MrOutside

I was starting to look around for a set of wheels to mount a set of winter tires. My 2018 4S has the 21” and you definitely feel the ‘acorn’ effect in the cold on the stock tires. I live in northern NJ and the temp is currently 6 degrees. LOL. I have a couple of questions:

1. In searching for a set of wheels, does it make sense to find a set of 19” or 20”? There seem to be a lot more of them on eBay and I believe the tires are a bit cheaper as well. Do the 19s look odd on a car that usually runs 21s?

2. Would you recommend a set of A/S tires and run these from say Oct. through Apr. or go with the full ‘winter’ style tire? I have to replace the tires on the car anyway, so trying to decide on what to run on the ‘warm weather’ wheels, and what to run on ‘cold-weather’ setup.

3. I have a 2-post lift at home and was planning on swapping the wheels out myself (whenever I get them). I’ve never been under this car (Porsche has been doing the oil changes) but are there specific jack points to use? I have a set of ‘pucks’ that I use for my Cayman. Do I need to use these for the Panamera? Also, do I have to disable the air lift system? I saw some posts about this, but they were all on the 970 Panamera. How do I do this in my 2018?

Thanks!
Frank

lexhair

I live on the other side of the Hudson with a 970.2 P4 so maybe this will help. I run 20" in the summer and 19" in the winter. A couple of years ago, there were no 20" winters available but that's changed a lot in the past few years. I prefer my Agate Gray with a 19" setup on black wheels. If you don't like the thicker sidewall look, you really don't notice it unless you're right next to the car. My 20" are silver with OEM A/S on them. My 20" A/S are shot but I'm going to replace them in kind rather than go to a summer performance tire. I have a 997.2 for when I want to push a car around so I don't really need a summer performance tire on the Panamera.

In order of your questions.
1. Running smaller is probably better with how our roads get chewed up and give you a bit more sidewall to protect the rims. How it looks really depends on what finish you use on the winter wheel. Bright wheels are going to give you a chunkier look in your set up in my opinion.
2. I would not run A/S here over the winter but then again, I don't have a beater or other car for winter travel. My A/S were not exactly confidence inspiring the one time I had them out in the slushy stuff. In fact, my winter Alpins run better in my opinion than my Pilot Sport A/S.
3. I would always turn off the air system before raising the car whether it's a 970 or 971. Might me less of an issue as you're raising it level but there's zero reason not to turn it off. Can't address your question about using pucks on the 971.

MrOutside

Thanks Lex
I have two different pickup trucks, so I don’t have to drive the Panamera in really bad snow, but do like the idea of a bit thicker sidewall for winter pothole protection. My car is chalk with gloss black wheels. If I couldn’t find a set of 19 or 20 in wheels in black, I would probably just have them powdercoated. I personally don’t like the brighter wheels with the chalk paint.

What is the process for disabling the air suspension before lifting it? Do you press the button 10+ times like I read for the 970 Panameras?

H2Owon

The 971 has front and rear lift points that are rectangular. I still use my 911 pucks but they don't correctly fit the 971.

Jack mode is disabled from the PCM.

lexhair

Couldn't tell you about the 971 level control. I think you go into the PCM menu Car=>Control=>Vehicle Settings=>Chassis since I don't think there's a button on the console for level control.

Holding down the level control button (not the PASM button with the little shock absorber icon on it) on my 970.2 for more than 10 seconds with the car stopped and the engine running puts it into jacking mode and turns off the level control. Status screen on the dash will confirm it. When you drive off, the PASM will engage automatically when you hit 5 mph or so. No need to turn it back on manually.

GoBlue!

I have the 21s and use SUMMER tires in summer (basically above 45 degrees average low) and WINTER/SNOW tires in the winter (below 50 degrees average high). I think this is the best combo. For the Panamera, I kept the 21 wheels and swap the tires (different than my other cars where I run 2 different wheel sets. The Turbo S has big brakes and I don't think I could have gone below 20 in any case. The winter tire option in this size is Sotto Zero, which would not have been my first choice. The car does well in the snow. I don't think all seasons are a good option. They are not good in the snow/ice/cold and not good in the summer. There are a few days a year that are either too warm for the winter tires or too cold for the summers in my climate.

MrOutside

cool. Thanks!

MrOutside

I like this plan (though I will probably opt for a second set of wheels for the winter tires. I thought the Alpin winter tires got good reviews. Do they not make them in 21"?

GoBlue!

I don't know about the Alpins in 21, I don't recall but I know the 911 guys like them. I suspect the Sottos are the only N rated option. The Sottozeros are not bad, a bit more performance oriented than say my Macan's Nokian. I would think in NJ where the roads are mostly dry more often than snowy, that would be a good trade off. One word of caution, if the summers are off they need to be kept in a mild climate so they don't get freeze damage.

lexhair

Tirerack is your friend here. I will say that going down to 19" for the Alpin is probably worth it. They are fantastic tires.

sgarrick

I've long switched to running dedicated tires - winter/snow in winter and high-performance summer times for the rest of the year.
On the 2018 Panamera 4S, I have a set of 21-inch wheels and 19-inch Michelin Arctic Alpin. Ebay is a great source. I got a set of 971.601.025.A and had them painted satin black.
(I run smaller winter tires on my Volvo XC90 as well.)

- The 19-inch set-up gets a lot of looks. The vast majority of compliments I get are when the snow tires are on it. Seriously it looks good. The wheels aren't nearly too small.
- I use a Craftsman hydraulic jack and there is a spot fairly close to each wheel... It looks like "plastic" but it works. (If you have the air suspension, please remember to turn it off.)

MrOutside

Appreciate the feedback. Those are the wheels I saw on eBay (and Craigslist) that I am looking at getting. Glad to hear they look good on the car! Just out of curiosity, did you paint those yourself, and if so, what type of paint did you use?

sgarrick

I did not. Got them from this place Nitrous Garage (through eBay). They do everything, including a variety of painting. I wanted to have them painted black in matte but after speaking one of the folks there, they suggested satin because of how it looks and cleans. They installed the TPMS, wheel/hub covers (in the appropriate color) and added the Michelin Arctic Alpin for the same price, if not cheaper than TireRack. It truly was perfect.

Cheers!

MrOutside

I checked them out. They have a lot of different wheels, but only one set for Panamera (and not the design I like). I’m going to contact them to see if they have any incoming wheels. What size tire are you running? I saw the Suncoast Techquipment package runs 265/45/19 (F) and 265/40/19 (R) sizes, but when I went to TireRack they said the Michelin Alpin (N-Spec) don’t come in that size. I think the Alpin is the tire I want to run.

pbon

I don’t have a Panamerica though it is on the consideration list along with the usual suspects line RS7, E63 AMG and M5, but on my BMWs and (new) Porsche, I run winter and summer wheels and change them myself. Changing 16 wheels is not exactly fun, though. I have a lift but often just use a floor jack if I have another car in the lift. With a nice 18V impact line Milwaukee Mid Torque, it does not take long. Use a torque wrench for the final tightening.

I did try the stock 20” all seasons on the new Cayenne S in 2 snow storms and while they were adequate they were not great. Staggered 275/305 without heavy lugs and with short stuff sidewalls tend to float at times rather than bite through like narrower heavier lugged snows with squishier sidewalls. I went down to 19s with 255/275. 19s are probably the smallest that will clear the front 6 piston calipers on the 15.4” rotors on that car.