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Originally Posted by SD987
I picked up Porsche's 'Tires - Porsche Approved Original Equipment Spring/Summer 2005' and I'm not seeing Sumi, Kumhos, Toyos, probably for a reason.
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No offense taken. I understand where you are coming from. It's the same with all car companies recommending particular items for their cars. Here are a few reasons Kumho tires and others are not "Porsche recommended" that may help you understand the rationale for it.
1) Payolla: They did not pay Porsche enough for advertising or give a deep discount to use them on the factory cars. Sorry, but that's just how the business world ticks. Don't get me wrong, I don't think Porsche would recommend sorry tires just because they were paid more by that company or got a deeper discount for the tires on the new cars (we're not talking about Ford here). They picked several that met the specs they were looking at, tested them and said "what can you do for us if we recommend yours instead of theirs".
2) National loyalty: All but one of the recommended tires are made in EU countries (I' think Yokos are made in Asia). I applaud them for that, but it is a factor in another EU company's decision.
3) Availability: Porsche is not going to take the time to test a tire for their car if it's not in every car tire place on the planet. They are not going to recommend it if their customers are going to be ticked off by a 1-3 week wait for the store to get the right size in. As for Kumho, they are relatively new tire company to the non-racing market place. Their tires have only been available at retail tire stores for a couple of years. They are not stocked as well as others until they prove to the retailer they can sell enough to get them out the door once they are ordered. The others mentioned are also too small to have widespread availability of sizes used by Porsche.
Personally, I am very anal about our Porsches and will not use cheap parts, etc. in them just to save a buck. Anything I use in our Porsches meets or exceeds their standards and that is why I went to Kumho tires. All of the Kumho tires mentioned are W or Z rated. The W rated are 10mph past the top speed of the Boxster and the Z rated are way past the top speed. They also have AA traction ratings, higher than all of the Porsche recommended tires.
The final reason I buy Kumho tires, or any other brand but Michelin is, simply, they are not a French owned company. (Yeah, I like the national loyalty thing too.
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Hope that helps with understanding the "why" part of the equation.
