Why do Porsche's go through tires so quick?
 

I'm still on my first set of tires, but everybody keeps telling me to budget for tires because the 993/996/Boxster goes through them so quick. How come? Especially the rear?

Typically the tires we use are softer compounds, for better stick on the road. That means they wear faster.

And with the rear-engine configuration, the engine weight is directly on the rear wheels. When you accelerate, the front lifts up and the rear squats. The combination really presses the rear tires into the asphalt.

Most do use softer compound tires which wear quickly and the additional weight over the rear makes the tires work more. The 993/996/Boxsters also have quite a bit of negative camber built into the settings which contributes to wear. These settings help the car to “handle better” and to stick better, but this set up is good for tire wear when driving on the highway. Some even modify the set up to an even more aggressive set up. The wear factor of your tires also depends on your driving style, road conditions and some other factors. The general rule of thumb for the 993 and Boxster (I don’t have any experience with 996's) is that you will go through two sets of rears for every front set.

Because we actually drive the cars! <img src="graemlins/burnout.gif" border="0" alt="[burnout]" />

Brian,
I go through 4 sets of rears for one set of front tires. (I get 3000 miles on my rears). :)

Its not just the rear-engine 993/996/Boxsters. My front-engine, near 50/50 balanced 928 gobbles up rear tires as well. Reasons I've heard for this include the 'Weissach axel' action of the rear suspension, a technology later included in other Porsches.

These cars are traditionally driven in an enthusiastic manner.
Tires are the price you pay for admission.
<img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />

Brad
'78 <a href="http://www.p-caronline.com/directory/showngo/" target="_blank">928 euro</a> 5 speed
928 Owners Club

Nowhere near as bad as the early to mid nineties Acura NSX. The factory supplied Yokohamas lasted only several thousand miles, i.e. 8K tops. It was so bad that owners threatened (instituted?) a class action suit against the company and were given vouchers for tires as part of the settlement.

The car handled brilliantly, at the expense of tires that needed changing at about oil change intervals. <img src="graemlins/c.gif" border="0" alt="[ouch]" />

Sam

[quote]It was so bad that owners threatened (instituted?) a class action suit against the company and were given vouchers for tires as part of the settlement. <hr></blockquote>

That is really pathetic on the owners part! That is why moronic drivers (posers) and their actions have resulted in the tire companies to produce their lines of tires less sticky, longer lasting and completely uninspiring for our cars ....
Is it a coincidence that an Original P-zero assymetrico is still the best tire for the dry?

Every one of the M5 and M3 I had also went through rubber might fast! Like it was stated earlier, high performance rubber has to be soft to yield high coefficient of friction for top adhesion. That means they wear out fast.
Just leave your wallet on the table!~