96redLT4

I have an 05 C2S which I have had since new. My local indy who is very good suggested I should have an alignment based on the tread wear pattern, though the fronts did make it about 25K miles. Car tracks straight and brakes straight. Are there any other signs it needs to be aligned Thanks.
Jim

Macster

What are the tread wear patterns?

Other signs the car needs an alignment is if the car pulls or the steering wheel shimmies or the car just feels kind of "weird" or vague.

BTW, 25K miles on front tires is not very many miles based on my experience with my Boxster and Turbo. More like 40K miles. And there is still tread left it is just the tires are so hard from heat cycling they are very noisy and slick and I change them out.

I get around 20K miles on the rear tires and replace the rear tires and then the next time the rear tires need doing I replace all 4.

Only time I align the car is if the tread wear is not even across the face of the tires. Most often if any tires show uneven tread wear it is the rear tires and they wear on the inner edges.

Probably should have the car aligned. The springs settle over time and other things change and even if the car left the factory with perfect alignment it won't keep that forever. That the tech noted the tire wear pattern suggests he recognizes the car is out of alignment.

Shouldn't wait too long. The new tires will begin to develop uneven wear -- I had a pair of rear tires on my Turbo gone at 8K miles -- and the alignment may suffer due to the wear pattern the new tires have developed.

Ray S

Macster, what brand tires are you getting 40,000 miles out of the fronts? In my experience that is huge mileage to get out of front tires from a Porsche. I have experience with Pirelli P-Zero's, Michelin Pilot Sports, and Continental Sport Contacts on my Boxster and 911 and I never got anything approaching that kind of life from a front tire. 20,000 miles from the rears also seems higher than what I experience.

Based on the wear I'm seeing so far on my Turbo, I'm not going to get 10K out of my rears. Although my tire wear may be high because I enjoy the boost and rarely find a corner or on ramp that I don't like.

Do you drive a lot of highway miles?

Ray S

+1 to Macster's question. How is your wear across the tires?

In my experience 25k from the fronts is pretty darn good.

9114Scab

I have never seen any tires on a 911 go more than 20,000 miles, and even that is stretching it a bit. (track or no track)

Dennis C

+2

I typically get about 15K - 20K on my fronts and 8K - 10K on my rears.

Macster

Every brand of tire I've used. The Boxster came with Pirelli tires and after a few years I switched to Michelin tires for no reason other than the Michelin tires were about the same price and the word I got was Michelin tires were the best. They proved to be a superb tire. But the Boxster is back on Pirelli tires now for no other reason than Michelin tires were unavailable last time I needed all 4 tires but Pirelli tires were available.

The Turbo came with Continental tires and then after a set or two I switched to Bridgestone tires when the Continental tires were not available.

Every pair of front tires has gone at least twice as many miles at the rear tires and most of the time the rear tires go 20K (or sometimes more) miles. Just one time with the Turbo new rear tires lasted just 8K miles and this was due to a horrible alignment (at a dealer no less). A subsequent set a new rear tires with a proper alignment -- done at another dealer -- and tire life was back up to where it usually is.

I drive some, mostly highway miles, but I do a lot of running around town too.

While I like my Turbo's boost too I tend to hold back around corners. I never break the rear tires loose -- though with the Turbo they can be broken loose just nailing the gas pedal once moving in 1st or sometime even 2nd gear -- so our different driving styles might explain our tire wear differences.

BIG smoke

No matter the car, I try and toss my tires every 3-4 years. After that they get hard and loud. I was getting about 10 k out of the backs and 20 k out of the fronts. Fronts were getting a little loud again. Changed them all out for some Michelin's. Quiet and all was Zen again.
All highway? They will last longer.
AWD? the fronts tend to scrub more in the city.
RWD? traction control does take over, but city throttle flicking wears out these gummy shoes quickly.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely. We are all throttle junkies.

CosmosC4S

Same here, been thru' many sets of tires - 10-15k rears, 15-20k fronts

lutfy

May suggest taking a look at Michelin AS3. They are fantastic for what they do. Fairly good in the rain, equally decent in the snow, quite on the street and above all (have used them on two various tracks) quite impressive on the track as well.

UQG Rating of 500 means they wear like iron. I have 12K miles on these on my M3 and have a bunch of life vs changing out my PSS on these.

PS: I also run -2.5 camber up front and they are still holding on the insides.

Intend to put the same on the C2S when time comes (have dedicated track setup for that car as well).

Long and short, get more miles out of your tires without giving up grip/performance.

Cheers,

Lutfy

FlaHeel

Once I replace all four tires I have the car aligned, keeping in mind I change the rears once before the fronts.