What are the best tires for Boxsters?
 

Background:
I recently mounted some Kumhos, they're used tires that I basically got for free. I whole heartedly regret replacing my completely bald Michelins for these pieces of junk. Should have ran them to the wires. I bought the car with the Michelins, I'm thinking they're Pilot Sports, didn't pay much attention to them. I get no grip with these tires compared to the previous ones, it's really drastic. Makes me hate driving the car hard, especially in corners -breaks traction easily.

Now on to the original posting. I plan on tracking the car this coming spring; I joined the Porsche Club. What do some of you experienced owners/weekend racers suggest. I have two sets of wheels, so I'm thinking street legal race tires for the track wheels and (fill in the blank) tires for day to day driving. I'd like a summer tire with sticky compound. Any suggestions?

Based on how this is written I'm guessing you're not really racing the car. I'd suggest searching the performance forum and The Tire Rack website. Tons of great info there.

My apologies, I'm basically looking for some good performing regular street tires, sort of like the tires I had on the car prior to mounting the Kumhos.

I've searched TireRack, mainly read some of the reviews and there is a lot of conflicting information. I read a lot on the Michelins I had on the car (I think) and other users experiences didn't match mine. There are way too many options out there. I'm willing to fork out extra cash as long as I get something worthwhile. I've heard good things on the Direzza Z1 Stars (mostly as track/autocross tires). How are these on Boxsters?

Were Michelin Pilot Sports OEM tires on Boxsters?

Yes The Dunlop Star Spec has excellent grip wet or dry. Hankook RS-3 might be a little better in the dry and sacrifice a little in the wet. Both are sticky street tires that aim for max grip, wear out pretty fast, and are known for a little more road noise at highway speeds.

What are the best tires for a Boxster?:

Mainly consider:

1) New, quality, tires (check the codes dates)
2) Matching tires
3) Properly installed and road forced balanced
4) Properly inflated
5) How much $$$$ to you want to spend on tires??

Keep in mind, new tires require about 200-500 miles on them to "scrub"' off the mold release agents/lubricants.

Yes. The Pilot Sports were OEM tires on my 2006 987S in 19" size (235/35/19 and 265/35/19). These were replaced by the PS2's in about 2007. Excellent tires. Not cheap. I've gotten +20,000 miles on both sets.

An excellent replacement, and lower priced, replacements for the PS2's now (and getting great reviews from other Porsche owners, both 997 and 987 owners) are the Michelin Super Sports. See if they are available in your OEM sizes.

Thanks guys, this is what I needed.

I'll look into all of these.


I don't need them to last a long time if they're sticky and predictable.

The two best sticky street tires that I've used on the track were Kumho Ecsta XS and Hankook Ventus RS-3. I did 24 track days on these two sets of tires last year before I moved up to R-compound tires. The Kumho's rode a little smoother but the RS-3's had a tad more grip. Both are very predictable.

My Michelin PS2's were good on the track but became slippery/greasy feeling when they got really hot and I'd have to slow down for a few laps to let them cool a bit to get the grip to come back. Not so with the Kumho Ecsta XS or Hankook Ventus RS-3.

My car is completely stock but does have a performance alignment to get as much negative camber as possible.

I loved my Pilot Sport PS2 tires on the boxster. Fantastic daily driving tires and quite good for the occasional autox. I just put on some Star Specs this year to try something new on the box, they are incredibly grippy! I would not hesitate to go back to the PS2's or even the newer Pilot supersports (if they came in the size I need).

Purchased set of Hoosier R6s as my dedicated track tires. Almost got the A6s but since I'll be doing track and autocross I decided R6s would be more suitable.

As far as regular street/performance tires I purchased PS2s, rears only.


PS If anybody needs snow tires check out the classifieds, mounted on non-staggered BBS replica LMs.:dance:

Check this thread for more tire opinions, and my quick Super Sport review.

http://986forum.com/forums/general-discussions/9058-tyre-best.html

Agree, PS2's are fantastic tires. But they don't grip nearly as well as the Kumho XS or the Hankook RS-3 on a dry race track.

I really like the Dunlop StarSpec. They work great for both autocross and track days in my experience - hard to beat for all round duty. But - be warned they make a lot of noise.

On the rare occasion the wife rides in the 986, she calls it the "desert racer" as the tires make that rythmic noise from the desert racers on Star Wars Episode 1, or 2, or was it 0?

