Another Tire Thread
 

I am in the market for new tires this week and have been doing a lot of research. I have decided to go with a performance a/s tire. I have a couple of questions probably just opinions really.

I want to change the front tire size from the 205 to a 215. Would that be a 215/45/17 or a 215/40/17?

Now to the tires and opinions. The tires I have been looking at are:

1) Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06
2) BFGoodrich g-Force COMP-2 A/S
3) Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric All-Season
4) kind of up for any other ideas on all season tires
These all have mileage warranties and are great mixes of performance with tread rating.

I also listed these in order of, current, preference.

I would avoid all seasons, they just aren't very good at anything. For most people a good set of max/high/ultra performance summer tires is probably best. If you expect to drive in temperatures below 40° F, especially if there is rain or snow I would highly recommend getting a dedicated set of winter tires.

I am currently running your #2 choice, the BFGoodrich g-Force Comp-2's. I am no tire expert, but I like them, they are responsive, grip well, and so far no issues.

I know all season's aren't a prime tire but its what I need to work with at this time.

Do you like the cornering ability? How is the loss of traction? Any audible squeel or warning? or is it all or nothing with these?

Basically wondering if they will be fun and useful and safe for slightly more than spirited driving?

The stock diameter for our 986 front tires is 25", so out of those two choices 215/45/17 is the closest but still under, and 215/40/17 is shorter. If you go to 225/45/17, it is right at 25", same diameter as the stock 205/50/17 fronts. I am running 225/45/17 fronts on my Boxster. They look better and in my opinion they handle better, better grip up front and less understeer, and if you are looking for performance tires (which you say you are not) it really opens up a lot of choices are there are very few 205/50/17 Extreme Summer tires.

When I was in Charlotte, NC I had Max performance summer tires on year round, and the guy I bought the car from in PA also ran Max perf summer tires all year, and drop his jeep to work if it was snowy/too cold/etc.

I'm not sure what the weather is like in TN in winter so I'm not sure what would be best for you. But in NC I never had any trouble, if it was snowy or super cold I just took my Tacoma. Now I am in FL so it is barely ever below freezing.

Edit: If you want to run an A/S, the new(ish) Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 is supposed to be very good, several folks on here run that tire.

I'm not a professional driver so I run Goodyear. They grip when I want them to and break when I desire to do a mini spin around a corner. They work great for me. I get about 20-25k out of the rear and unknown out of the front. I'm only about 35k on the front and they look fine. I imagine they'll need replacing around 50k.

I'm slightly biased as I've only run Goodyear on every car I have ever owned for the past 20 years, so take that into consideration.

That does mean you have trust in Goodyear. That would be a good thing even with a grain of salt.

I've been running the Conti DWS's on my 99 Carrera 4 for about 1.5 years/ 30K miles and have been very happy with them. In dry conditions, they have performed as expected. In fresh snow or pouring rain they have been terrific. The rears now need to be replaced, but the fronts still show the D,W, & S (each letter is cut to a different depth, and when that letter is gone, the tire is no good for that condition).
Worn, the rear tires are getting a bit loud. I plan to purchase another set and continue using these tires.

+1 on the tire size

225/45-17 front and 255/40-17 rear are a better setup, much more neutral with less understeer.

Definitely look at the Michelin AS/3. I have them on my 996 and they are very good performing tires. as an added plus, they have a treadlife warranty and Michelin stands behind them. I know, the rears on my 996 wore out and I only had to pay 30% of the full replacement cost!

read the fine print on any warranty, for example Michelin cuts the warranty in half when you have a staggered setup like we do. I have no idea what other manufacturers do

The g-Force Comp-2's are ulta high performance summer tires. Again I am no expert, but I will do my best to answer your questions:

The g-force Comp-2's corner well, and are overall a very good tire in my opinion. My driving style is very spirited, and I have never had any issues or felt like I was losing traction. That said, I have not used the Comp-2's at an auto-x yet, however I previously ran the g-force KDW (they stopped making the 255 size) at a few auto-x events and never experienced any loss of traction, which is hard to do in a 986. The tires only squealed under heavy maneuvering, like the slalom. The traction is not all or nothing. I would recommend them, from my experience so far.

I had ExtremeContact on my NC Miata and they did great. This is a bit of good info for me, thank you.

Are you running the 225/45/17's on the stock rims? The recommended rim width for that size is 7.5 at the narrowest, but the stock rims size is 7.0.

If you are running the stock rim size, have you noticed any issues with the slightly too-narrow rims with those tires? Do they rollover on the rim when running hard?

From what I understand Goodyear has full warranty with a 215/255 setup and I don't believe the 225/255 does but I will find out again today.
I am not sure about the other tires but that is a deciding factor for me.

7" are fine, at least with my Dunlop Star Spec and Sumi HTR ZIII in 225/45-17
Go to Tirerack and look at the tire specs and you will see that the rim width range is 7"-8" or 8.5" for 225/45

I tracked both and no rollover issues

Stock 7" rims, and I have run on those rims in 225/45/17:

Sumitomo HTR Z III
Hankook R-S3
Toyo R888

No problems whatsoever and have never had any trouble getting them mounted. The first one out of these was the Hankook which I got from Tire Rack and they confirmed it was an approved size for the Boxster on a 7" wheel.

I just did a quick check on Tire Rack and all 3 of the tires listed above are approved on a 7"-8.5" wheel, with the section with the various tire measurements being made on a tire mounted to a 7.5" wheel.

Each tire brand may be different so that may be why your tire didn't list 7" as an approved wheel width?

Full warranty sounds pretty sweet and .4" inch shorter tire in the front probably won't hurt anything, and may give you a subtle back to front body rake. And the wider front will look better and handle better too :)

I thought about going to 225 from 215 but the price difference seemed to be tremendous as well. I would prefer 225, though.
Does anyone have a picture of a 225/40 or 215/40 on the front? I'd be interested to see what it looked like next to a 205/50 tire with the same suspension. Curious if it actually alters the lines a little visually.

you are putting too much thought into this. I doubt you can see much difference between 215 and 225 vs 205 from 10 feet.
If anything the wider tire will fill the wheel well a little bit more. Bear in mind you are looking at 5 or 10 mm difference on each side of the wheel. that is approx less than 1/4" to less than 1/2 in.
Same thing on any diameter difference, less than 1/2" if any
Go with 225 on the front, the car will handle better

How much more $ are 225 vs 215. Probably is not much and considering you will have the tires for a while......

Goodyears warranty is 1/2 mileage for staggered setup regardless of the size

I guess thats a good point. If people are telling me that the fronts are lasting a long time then I guess what is 50$ difference per tire on the front.

Where are you buying them from that has a $50 difference per tire?

It was a local price I found. I've never bought tire rack or online tires. Sorta worried about warranty replacement. Don't want to have to have my car down cause I have to mail my tire out for something.

Discount tire and tire rack both have great prices on these though and bring the cost down at least 25% from local shops. but then I have to pay for install I believe.