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Rookie tire question

I’ve had the Box going on 2 years now, and it’s looking like I’m finally going to need to start thinking about tires. She came (used, a 2001 S) with Dunlop SP Sport 9090s all round, which I have been pretty happy with. They seem to handle well and I can’t complain about the tread wear: have gotten about 23K on the rears, which seemed really good to me, considering what I have read here on 986forum. (I drive in spirited fashion, though only breaking the rear tires loose from time to time; haven’t done the autocross thing---yet.)

My question: Even though I have been relatively happy with those tires, I am considering others as well. However, common wisdom seems to indicate one shouldn’t mix tires of different brands. Does that mean I just have to kiss off the thousands of miles of tread left on the fronts? I don’t really want to store them for some possible, unknown future use---I really don’t have the space. Just how bad it it to mix tires?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frodo

It's best to keep the same tires on both ends, it keeps the handling balanced, but it's not imperative. I would change all 4 and try to sell the fronts, but I'm sure there are many folks out there with mismatched tires that are not having any problems.

I've done some mixing and matching in the past and didn't have any real problems. When shopping for rear replacements try to match up the UTQG, service description from the manufacturer and any other tech info you can get. Then, when you put the tires on you can use the first couple of hundred miles to get a feel for your new set up. There's nothing like the seat of your pants to match your driving to your tires and your suspension set up.

First thing to do is check the date code on the fronts; it will indicate the week and year of production (WWYY format).

Reference: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=11

If the tire is 5 years or older, it is beyond useful life and should be replaced. Plus by then it has likely turned into a hockey puck.; 23k miles on the rears...those must have been hard as rocks!