Daily Slideshow: The Best Tires for Your Porsche
With a new tire brand emerging every time you do an oil change it can be hard to sift through what the best tires are right now. Here is my buyers guide so you don’t have to stress.
Pilot Sport Cup 2
Michelin and Porsche are working so closely with each other these days you could almost say the Pilot Sport Cup 2 is tailored to Porsche like a leather jacket. With grip levels exceeding racing slicks available about a decade ago it’s tough to imagine how much faster these barely legal road tires can get. Any tire that finds itself as OEM on some of the fastest cars in the world should be on your radar.
Trofeo R
This heavyweight hitter finds its way onto our list because of the so-called holy trinity: Mclaren P1, Porsche 918 and La Ferrari. In several tests where the P1 came back to beat the 918 (I know, I hate thinking about it too) it did so on the Trofeo R. Think of this tire as the Pilot Sports big brother you don’t want to mess with.
Hoosier R7
Sticky street rubber and borderline legal road/race rubber is great…but if that’s not enough you have these guys. One of the stickiest tires money can buy and a race only compound that you do not want to run on the street the Hoosier R7 makes any road legal D.O.T. tire, competition or otherwise, irrelevant. Your face will physically hurt from how hard these tires can suck you to the pavement. If you want the best and have money to burn this is the tire for you.
Toyo R888R
Available in a plethora of sizes this is one of the tires that has come to the forefront of the aftermarket scene in recent years. A true jack of all trades it is at home on the street and the race track with the added bonus of being half the price of its competitors. Many tuners have used this tire on Porsches that exceed double the horsepower they left Stuttgart with.
RE-11
Bridgestone has been a long favorite for the weekend canyon carver and track-day enthusiasts. The RE-71R made waves recently but isn’t exactly Porsche friendly in 17” sizes. The RE-11 fills that space in the 18” category (think BBS) and provides staggering grip that the company has become synonymous with over decades in the sports car and tuner scene. Highly recommended tire to add to the list when all-out performance isn’t the most important thing.
Conclusions
This concludes the top picks for tires from competition to the weekend warrior. OEM equipment is tough to beat but there are some great tires being made by aftermarket companies now that rival big companies in terms of price and outright performance. At the end of the day, Porsches are about having fun and going fast so get the best tires you can and enjoy your 911 now!
For help keeping your Porsche running right, please see our how-to section in the forum.