new tires...
 

Okay. Does anyone know what the best kinds of tires are for a boxster? The Michelin Pilots are recommended, but is that really the right choice?

For daily driving I doubt you will get the most out of your tires in terms of performance. Well at least you better not be getting the most out of them!

Some people go cheap on tires just to save $200-$300. Kind of crazy that you would choose to save money on perhaps the single most important part of the car.
Goodyear Eagle F1's are the happy medium in my opinion. Dry performance that is as good as the expensive Michelin and Bridgestone, perhaps the best wet weather performance of the three(def the best wet weather tire I've used) and at the lowest price of the three.

Agree with Perfectlap, the Goodyears are a great compromise, I have them on my M3. Excellent dry and wet traction, much better wear than Michelins, low noise, and they don't go out of balance. I bought my Boxster last year and it had a new set of Nexen N3000's on it. Very inexpensive and good-looking tire, but dry traction is poor, which defeats the reason for having a Boxster in AZ in the first place! Looking forward to going to the Goodyears ASAP, my rears are almost shot - too bad the fronts look almost new!

+3 on the Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3s. I have them on my car now, after moving up to 18in wheels (had Pirelli Pzeros before), and find the Goodyears to be a great combo of wet/dry traction. Very well balanced at high speeds. They are not N rated by Porsche, however, if you care about that kinda stuff...

I've done TONS or reading about this... there are some nice choices... I've decided on The Michelin Pilots 2's. I'll be ordering them in the next week or so.

Regardless of brand (outside of Pirelli's, which just melt off a rim in no time) expect to get no more than 12k out of your rear tires. The insides wear out way before the outsides due to the camber settings. This is normal.

Some guys only get 7500 miles out of their rear tires.

There is really no absolute right and wrong in picking any of the popular brands of tires available for the Boxster.

People select tires for many different reasons. They are performance drivers, they are on a budget, they like the look of a certain tire, they want to follow the most popular concensus, etc. All valid, yet different, reasons.

Two most important things you should do, and do objectively, is to make a budget and decide (again objectively) how you will use the car (how you've been using the car is likely to continue, so use that as a gauge). Select the tire for the qualities you'll mostly need, not for those you might use 3% of the tire's life.

After making a budget and deciding on use, weigh in the other factors such as looks, popular brand, etc.

Hi-Perf Z rated Tires are more spendy. Do you need all the advantages these tires offer? Not everyone does. There are lots of Boxsters out there running perfectly well on M&S (all-season) and/or speed rated H or V. These can offer better, longer wear and are lower priced.

My car is not a daily driver, I use it for spirited pleasure driving in warm dry weather only. I use Z-rated tires. But, if it were a daily driver, I'd opt for an M&S Tire.

While it's good to hear others' opinions and try to learn from them, realize that for just about any tire mentioned here, there will be those who like them, and those who don't. Also, the Web is full of information on Tires and how to select them. Tire Rack offers lots of information.

I agree about reading up about tire choices by Tire Rack customer reviews on Boxsters. I looked for reviews from people who'd owned the tires for 12k or more because most everyone likes their choice after 2k miles but as the tires wear down a bit, the comments change about wet grip, tire noise, separation issues, etc.

Sounds like the Goodyears are a good compromise, especially for folks who live in the Pacific Northwest. If I was to only drive on sunny days like you guys in Arizona, I'd never hit the streets at all!! Problem is, it could be sunny in the morning and pouring rain in the afternoon on the drive home.

That being said, is there any tire that might even handle better on wet roads than the Goodyears?

I know some of you believe driving in the rain is a shame, but not driving at all is more of shame!

Hoosier Radial Wet. Probably the best street-legal wet weather tire you can buy!!! Probably pulls more Gs in the wet then some performance tires do in the dry. Really amazing. However it will probably last less than 100 miles in the dry.

Seriously though, all street tires are compromise designs and that's a good thing. What is important is to determine what your compromise is and then find a tire that matches it.

Example - if you never drive in the wet you can ignore wet performance. But if the car is a daily driver and you live in an area that has moderate to heavy rainfall then you must not ignore wet perfomance.

Example - Everyone wants great dry grip but how much comfort and noise resistance will you give up for it?

Regards,
Alan

rain tire.. well. depends are you talking a RAIN tire, or a M&S tire, or a good summer tire that works in the occasional rain?

my guess it the latter. in the rain, the yokohama neova and the bridgestone re01-R are both great in the dry, and actually pretty good in the rain.

realy had no choice
 

My selection of tires was limited do to time constraints. I was leaving to Houston from Dallas; when I went out to the car, realized that one of the rear PS2 had a bulge on the sidewall of the tire. Since This was a used car, did not know where the previous owner bought the tires.

So off to Discount tire to see what they had. the tires were PS2 285/30 ZR18. Very nice tires. All the store had in stock was a set of falken Anzenis ST 115 in a 265/35 ZR18. So on they went. I miss the lower profile and wider tire of the PS2 285/30 ZE18 but these seem nice. I will have to keep you all informed of how the falken tires hold up over time.

I have the Falken 915 on my daily driver, a Lexus LS430 very comfy ride and much quiter and softer than the Bridgestone turanza they replaced. OE tire from Lexus with a 140 tread wear. The Falkens were more than double that and since I drive about 25k miles per year on my DD I went with the Falkens. As far as on my Porsche I have Bridgestone SO2s. I put about 11k on the rears and they are totally bald now, but the fronts are maybe at 50%. I did just order a new rear set of Bridgestone 050a pole position for $240 plus $45 for shipping it was a price I could not pass up for brand new set and they are not blems, seller was just blowing them out. The only draw back is they are wider than I was looking for at 275/35/18 vs the 265s that I wanted.

Tires and allignments are compromises
 

I have 12k or so on a set of Michelin Ribs I bought used and I'll get another 4k out of the rears before I get rid of them well before they are down to the wear bars. Why? Because my alignment was done by someone who really knows Porsches (look for a shop that sets up cars for racing) and, while within Porsche specs, was set up to favor even wear over all out performance. I don't race.

Consumer Reports did a good review of both Summer Tires and of All Seasons Tires in the November 2007 issue. They tested 18" tires for 12k miles but not on a Porsche. And rated tires on 11 criteria. No tire is perfect nor did they score that way.

First you have to define what your needs are as even a great dry and wet tire might be awful in even an inch of snow and dangerous below 40 degrees.

Secondly, some tires are only available in sizes to fit 17" wheels, others only in sizes for 18"s. Which do you have?

Once you know your size and needs/wants ... then tire rack or CR are good places to start reading.