Oil Changes and Rear Tires
 

OK, so I was talking to a neighbor who does not think much of sports cars. I was just warming up the engine and getting out the ramps in the driveway so I could change the oil. He asked how often I changed the oil in the Boxster. I said I normally change the oil and filter every 5K for the 45K I have owned the car. He said that seems reasonable, that is the interval he uses on his car.

Then he asked about tires....... I said that I have gotten 15-20K on a set of fronts (PS2's). He said what about the rear tires, I told him I probably average 5-7K on a set of rears. He laughed and brought it to my attention that I change my rear tires about as often as I change my oil. OMG, he is right :eek: I mean I have been doing this for three years but it never really sunk in. Anyone else change their rear tires at about the same frequency as their oil?


Ed

:(

I log no more than 2500 miles a year and change my oil annually. My tires will be hockey pucks before I wear them out.

My car has had 5 oil changes and 1 set of tires.

Oil Changes:

1,200 miles (April 2006) Mobil 1 0W40
7,500 (Oct. 2006) Mobil 1 0W40
15,500 (Oct. 2007) Redline 5W40
24,500 (Sept. 2008) Redline 5W40
33,000 (last week!) Redline 5W40

Tires:

20,000 miles (Summer 2008) Michellin PS2's 19"

That is not uncommon. You'll find many discussions regarding tire ware on our boxsters. Comes with the territory, especially if you drive them spirited fashion and/or autocross. :D

Yep. Rear tires, oil/filter, brake fluid, air filter element. This is my annual routine in November.

Agree on oil & filter at around 5k miles. I use 5W-40 Motul 300V and LN Engineering's spin-on filter adapter.

My Dunlop 9090s got 20k at the rear and the fronts are still good at almost 30. And 5-6 years is about it for safe tires regardless of tread.

The tires are not as sticky as the PS2s which seem to be the consensus favorite, but they have been berry, berry good to me.

No track, but spirited driving is not uncommon.

Edit: And brake fluid very two years, altho I recently noticed that my Bentley manual says Porsche changed to recommending it every three.

"Yep. Rear tires, oil/filter, brake fluid, air filter element. This is my annual routine in November."

I hear you, but what if you average 15K of driving a year like I have for the last 3 years...... :eek:

Ed

:cheers:

I purchased the car with 29,000 miles on it. The car had front and rear Nitto tires with about 10,000 miles on them. I am currently at 45,000 miles and still have good tread on both front and rears.

Try buying a different brand of tires. I'd be very unhappy if I was only getting 6-8 thousand miles on the rear tires.

It's all about the grip level you want, when it comes to tires compromises have to be made...

"It's all about the grip level you want, when it comes to tires compromises have to be made..."

For sure, I have a second set of wheels with an inexpensive set of Nexen tires mounted. Those are my "winter" tires, in fact it was 47 degrees this morining, I should probably swap wheels soon.

Anyway, the Nexen's are reasonable tires and if I were to drive nothing else, I would probably get used to their handleing characteristics. But when I put the PS2's back on when the weather warms up again...... :D, at least for another 5-7K, then its :eek: again,


Ed

:cheers:

Both the Box and the 911 are notorious for eating tires, esp the rear ones.

My alignment guy suggets the reasons are:

Negative camber in the rear.

Tread compounds on speed rated tires.

Aggressive driving.

Whatever the cause, getting 10-15K on a set of rear tires is pretty much the best I have heard of.

10K would be more like it.

:eek:

5-7k miles isn't much at all for PS2's. What kind of alignment specs are you running?

I get about 5-7k out of my rears as well. I've tried several different tires and pretty much the same result.

I average about 3.5k per year so about ever 1.5 years I get a new set of rears.

Oil changes annually.

I always hear about fast tire wear on Boxsters, but my 245 SP Sport Maxx rears are doing pretty well (35-40% worn, maybe) at 7k miles and a year and a half old. The fronts look brand new. No, they aren't as sticky as a PS2 or SPT or something, but they still have more than enough grip to be fun on a twisty road. It's not like I drive like an old lady either - I exercise it whenever I get the chance.

Maybe check your alignment? When I had the Dunlops installed to replace the 7-year-old (original and 50% worn at 12k miles) Pilot Sports, I bent over and had Porsche align the car to the tune of $250.

Wow, I have changed the oil once per year and owned the car 4.5 years now and just bought new tires last year. I have put about 27m miles on car since purchased. I guess I got 20k out of the old tires. The kicker is that if I didnt get a flat last year, I would still be on the original Pirellis. It was less money to replace all 4 with Yokohamas than the rears with the Pirellis.

Go Figure.