kpg1945

I'm new to the forum and considering the purchase of a new 2013 Boxster. What can I expect in terms of the life expectancy and ride quality of the tires? I ask because I had a 1999 Carrera, and after 6000 miles the tires were grinding so loud, I didn't want to drive the car.

No HTwo O

I'd imagine tires to last about 20,000 miles on a Boxster with spirited driving. I run PS2's. Don't know what Porsche is putting on the new Boxster. I typically drive 200 highway miles to drive 120 miles of country backroads on nice sunny weekends. My rears (265/35/19) last 20K. Fronts, 235/35/19 last almost double.

As a comparision, the tires on the 993 Turbo last only about 10,000 miles in the rear, and double up front.

kpg1945

Thanks for the reply. Some have suggested that I take it to a good alignment shop that knows Porsches and have the camber set to 0. Might compromise performance a bit, but tires will last longer and run smoother.
I don't plan on beating that car anyway. Thoughts? Should I just leave it alone?

No HTwo O

Compromise handeling? Why? Tires run smooth, don't worry. Leave it along. Enjoy.

sjfehr

You could put 60k mile all-seasons on your new Boxster and probably get 60,000 miles on then. Problem is that grip relies on soft sticky rubber and the hard wear-resistant rubber used on long-life tires sucks for grip. You have to ask yourself why would you pay so much money for such a high performance sports car, and then limit it to FWD econobox performance by putting on crappy tires with a crappy alignment?

Of course, if you properly autocross and track this car (and you should!), 20k tires will only last about 4k miles. But I tell you what, that's a really fun 4k miles!

I've been running Dunlop Star Specs on my 986S, and have run several sets from full tread to semi-slick condition and though performance (especially in puddling conditions) drops off considerably once you wear down below the wear bars, I've never noticed unacceptable levels of road noise.

NoGaBiker

Wow, I've never gotten more than 10,100 miles from rear street tires, 19,900 from fronts (I use track tires at the track so that is only street miles. I'm at 41,000 miles. 18" PS2, PZero, and even Toyo T1Rs, on an 04 S.

NoGaBiker

interesting. Every time I get down below the bars it sounds just like I'm losing a rear wheel bearing. I suck it up and try to get 10000 miles anyway, but man is it loud!

sjfehr

What kind of tires are you using?

MUSSBERGER

Track friendly alignment would do a number on street tires.

NoGaBiker

See post #6

mikefocke

You can align for performance or for mileage out of the tires but it takes an expert to know what effect a combination of settings would have and you need to be quite specific to him about what you are trying to achieve. I got 20k out of a set of rears and might have gotten lots more but they were replaced because of their age. This after a wear-favoring alignment by a racing mechanic who worked on P-cars day in and day out. The previous alignment gave me nothing but premature tire wear-out.