Desert Racer sounds, sweet, sounds like all the more reason to buy them.:)

I've heard great things about the Star Specs just about everywhere. I might get them next time around but for the time being R6s will do and PS2 should give me what I need around town.

I would recommend looking at Continental's "contact" line of performance tires, along with Nitto's .

Read TRire Rack's review of the Sumitomo ZIII. Hands down the best tire for the money.

Good tire for the money but no where near the dry grip as some of the other tires mentioned.

Sumitomo ZIII = 0.92g
Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec = 0.97g
Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 = 0.98g
Bridgestone Potenza RE-11 = 0.99g
Kumho Ecsta XS = 1.01g
Michelin Pilot Super Sport = 1.07g



References:
Tires : Test Results : The Tire Rack

Tires : Test Results : The Tire Rack

Tires: Test Results : The Tire Rack

Tires : Test Results : The Tire Rack

Hi All,

Is it necessary to buy the tyre with "N6", "N1"... etc which is dedicated for Porsche ?

I found Pilot Super Sport still not yet got the "N" mark.

There's definately varied opinions on this, but I don't care about the "N".

I just had a set of Pilot Super Sport tires installed, and they're fantastic, even compared to the PS2's they replaced. A good deal more grip, even below 50 degrees.

R6 is a great tire for a very experienced driver on a well developed suspension. A good choice for National Time Trial competition. You will get tons of grip and they will probably be gone in two weekends. On stock suspension the R6 tires will be corded in a few hours at the track.

Are your running standard 17" rims? If so you can put a 225/45 on the front and a 255/40 on the rear. Lots of very good tires in these sizes.

For a relatively inexpensive Rcomp tire that you can drive on the street for short distances I like the Nitto NT01; they wear well, have a lot of grip but like any Rcomp they need negative camber in the front--more than -1.0 deg. Hoosiers also need lots of negative camber or your outside edges will cord after a few events.

Personally, I like the extreme street tires like the XS, Nitto NT05 and Hankook RS-3. You can drive them to an event, can take the heat like a dedicated track tire, give you a bit less dry traction than an Rcomp but provide a controlled slide with lots of audio feedback before they let go. R comps--some-- just let go; grip, grip then no grip--and they need a lot of negative camber that you may not have. I drove the XS with -1.0 negative camber in the front end for nearly two years at track like Mid-OH and they wore evenly--the tire cycled out before the tread wore out.

Before I forget, get the most aggressive alignment you can before the track days start; your tires and savings account will be better off for it.

+1 Same as my experience.

When you go to R-comp's, you'll need adjustable lower control arms to get more negative camber otherwise.... http://986forum.com/forums/boxster-racing-forum/33823-need-more-negative-camber.html

Which Kuhmo model tire did you install ? All 4 ?

i just got a set of 4 new Nitto INVO on my Yr.2000 Boxster S.

I'm using 18" 987 Boxster S wheel and now with front 235/40/18 Rear 265/35/18

My $0.02 worth... My first consideration for tires was "where I live". If I lived in Phoenix or San Diego, I would have gone with summer tires. I live in Ohio. It rains and snows here... a lot some times. So I went with all seasons, Continental Extreme Contact DWS. Did I sacrifice dry weather performance? Yes. But I extended my driving season and I can drive the car in the rain without worrying about every ditch I see.
My thoughts.

For your regular street drive you can not go wrong with the Pilot Sport PS2 they may not wear the longest 10 to 15 K but they are forgiving and hold like they are cemented to the road. Cotintntal Sport contact hold but they are easy to put into a slide. and the front end of my car pushes with them on.

I got a set of Hankook RS-3 for on the track they hold better than the PS2 in corners they are not a class penelty on AX because they are 140 dot rated. In a 30 minute session on track they could get a little loose in the last lap or 2. I am happy with them for my experience level.

Bumping because I'm looking for tires

^ you need to tell us what you are looking for in a tire.
and your wheel sizes would help too ;-)

Yep, all tires are a tradeoff. Typical priorities:

Wet grip
Dry grip
All weather/Summer
Ride comfort
Road noise
Low Price
Longevity

A very high grip tire will not last too long. An all season tire will give up some dry grip.

I think tires are last on his mind now. See http://986forum.com/forums/performance-technical-chat/36487-overheated-250-died-side-highway-left-stranded.html

Best of luck to you 986 Inquiry. Let us know how things turn out.