So I got a bad puncture last night in one of my front tires. My tires were replaced last year on my ST turbo and both fronts are at 6/32 with the rears at roughly the same so definitely not like new. I’m sure Discount tire is going to recommend a full set replacement and I would not be going with Pirelli again.
I’ve got 2 questions for the group. The first is this. NO coded front Michelins are on national backorder, but the Mercedes coded tires are available. Does anyone see any issue using them other than perhaps ultimate lap time goals? The rears are in stock. OR I could save a couple hundred dollars and just go with the Pirelli P Zeros which are in stock. I just find that they don’t have a very good ride and are really loud compared to Michelin tires. I’ve personally always preferred Michelin tires and been willing to pay the premium for them. I don’t run Porsche coded Michelins on my Carrera.

The second question is, should I just save the money and only replace the front 2 tires or will this throw a code due to the rolling diameter difference?

 

I just went through the SAME thing with Discount. Ask Discount to search through Tire Rack (which they also own). They only searched their own warehouses and I was also told the NDO (Porsche) versions of the Pilot Sport 4S were also on backorder until next spring.
I went home and searched it up on Tire Rack which said they were in stock. Called Discount back and said "hey don't you guys own Tire Rack?" and they said yes just a second....they searched for the tires through Tire Rack, showed available, and they arrived to my local Discount Tire shop about 3-5 days later.

MORE headaches to story though....They ordered NDO's but Tire Rack shipped MO's (Mercedes) for the rear. So had to wait another 3-5 days to get the correct rears. All good in the end. I ran my snow tires/wheels while all this was going on.

Do not buy Pirellis they are terrible. Get the Michelins.

 

I had a similar situation recently where one of my rear sidewalls caught a piece of metal. None of the other tires needed replacing, so I ended up buying a used tread-matched P-Zero off eBay for about $60. Perfectly good used tire, and am back on track to buy whatever full set when the time comes. Just get you a matching used tire with matching tread depth and continue on.

 

I've done his several times at sites that specialize in used tires, but be aware they have repaired tires in the mix-be sure to call and confirm no repair.

 

I completely agree that the Pirellis are terrible. It looks like Michelins with NO code are back ordered through March of next year but I can get Mercedes coded full set right away so I’m going to take them since they are going to be better than Pirelli every day of the week. The difference in manufacturer code is primarily a slightly different compound or sidewall stiffness, but this size is made for the AMG GTR so it can’t be much.

 

Delete. Oops.

 

I went with Pilot 4s on my car, dont remember what the code was.

 

This is my take from someone who works in the sector (automotive engineer for an OEM), AND has done tire development work for said OEM, BUT not with these tires.

Facts:

• The Pilot Super Sport (PSS) is an older tire. It was Michelin's top tire in 2011. Several generations of Michelin's "best" tire the PS3, PS4, PS4S, PS5, PS5S, etc have been developed in the decade since.
• Auto OEMs can put a lot of work into tuning a tire for a specific vehicle, they do this together with the tire manufacturer. They can customize all sorts of things from rubber compounds, to ply orientation, to sidewall stiffness, etc. This can and will impact performance: everything including ride comfort, grip, steering feel, tread life, etc.
• Auto OEMs can also NOT put a lot of work into developing a tire, and just take an off-the-shelf tire and give it their stamp of approval.

Unknown:

• How much (if any) tuning / what tuning Porsche did to the PSS N0 for Panamera applications (sizes). (my opinion: Porsche does tune tires for their vehicles. how much, IDK.)

Educated guess:

• The PSS N0 Panamera will perform generally better than a standard PSS when fitted to a Panamera.
• The PSS M0 Mercedes tire will perform generally worse than a standard PSS when fitted to a Panamera. (and consequently worse than a PSS N0).
• The latest "top tier" Michelin (PS5 or PS5S) will perform better than a standard PSS when fitted to a Panamera.
• It's tough to say if the PSS N0 or the latest PS5/PS5S will perform better when fitted to a Panamera.

FWIW, when I was faced with this choice 6mo ago, I chose to put PS4S tires on my turboS. (and my next set will be PS5S now that they exist). While the PSS N0 was indeed likely developed for the Panamera, that tire tech is now 10-15 years old. As someone who both takes tires very seriously, and has personally worn through MANY sets of PSS, PS3, PS4, and PS4S tires (and has been able to recognize and appreciate the advancement in each generation), I chose the newer tire.

But I don't fault anyone that wants to install PSS N0.

Summary: the PSS N0 is the only alternative to the PS5/PS5S that I would consider. A standard PSS or even worse a PSS tuned specifically for a different vehicle (M0) will not perform as well.

 

If it helps your searching Michelin PS4S now calls the Porsche version "ND0" instead of "N0" used previously. Also on some Cup2 tires they now call it "N1" instead of the prior "N0". Not sure why.

 

I got some PS AS/4s a while ago. The N0 wasn't available so I got the less expensive non-N0s. The strange thing is that the N0 version was rated as V, 149 mph, and the non-N0 was rated as Y (186 mph).

I see they have a N1 version now that's still rated V. Why is the rating so low for the Porsche versions?

 

Porsche states the tread depth on the same axle should not vary between tires by more than 30%. There isn't a required tread depth tolerance between axles so new tires on one axle with partially worn tires on the other is fine. The difference between N0 and N1 is that they revised the tire. If they revise it again it will be an N2 although I have never seen that designation. There can be quite a difference between revisions. The difference between Pirelli PZero N0 and N1 is dramatic. Unfortunately I have never seen the manufacturers list the changes so it's impossible for us to know whether we can mix them on a car or not.. The recommendation is not to mix them.

 

i use M0 ps4s (same back order issue) on my 997, No issue at all. You can replace just the fronts, new ps4s is 9/32, there isn’t a huge difference in circumference that will throw a code.

 

I used standard Michelin’s all seasons (not NO) and they were about 1 inch narrower than the continental they replaced, at the front. Drop the tire on the side and the rim hits the floor, not the sidewall. Performance about the same. So apparently Porsche specified a wider tire for the same size.

 

My frustration with getting tires knows no bounds this last week. No dealer or tire distributor in the Southwest had NDO or NO Michelins available in the proper size. On top of that I wasn’t even able to get NO Pirelli tires unless I was willing to wait 14 days which isn’t an option for me since my Tesla has been “recalled” and they won’t tell me how long they are going to have it. (It’s a 2022 Model 3 Performance and that piece of **** is getting sold as soon as I get it back and I’m buying another Carrera S). So I ended up buying Bentley coded Pirellis at a discount. I was livid.
I am now stuck with waiting for Michelin to ramp up production of PS5 tires and have a good friend who has assured me a set as soon as they are available. I’m not a snob as far as these things go, I just hate wasting good money and $800 for 2 tires I didn’t even want is a total waste.

 

What a massive PITA.