Pirellis worn out at 9000 klms!

[ryuujin]

Has anybody else had an experience with Pirelli tyres wearing out prematurely?
Iam running 255/40 ZR17 N3 P Zero Rosso on the rear of my 2001 stock boxster. I drive this like Miss Daisy's driver and usually at weekends - mainly on freeways with some city driving - in 9000 kilometres the tyres are worn down to the indicator level. I never spin the wheels - I'm drive with care (with the occaisional burst when the conditions allow). I know there has been a lot of discussion on this forum about tyres and which are best - but for my money I'll never fit the OEM Pirellis again.

Pete from OZ

[fatmike]

I run the Perelli too and I am very disappointed with them. But to have a tire wear out that quickly means something is probably wrong with the alignment of your car.


The Perellis are bad -- but they aren't that bad.


I am getting new shoes for my car tomorrow. Decided to go with the Continental ExtremeContact DW.

[ekam]

Do the tires show uneven wear?

I'd make a switch to different set of tires.. there are much better choices of tires out there across the price range.

[SoCalKen]

Originally Posted by fatmike

I run the Perelli too and I am very disappointed with them. But to have a tire wear out that quickly means something is probably wrong with the alignment of your car.


The Perellis are bad -- but they aren't that bad.


I am getting new shoes for my car tomorrow. Decided to go with the Continental ExtremeContact DW.

Oh yes they are, Never got more than 10K from the rear Pirellis. About a 2:1 ratio of how fast the rears go to the fronts. I just put on a set of the Falken 912s. What fiasco that was. The rears were gone so I needed new ones and didn't want to spend money on the Pirellis ever again. So I bought the rears which had to be ordered in (over a month a go). after a week I went in to find out where the rears are. they had a special going, buy 4 tires that weekend and get a $100 back. So I ordered fronts also. 2 weeks go by and still no call. so I go in "you have my tires or what?" they say oh yeah, you want them on right now? didn't have time that day so 2 weeks go by and I finally have time. go in for the install, and cars on the rack rears are dismounted and they tell me they can't find the fronts. Am I interested in 'free upgrade to yokahama s drive"? Do they have the 40k mileage warranty? No, not interested. another week goes by and they finally have the 912s. Installed last week and I am very happy with them. Very predictable and of course the 40K mileage warranty. I paid $175 for the rears 265/35/18 and $128 for the fronts 225/40/18 + tax,install,waste. Almost half the price of the Pirellis. Discount Tire, and they did the road force balancing for no additional cost for the inconvience.
Ken
Ken

[ekam]

It's been mentioned already that for any type of mileage warranty to be valid, you need to do 4-tire rotation every 5k which is not possible on staggered tire sizes on our cars. Read the fine print.

[Lil bastard]

Yep, rear tire wear on any mid/rear-engine Porsche is about 2:1 vs. the fronts, going all the way back to the 356. That's due to the odd rear camber req'd. to compensate for engine weight. So that shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.

Personally, I've always liked Pirellis. Used them on several past hot cars with good performance and wear. Have a set right now on my '76 2002.

I got over 20k mi. on a set on my former '99 Boxster and still wasn't on the wear indicators (though getting close). The wear on Pirellis, in my experience, is not linear. It appears that significant tread loss occurs at about 10k mi. and then slows down until about 16k mi., picks up again and stays fairly linear until the wear indicators. Pirellis, in my experience, are much more sensitive to proper alignment, balancing and inflation.

That said, 9k Kms. is waay too little service for the P-Zero Rosso. Did you buy them new or did they come with the car already in service? Could you be wrong about the actual service distance? Are you diligent about keeping the proper pressure?

If not, I suspect a defective set, poor alignment or poor inflation discipline, or a right foot in need of adjustment.

I'd contact Pirelli directly.

Cheers!

PS Check the fine print on your tire warranty on those 40k mi. tires. I'm betting that the 'Z' rated ones are excluded. I just got a set of tires for my 964 - non-summer, Z-rated M+S (it's just a cruiser) from Tire Rack. I chose them mostly because of their 40k warranty. Several weeks later, the Tire Warranty paperwork arrived from Tire Rack, and in the fine print, it excluded the Z-rated tire from the warranty. The W and U rated tires were warranted to 40k mi., but not the Z's.

[ChrisZang]

as they say: "friends don't let friends buy P-Zero Rosso"