mambodoc

Back again with a tire noise question...Heres the story...I'm running Nitto Invo, 235 front and 305 rear. Thet are at approx 20k miles. Front wear is good and even. Rear wear is acceptable with the inner half taking more af a beating. All purchased , mounted and balanced/rebalanced at Discount Tire. They are said to be balanced as of 500 mi ago but my complaint is the same. Vibration of the car at 50 t0 55 mph and then again at 74 to 79 mph. All pretty cool at 80 mph. While driving around town in the 30 to 50 mph range I'm very aware of the tire noise which cycles...best I can describe is that it reminds me of a washing machine on spin cycle with a slightly unbalanced load. At lower speeds with lower wheel rpm, the continous muffled whump whump whump is really bugging me. My PS2's were at the end of their life when they began this similar noise. SO...despite the decent looks of the rears, no wear bars through etc...is the thought that is is the tire wear? I'm considering re-upping the Nitto rears or trying out Bridgestones all around. That said...is it worth a trip to Porshe to have alignment etc...assessed before I switch out tires?...considering their wear..., or mount up new ones and then head to the dealer. I cannot find any leads on a competent non porsche tire guy in the Daytona Beach area and cringe at the idea of Porsche pricing for new tires. Thanks for any input.

Edgy01

You shouldn't have any tire vibration at any speeds. Two things come to mind. (1) the tires are dried out and thus not dampening as they did when new, and (2), you have a bent rim. Any incidents with the wheels? Why did you buy Nitto Invos? Which of their tires has been N rated by Porsche AG?

cvazquez

If you absolutely know the wheels are true round, change the tires to Bridgestones or PS2's. Nitto's are very noisy.

mambodoc

So...how about mounting Bridgestones and see what the ride is like...if still an issue...head over to Porsche? These tires are about there, considering mileage apart from their appearance...2 years on florida roads. I ran Nittos based upon referral and was quite happy until about 3k miles ago. I did do a bank drive through rim grind at extremely low speed...some scratching evident. They are the oem Turbo rims I opted for. I had Toyos on my Cayenne...not n tires but were good and not pricey. I tended toward the Nittos for the same reason. Thanks everyone. My old PS2's did this at the end of their useful life.

mambodoc

Thanks all...ordering Bridgestones today...RE11's.

ADias

If Bridgestone I suggest RE050A N1 (notice the N1 not N0). And why not Michelin Pilot Super Sport?

mambodoc

Does the RE050 have an N2 designation? That said...I'm not at all interested in paying what I believe to be an exaggerated price for Michelins. The PS2's that were OEM did not impress me. Thanks for the input.

ADias

The latest RE050A N1 are the latest ones. They are very, very good.

The Michelin PSS are actually very well priced. The set costs $100 more than the Bridgestones and they are supposed to be the best tire around (far better than PS2).

Edgy01

Ditto for RE050As.

WCE

20k miles on the rears is the issue - they're shot!

mambodoc

Thats what I've come to understand. Time for them to go. Thanks! What had me doubting was their appearance...as seen close up on the lift when changing oil...though I know even just shy of 20k miles...how much further can they go. Moot point, in that it really takes way from the driving plesure....I'm not looking to milk miles out of them.

mambodoc

Thanks again to everyone for the help. I was looking past the obvious. I've decided to mount up new Nitto Invos to run the fronts out and see whats next. I accessed the Nitto website in roundabout way through yellow pages for Nitto Tire Company usa because Nittotire.com was not opening for me. My point being that there's a neat video featuring a 997.1 GT3. You might enjoy even if you're not a Nitto fan.