo aligned shortly after I got it but later had some work done at another dealer and the re-alignment poor. Unbeknownst to me. Tire life was very short. Under 10K miles. Had new rear tires fitted at another local dealer and an alignment done.

Managed to double the number of miles from the rear tires.

When you have the tires replaced have the car treated to a quality 4-wheel alignment. I don't trust any alignment shop but a dealer -- with one exception -- to align my Porsches. (I do have an indy algnment shop that I could use but while I've used it before and trust its work without question it is very inconvenient for me to use.)

Be sure the car's gas tank full and the car is empty of any junk (weight). Spare tire and tool kit (if the car came with one) should be present and in place.

Then get alignment done.

Sincerely,

Macster.