Which tyre is best?

[Henrik]

Hello,

I own a 2.7 1999 Boxster and I am going to swap my tyres soon but I was wondering which tyre is the best ?!?

As far as I have gathered these are the recommended ones by Porsche:

Pirelli P Zero Rosso
Michelin Pilot Sport
Continental Sport Contact

I have only owned my car for half a year and it came with different makes front (Continental) and back (Uniroyal). At the moment I am finding it unpredictable in slippery English roundabouts! How should a Boxster behave in slippery conditions?

Regards,
Henrik

[unklekraker]

Hi Henrick!...we have the same year of Boxster and i bought Kumho Excsta few months ago and it's working out fine with me....just sharing it with you

[Boxtaboy]

I thought the 2.7L engine started from 2000, with the 2.5L being standard on 97-99. In any case, Kumho brand tires, as Unkleraker have suggested, are a good economical tire, with good bang for the dollar, but if you are looking for better performance in the wet, then you might want to try directional tires up front with assymetrical tires in the rear. This type of set up is good for rear and mid-engined cars, for better wet weather stability. Porsche, in fact, specified this set up for my model year (2001), and I've found it to perform really well on wet roads.

As for general brands, Michelin PS2s, Bridgestone Potenza RE050A, Yokohama Advans, and Goodyear F1s, are all really good tires. Hope this helps.

[blinkwatt]

Originally Posted by Henrik

As far as I have gathered these are the recommended ones by Porsche:

Pirelli P Zero Rosso

I have the Rossos on my car now,stay away from them. For the price go they are not worth it. Go for the Bridgestone Potenza RE050A(Max Summer Performance) or RE-01R(Extreme Summer Performance),both are less $ and based off of my past experiences with higher end Potenzas they should be better. Whatever route you decide to go,be sure to give us a review.

[SC986]

I had the Continentals on my BMW 3 series and really hated them. They had a decent ride but no handling and I did not get a good life out of them.

I replaced them with a version of the Pilot Sport I have on the Boxster..Pilot Exalto. They ride great and the handling improved 100 percent. They were a good bit cheaper than the sports.

[racer_d]

Henrik - "best" for what?

If normal, spirited street driving, as Porsche intended, in most elements, then follow the porsche suggestions. Since you are in the UK, I am not sure what other brands you can buy that have been mentioned here already (ie Khumo, or Toyo)

I am not suprised that your car currently feels slippery given the fact you have mixed brands of tires. I am sure tread patterns and likely tire constructions are different between the two. You don't mention how many miles you have on the tires, but the rears typically don't last more than 15,000 miles. Fronts can take as much as twice as long to wear out. Obviously, tread depths will impact their wet weather performance.

[David_J]

Originally Posted by racer_d

You don't mention how many miles you have on the tires, but the rears typically don't last more than 15,000 miles.

15,000? I got a tiny bit over 6000 miles out of my last set. I bought them new in April and by December they were gone.

[kls]

I am also searching for tires and have decided on the Bridgestone Pole Positions. A great resource for tires is tirerack.com. Try the link below, then you can get reviews from everyone with a Boxster about how they liked each tire. It's a little confusing to find that - but enter you car in their search engine and it will give you loads of info.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=MP

[funster]

I am on my second set of Kumho Excsta MX and have nothing but great things to say about the tire! Sticks as well as any tire lasts longer than other extreme preformance tires too with a tread wear rating of 220 and a whole set of 18's costs about $600 from tire rack. They really stick and in a wide variety of temperatures including near freezing.

[rick3000]

How do you guys get only 5k miles out of one set of tires?
Are these specialty tires of some kind.

I am still using the tires the car came with at 25k miles and they still have plenty of thread left.

[jwilson95]

I'm with Rick. I'm running 18's with Pirelli Pzero's and have 7k on the tires with minimal wear. I run the car reasonably hard around town and don't do any track/DE or AutoX, so maybe that is the difference.

I like the Pirelli's but have no comparison on 986. I'd look at the PS2's/Pirellis if I want to spend the bucks or the Kumho's to save a few $$ when I need tires.

[kabel]

The PS2 are a soft tire even with a tread ware rating of 220 and the boxster will eat up the rear tires in 5k with spirited driving (is there any other way to drive a boxster?). At minimum I drive my boxster 30 mi. a day (m-f) and autocross it a few times each year as well.

+ I'm right there with Randall too:

Originally Posted by RandallNeighbour

I have PS2's on my car now and unless I am flat broke, I'm going to keep putting them on my boxster. Excellent traction in all sorts of weather...

[Henrik]

Here we go again! New tires needed soon!
The Michelin tires have been perfect. I have done 32000km in a bit more than 4 years and it's not down to the treadware indicator on the rears yet. And the fronts, as expected, have a bit more. I guess I don't drive that hard - but I have done two track days!

I would like to have a complete fresh set and I was wondering if someone has got experience and can compare these tires:

Michelin PS2 (€846)
Bridgestone S02A (€776)
Yokohama Advan Sport, not Porsche approved (€691)

Thanks,
Henrik

[kabel]

I was going to give the new Super Sports a try, but I was shocked to find out they do not make them in the 255/40R17 for my rear wheels!! Boo!

[thstone]

Every tire is a tradeoff.

The PS2's are a great blend of high grip in both dry and wet conditions along with a smooth ride and quiet operation. The only downside is that they are expensive.

There are cheaper tires with more dry grip (Kumho Ecsta XS, Hankook Ventus RS-3, and Dunlop Star Spec Direzza) but you're going to give up something else (like wet grip and longevity) to max out the dry grip capability.

[MileHighBoxster]

I've had Pirellis, Michelins and Falken All-Weathers on my Porsches (4). The best all-around tires I've had have been the factory Michelin Pilot Sport PS2. They'll give up a little on top-end performance but you'll get twice the wear from them and never have an issue for any reason.

[Mrmaddbrad]

If you're looking for performance, and to not have it "slippery" and in my experience, when the car is sliding its way easier to handle with good tires.. You should get...

1. Dunlop Direzza Z1 Star Specs (200 Treadwear: My favorite, work GREAT cold and when wet, as well as perform amazing in warm, summer conditions)
2. Hankook Ventus R-S3 (140 Treadwear: Great for absolute performance when warm. If you're not ever going to race, not for you, but you'll notice the performance even when cold, but again not as good in the cold as the Star Specs)
3. Toyo R1R (140 Treadwear: Great tires when wet and cold and again hot and warm. But they're rather pricey.)

IMHO, if you want good, grippy tires get the Star Specs. If you want tires that will last but not perform, get Michelins, they make great tires that will last. For best of both worlds, look for a tire around 300-350 Treadwear rating...

(I can also give you info on race tires if you want it.... But you don't seem to race if you don't know how it should perform going around a round about lol)

[John99Boxster]

I have Front .... Toyo Proxes T1R......and Rear.....Nexxen N3000.

The Nexxens are holding up extremely well
The Toyos NOT so well

[DenverSteve]

This is so easy - THERE IS NO BEST. Your temperatures, humidity, altitude, speed, traffic conditions.... Will be different than almost everyone else. Therefore, this is an unanswerable question. If I were you, I would start with what came stock on the car. That's probably Michelin. You won't be sorry and you'll see what Porsche put on these from the factory. Then you can adjust from there, if necessary.

Otherwise, you'll just have a list of every tire made. Happy motoring.

[tdurnan]

I'm going to bite on the new Michelin Super Sports come spring time. Was running the Bridgestone RE050 but wore out way too fast for me 6000 KM on the rears and completely bald. No track days just 4 runs on the TOD and then pretty basic running around town.