tire help
 

Short story: I need two front tires for my 2000 Box base (I believe stock wheels), what tires do you guys recommend?

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Long story: when I bought my Boxster in February, it came with new rears and a spare set of new rears, though they are all knock-off brand tires.

I quickly looked at the fronts before I bought it, just checking that they weren't completely bare, so that I could drive home safely (4.5 hour trip), and they checked out (or so I thought).

I'd only driven the car in nice, dry weather since then, doing a few maintenance items and getting used to the car. Fast forward to two Saturdays ago-on our way home from a Euro car show (where ours was the only Boxster out of 500 European rides, and got a lot of looks and conversation), the drivers side front drop link broke on our street. So I checked the passenger side front as well and who would have known, it was the driver side part installed (backwards)! So I ordered new ones and got them on (boy does the car feel better!).

BUT I also noticed while I was down there that the inside half of both front tires was 100% smooth, while the outsides of both had plenty of tread. So my plan is to get new front tires, have all 4 balanced and get an alignment done-but I want to know what (front) tires recommendations you all have.

Thanks,
Ben

Short story - match your rears.

Long story - you should never have mis-matched front and rear tires. Their characteristics will be different, resulting in unusual (at best) driving situations. You could end up with unpredictable results in rain or high speed driving. It is dangerous to have different tires on the front and rear of a high performance sports car.

Check the manufacture date on your rear tires. If they are 6-8 yrs old, it's not worth matching to them as they're getting too old for high speed driving. You're going to need a full set if the rears are old.

If you need a full set of tires, there are plenty of threads on this topic. You need to decide what fits your needs. There are plenty of inexpensive tires that work fine on a Boxster. There are plenty of mid-level priced tires too. And Michelin and Continental are just releasing new tires on the upper end of the price scale. Search on tires here and go to TireRack for lots of information.

Match your wheels. ;)

I'm on my second set of Hankook Ventus V12 Evo2s on my '04. A very good summer tire, especially considering the price. Likely will do the same for the 911 when I get new tires on that.

Thanks for the replies-I'll see what rears I've got and go from there.

Also, thanks for mentioning the Hankooks, it's good to hear that they are good on the Boxster.

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Most tyres will be good on the Boxster in the dry. It's in wet conditions that you'll see the difference between good tyres and bad tyres. Personally, since I live in Ireland and we get a fair bit of rain, I would get a tyre that's B or A rated in the wet. But that's just me. I don't think it's worth putting cheap tyres on a performance car. Michelin Pilots, Goodyear F1 Assymetrics, Continental Contisports, Bridgestone Potenzas are all highly rated tyres and I would recommend sticking to one of the premium brands.

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I use Pilot SS in the summer and BFGoodrich g-Force COMP-2 A/S in the winter.

+1 Hankook Ventus V12 Evo2s These are pretty good tires for the price. They work very good in the heat and rain but little rough on cooler days and nights but that's pretty standard.

I just noticed that too.

Another good budget summer tire is the Sumitomo HTR Z III, that is the street tire I ran on my Boxster before it turned into a mostly track car. I also ran them on track a few times when I was first getting started and they did good for me. Since you are in FL, a summer tire would be a good match.

We do get a lot of rain in FL - I was still in NC when I mostly drove the car for street driving but the sumis did good in rain for me too.

If your inner edges are bald with plenty of tread on the outside, you might have too much toe in the front which drags the inner part of the tire along.

What 4 wheels do you have on your car right now? Two matching backs and two matching fronts?

IMHO, for general street driving there are a bunch of great tires to choose from
These are all summer tires (in no particular order)
Sumitomo HTR ZIII
Hankook Ventus V12 evo2
Michelin Pilot Supersports

Of those the Supersports are the most $$ and the Sumis the lowest$

If you have the $$ get the SuperSports. Want to save a few $$ get the Sumi's

I have used all of them and would take the Sumi's over the Hankooks (my opinion)
The SuperSports are wonderful tires, best of its class. I currentlyt have thme on my DD wheels and had the Sumi's before. Then main reason I got the SuperSports is I got them for free, otherwise I would have bought the Sumi's.

No recommendations for winter tires as I don't use them in San Diego

Your tire wear is alignment related. Get a good one done

I've got matching tires on the front and back on stock 17 wheels (front wheels a bit skinnier than rear).

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How is the date coded on the tire? I have an 03 and i know the fronts and rears are different manufacturers ...

Agree on never mismatching tread patterns unless the situation doesn't allow for anything else.

I just purchased the new Conti ExtremeContact Sports and am quite happy with everything except how they tramline on grooved freeway pavement.

I hear the new Firestone Indy500 is a great tire (essentially identical to the Bridgestone RE003 sold in non-US markets) and is very reasonably priced.

One side of the tire will have something like DOT 2616, this means the tire was made the 26th week of 2016.

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

Some tires (Toyo/Nitto are two) may have a leading 5th digit that can be disregarded.

I love the Michelin Pilot Sport PS2's I have on my 2001 S, but they were a bit pricey...

They stick like glue wet or dry.

Interesting comments on Hankook. That's what came on mine - I can't wait for them to wear out so I can replace them. Loud and don't seem to grip as well as I would expect.

Could be me with first mid engine/rear drive car but not terribly impressed.

Potenza S-04 Pole Positions work great for me. My rears last about 13,000 miles but the fronts last 2 or 3 times that. I'm on my 3rd set

I've just ordered 4 x Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymetric 3 for mine. Having fun the last days throwing the car sideways every chance I get.

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Super sports are the only tire I will I put on my car now

Pilot Sports 4 have higher ratings and better reviews than the Super Sports. Cheaper too.

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Pilot Sport 4s tires are not available in sizes that will fit our cars. No 16" or 17" and only 245/14 in 18"

Pilot SuperSports are a better tire than PS2's