Tire Recommendation?
 

I'm a newb and I need a tire recommendation. I basically inherited a '97 boxster with about 32k miles. Lots of fun to drive.

Dealer quoted $1,200 for a set of Michelin PS2 Sports or something like that...

I'd like to spend under $1,000.

Any help?

Thanks,
Steve

P.S. - still looking for a mechanic in Minneapolis/St. Paul area, other than the 2 dealers in town....

A week ago, I replaced Bridgestone RE050A Pole Positions (great tire) with Sumitomo HTR Z III's. So far I'm very impressed by the Sumi's. Smooth, quiet, ride well, great turn in response, very good grip. Not too impressed by braking... that is their one weak point.

Very affordable compared to other 3-season perf tires.

Lots of choices in that price range. Will you ever drive it in snow or below 40F. How important is tread wear, dry grip, road noise, wet traction?

Thanks Topless. I won't drive in snow or below 40F, unless its by accident. Probably the most important factors are noise and dry grip. I'm basically driving it on the weekends with the wife for fun and to and from work a couple days a week on some cool windy roads by our house.

The Sumi HTRZ III would be a good choice then...Near Michelin PS2 grip and road manners for about $500-600 a set mounted in SoCal. The Dunlop Direzza Z1 Star Spec will give you more grip and a bit more road noise and are very good in the wet but more $$.

Here is a very useful link for tire comparisons: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=93

Enjoy!

Tires, cont.
 

So, i went on Tire Rack to check on ordering some Sumis. I got this message when i was checking prices:

The following tire you have selected has a higher load rating than the vehicle's Original Equipment (O.E.) tires. This typically results in increased ride harshness, which some customers may find undesirable.

WTF? Either of you guys experienced "increased ride harshness"?

Steve

Negative on the harsh ride. I am running off a set of Sumis on my street wheels and I think the ride quality is as good or better than the PS2s I had before. Tirerack's own test results agreed (see link above). Remember though that all tires are a tradeoff and there are no perfect tires. A tire that one driver really likes may be all wrong for another driver in the same car. Choose wisely.

No Harshness Here
 

Been on 'em for over a year now and haven't noticed any "harshness."

The forum hasn't had much to say about Hancook. My 97 wih 39K came with a set of Ventus V12 EVO tires almost new.

Haven't pushed them hard, but certainly quiet on highway and apparently cheap (around $600 for the 4).

I'm saving my $ for the latest boogie man breakdowns - now it's cracked heads and change the waterpump every 3 years.

I see you are in St. Paul. I would make sure you had a good tire to handle snow, so look at the grip when you purchase. :cheers:

If you will be using your Boxster throughout the winter, using it as your daily driver and don't have the space to get a second set of dedicated snow tires like me, perhaps a good performing all season tire will work.
I just got a set of Continental ExtremeContact DWS. They are very comfortable, grips great in wet, and Tire Rack surveys them as pretty good in the dry and better than average in snow. They do feel a little soft in steering response though. Slightly twitchy at speeds above 90. I paid about $690 for the set.
I don't track my car so I'm pretty pleased with them. My complaints are the cushy sidewalls and the tires seem slightly out of round. The shop double checked the balance but they have a slight vibration at speeds above 80. I'll keep driving them and see if they improve.
But I have to wait til the car comes back from the collision shop first.

Kuhmo ecsta XS. You will love these tires. I have ran kuhmo MX's, pirelli Rosa, bridgestone re050's and a few others but I have never ran a tire that handles like the XS's. They practically feel like r-comps. I will run these tires until they refuse to make them anymore.

Don't get Hankook Ventus V12!!!!!!

I just picked these up from the Tire Rack. They were $450 shipped plus a $60 rebate. I had them installed and they vibrated like mad. I took them to another shop and they said that these tires where bad and that they couldn't get the road force within specs on two of them. I called Tire Rack and they they promptly shipped out two more tires to replace them. I took them back to the shop and these ones were WORSE than the originals.

The Tire Rack is letting me return them at no cost which leads me to believe that they are used to the issue with them.

Besides the above, the tires are quiet on the highway but the sidewalls are pillow soft and handle for crap.

AVOID these tires.

As far as Korean tires go I would only consider high-end Kumhos...

Again I really don't know why people would try to squeeze every penny when it comes to tires and brakes. Buy cheap buy twice.

Buy Smart
 

There's a big difference between buying cheap and buying smart. Buying a tire because it's expensive just doesn't make sense. Buy based on the experience of others and you won't have to learn the hard way.

I spent an hour doing a broader search on the internet re Hancooks. Looked at other car forums besides boxster. A few negative, but overall many positive reviews and user reports. To avoid replacing the rears every 6000 miles, calculated compromises may be necessary.

If pillow soft for one driving style may be crap, for another it could a be just the right tire - (I'm thinking semi-spirited driving around the pothole minefields here in Toronto).

ekam,

what did you tell tire rack to get your tires replaced/refunded? i just bought 3 sets of these tires. however, on one set, the rear ones on my second car, it makes a LOT of road noise. therefore, perhaps they are defective? was hoping that tirerack will replace them.

-tuan
tuanle16@juno.com