Tires For Boxster S - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

Richard Truss · 03-06-2005, 10:05 AM

I will need tires soon as well. I have heard that Kuhmos (sp?) have good wear life. I am looking for something that will last over the "super stick that will wear out in a week" type of tires. What does everyone recommend for good tire wear, and hopefully a good price?

its good to see another member from Las Vegas!

RandallNeighbour · 03-06-2005, 02:49 PM

Richard, I have Kumhos and I like them... not expensive and seem to wear well. Just don't buy the cheapest Kumhos they make as I'm told they are noisy tires after six thousand miles and require rotation to stay quiet, which we can't do easily...

I will say this though. I'm going to knock off my rubber and have it moved left to right and vise versa on both the front and back here soon... I bet I can get more miles out of them by doing this.

larez2 · 03-06-2005, 04:12 PM

Using different model tires front and rear won't cause vibration you feel through the steering wheel. Out of balance tire(s) would, but since you already got them balanced, I don't think rebalancing them again will help. Are you feeling serious shaking vibrations, or are they road feedback type vibrations.

There is something called road force variation balancing; balancing the tire under load. Most Discount Tire stores have the Hunter 9700 which can balance using road force variation. It cost $80 for 4 tires when I got it done. This may or may not help.

http://www.sullivantire.com/xcessorize/hunter.aspx

Maybe you need an alignment? How does the tread wear look? I recently got a wheel alignment, but it was because of my tire wear, not vibrations.

Good Luck,
Larez2

Adam · 03-06-2005, 04:22 PM

I agree with Jwocky. PS 2's have the best combination of track performance and everyday driveability. I plan on getting them when when my original pilot sports wear out. I think the tires are one place where you shouldn't compromise. They will cost a pretty penny though.

Brucelee · 03-06-2005, 04:32 PM

My money is on a bent rim. Assuming your guys balanced the wheel correctly, you can still have an issue if the rim is bent.

Re: Tires, if you are running around the streets, I would buy the Yokohama AVS100. Very nice tire for all around use, affordable and decent durability.

Pilot Sports are overkill for many drivers, I think, and they are very pricey indeed.

Pilot2519j · 03-06-2005, 06:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adam

I agree with Jwocky. PS 2's have the best combination of track performance and everyday driveability. I plan on getting them when when my original pilot sports wear out. I think the tires are one place where you shouldn't compromise. They will cost a pretty penny though.

Another happy customer here with the Michelins. I did have a problem once with my 2001 Audi S-4 with the Bridegestones OEM. S-03. Tires would suffer from tramming real bad. I was wondering what would make the tires go all over the place then I read about tramming. Very interesting reading. Not going to go into it since this is not an Audi S-4 forum.

Lux · 03-06-2005, 07:50 PM

I've got Yokohama AVS Sport on mine right now. Not real pleased with them. They don't seem to do to well in the wet and don't seem to do too well in the dry either.

Best tires I've ever had were the Michelin Pilot Sport MXX3 on my M3. The Pilot Sport 2 looks to have a similar tread design. I'll definitely be trying those out as soon as I wear out the Yokos.

.

jwocky · 03-06-2005, 07:58 PM

The reason I suggested the Michelin PS2's was cause I run them and they truly at excellent. A slightly less pricey, but still great tire are the Goodyear F1 tires.

The top 3 tires (dry and wet performance) are probably:

- Michelin PS2
- Bridgestone S-03
- Goodyear F1

Bridgestone S-02's are also excellent in the dry.

By the way, also consider the weight of the tires. Many people only worry about the weight of their wheels, but tire weights can differ by several pounds between equal sized tires. For example, a 225 Michelin PS2 is 4-5 pounds lighter than the same sized Bridgestone S-03's (if I remember my #'s correctly). Theoretically speaking, adding/reducing the weight of the tire will have more effect than adding/reducing the same weight to/from a wheel because you're adding the weight to the outside of the spinning wheel/tire circumference.

Jetmd · 01-25-2007, 10:30 AM

Four months ago I purchased the SP 9090 Dunlop tires. While driving home in the rain the other night I experienced severe hydroplaning. To my surprise; I noticed that my rear tires were completely worn out. I only have 2400 miles on the tires. I'm very disappointed with Dunlop tires... Has anyone else had wear problems with the 9090 tires?

RandallNeighbour · 01-25-2007, 10:35 AM

Holy cow

That's a third of the mileage you should be getting as a bare minimum... unless you've been very hard on them and done a lot of tire spinning or drifting.

If not, I'd be down at the shop getting a 4 wheel laser alignment to see what's going on in the back.

MNBoxster · 01-25-2007, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jetmd

Four months ago I purchased the SP 9090 Dunlop tires. While driving home in the rain the other night I experienced severe hydroplaning. To my surprise; I noticed that my rear tires were completely worn out. I only have 2400 miles on the tires. I'm very disappointed with Dunlop tires... Has anyone else had wear problems with the 9090 tires?

Hi,

The Dunlops are very soft, treadwear rating of 280. They do wear quickly and non-linearly. Still, you should get at least 3-5 times the wear you have. Performance Tires differ from M&S Passenger Car tires in that they require more care and maintenance to maximize their lifespan. They are much more sensitive to abuse and improper pressures.

My suspiscion is one of several things, or a combination of them. You have some fairly acute alignment issues, especially on the rear. You have lowered the car increasing the negative camber (probably inadvertently), increasing the Car's tire-eating abilities. Tire pressures were not properly monitored. You drive the car fairly hard. The roads are bad in your area. You've been using your Boxster to compete in Tractor Pulls...

Seriously, I have the same tire on my Esprit and love the performance, I'm on my 2nd set. The Esprit eats rear tires as badly as the Boxster, but I still got 15k mi. from them on my 1st set and the 2nd set is at 8k mi. w/ plenty of tread left. This is what leads me to believe that your experience is an aberration and either the Car or the Driver (or both) are at fault. Hope this helps...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99