kosmo

I need to replace just ONE of my rear PS2 Tires. Would it be ok to run
"N1" and "N2" out back? tks

function12

No. They should always match.

KeninBlaine

I agree that ideally it is preferable to match tires, but I think this philosophy can get carried to the extreme. Personally, I wouldn't have a problem with a mix of N-ratings, as I expect the differences are less than the difference in tire wear between tires. For example, people say not to put one brand on the back and another on the front due to different characteristics. I've run mixed brands and never had one iota of issues on the road or at autocross events. With our P-cars, our rear tires are usually more worn than the front tires, which to me would cause more potential issues than using different brands or N ratings. There a lots of theories out there, but many are just that, and have minimal practical application.

Macster

Is the tire being replaced an N1 tire? If so what's its age? The N1 tire may be due for replacement due to age, which means you can then get two new tires of the same N number.

Here's what Porsche has to say about tires (tyres) from my copy of the 996 Turbo factory manual (and I expect this applies to 997 models as well):

If new tyres are to be mounted or the tyres of one axle are to be replaced, tyres of the same make and with the same specification code must always be used on each of the two axles. If tyres are replaced on one axle only,
the different tread depth than on the other axle can cause a noticeable change in the familiar handling. This is especially the case if new tyres are mounted on the rear axle. This effect decreases with increasing tyre mileage.

From the above it would appear that mixing N1 and N2 tires is not advised. Also, be aware of the difference in tread depth between the existing tire and the new replacement tire.

Here is another couple of sentences on this subject from my 996 Turbo factory manual: When replacing a tyre on an axle, make sure that the tread depth of the new tyre does not differ from that of the other tyre by more than 30 %!

Tire mileage life varies but say if you normally average 15K miles if you have more than 4500 miles on the existing tires then the remaining good tire is worn enough it should be replaced along with the other bad tire.

Sincerely,

Macster.

Frino

I just replaced my original two front tires (5 years/32K miles!) which were N1 PS2's. They were replaced with a pair of N2 PS2's as Michelin no longer makes the N1 (at least according to the P-car dealer).

My rears are both N1 PS2's with 50% tread life remaining. So far so good...the car has never felt better at 32K miles.

My plan is to change out the rears to the N2 spec when they wear out.

At a minimum, I would follow the recommendation to make sure the same N-rated tires are on each axle.