make your boxster handle like an old 911

[doctord]

Buy Continental Sport Contact 2 (Porsche N2) 255/40 R17 Z (94) for the back of the car.
Having had 2 sets of Pirelli P Zero Rosso (Porsche N3) 255/40 R17 Z (94) and being slighlty disappointed when damp weather grip goes when the tyres are only half worn , decided for a change.
Michelin PS2 temporarily unavailable so i went for the Contis as
1. Porsche wouldnt approve a specific tire if it was poor ;
2. BLACKCIRCLES.COM had them as their "recommended" tyre for this size.
3. The ordinary [not N2] tyre got good good reports for wet weather grip , tho some people didnt like it much.
First corner that i tackled aggressively on a road i use often , was 70mph uphill bend with a few bumps- i could feel the rears squirming ,,corkscrewing about.
Worst moment was when turning into a tightening radius slip road off a 80mph straight and the backend felt so unstable i thought it was going to breakaway.
Another unpleasant moment on a fast downhill dual carriageway doing about 90mph under a constant throttle on a long bend , and again the rear starts moving around. I had taken this bend often before at faster speeds and never thought i was anywhere near the limits of the Pirellis.
All this on a single drive on a warm dry road.
I have never driven a 911 , but suspect this is what old ones feel like.
So have decided to bite the bullet , dump the tyres and reorder the P-zeros which are always incredibly stable.

[Lil bastard]

Interesting observations. You don't state what tires (that's tyres to you of course) you're running up front, but I suspect the mismatch is probably responsible for your performance (or lack of).

Continental Sport Contact 2 are fairly popular here in the states, the Pirellis not so much. I am a fan of the Pirellis, overall, one of the best tires out there IMHO, and will replace mine with the same next year.

[eightsandaces]

Pirelli has always made a good tire, same with Michelin. If I decide to stray due to future budget deficits I think I might be tempted to try a set of Yokohama's or maybe the Bridgestone S03 pole position. In life you get what you pay for, I have never had a problem with Michelin tires and if you do they stand behind them like I have never seen before, well worth the coin.

[Topless]

Remember too that fresh tyres need to get "scrubbed in" for 50 miles or so to eliminate slippery mold release agents.

[stephen wilson]

Could it be tread squirm you're feeling? New, full height tread blocks will move around much more, though this problem may be more of an issue for all-season tires.

[Bladecutter]

You can't pay me enough to put Continentals on any of my vehicles, cars or bikes.
I fronted my friend $500 to help him dump the Continentals that can on his brand new '09 GTI that he bought about a month ago. Car had 43 miles on it when we pulled into Discount Tire.

My gf just replaced the Continental tires that came on her Crossfire after 4500 miles, and I was very happy to take her car to DT on Monday in order to have a nice set of Goodyear F1 GS-D3's installed. I have to say that I'm REALLY impressed by those tires.

BC.

[Brad Roberts]

Just remember this tidbit:

Tire makers BID for the rights to put their tires on the cars He who pay's the most wins.

Also.. get the car aligned after installing new tires.


B

[mdex]

I put a set on my car this spring after listening to my father rave about them. In the past I wouldn't even consider Conti's for any car, but I am shocked at how good these tires are.

They are very sensitive to tire pressures and temps so I have been running them around 28 - 30 psi cold all the way around (35-36psi hot track pressures). For a street tire they are really good at the track as well. Great turn in and lateral grip, if they are weak it is in longitudinal grip (ie braking or accelerating) but that is compared to the MPSC I normally run on the car. More importantly they are fun, predictable, and with a good alignment hold up really well at the track.

I take it that the original poster is only running them on the rear, so that is most likely the cause of the problem, and may also be running too high a pressure in them as well.

Just my thoughts.

[grantsfo]

WHen I saw the post title I was thinking, cool somone else put old 911 wheels/tires on their car!