USA Houston Boxter S

[Eamo]

Have a new (to me) 2008 Boxter S (18K miles)
Car originally California
In Houston , Hot all year and concrete roads / Hiways (no corners :-(
Tires are old, perhaps originals, tired and cracking . Looking for your best replacement recommendations

Potenza RFTs (Bridgestones) - would these be original or replacements ?
235/35 ZR19 (87 Y)

- Also anything to guide a new Porsche owner ..

- Gas here is 95 octaine with 10% vodka (sorry , Methanol)
- Oil just replaced by dealer was Mobil 1
- any engine scares or must replace as a 15 K engine rebuild will kill the budget and have me back at the public golf course !

[RandallNeighbour]

Your boxSter (start adding an S in the name) will roll well on lots of rubber, but my preference is currently Hankook Ventus V12's for Houston hot and humid streets ... As good IMO as tires costing 2x more.

If you have $1,300 or more, buy Michelin PS2's. Those 19s are gonna kill you price-wise though. You will wish you had 18s sooner than later.

[jrblackman]

Originally Posted by RandallNeighbour

Your boxSter (start adding an S in the name) will roll well on lots of rubber, but my preference is currently Hankook Ventus V12's for Houston hot and humid streets ... As good IMO as tires costing 2x more.

If you have $1,300 or more, buy Michelin PS2's. Those 19s are gonna kill you price-wise though. You will wish you had 18s sooner than later.

I bought my Boxster in April. I live in Michigan and it will spend winters in my garage. I had V12s put on it a week and a half ago. I am very happy with them so far.

[mountainman]

also think you cannot beat the price and performance of the hankooks. Best price I have found is discounttiredirect.com they ship free. I have bought many sets from them.

[Stiletto Pat]

I live in west central Florida - so similar temperatures, and the HankookV12s on my 03 S when I bought it 2 years ago. Drove them and were happy with them until I tracked the car at Sebring - found them slippery and weak in the sidewalls.. I just changed the rears out with Kumhos several months ago, and prefer those greatly to the Hankooks.. Will be changing the fronts to Kumhos too....

[vitaminC]

Originally Posted by Eamo

- Gas here is 95 octaine with 10% vodka (sorry , Methanol)

Ethanol, not methanol...

Drive it and enjoy it Oh, and post some pics!

[ekam]

For street the V12s are "good enough", but tires like RE11, Star Spec, PS2 are in a different class altogether...

[mcomet]

Do a search on the forums there are other threads covering various tires and people's opinions. I just got PS2s on my car...very nice so far tho I haven't really put them to the test heh. Definitely nicer than my 6 year old pilot sports previously on there...heh.

[wawa]

I got the V12 on my 2000S. Very comfy. Smooth ride, quiet and that's what i was looking for. But they have very soft side wall. Good price for daily driver. Probably not strong enought if you track it sometime.

Wawa

[black_box]

Have driven / had PS2's, Hankook V12's, Conti SportContact 3's, and Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetrics, all on recent Porsches.

That being said - Michelin Pilot Super Sports are the one tire to rule them all. They're what I run now, and what my Dad switched to on his P-cars (including one identical to yours) after driving mine. They are grippy as hell, firm in the corners, quiet (esp compared to goodyears), amazing in the wet, and have a 300 treadwear rating. They are a very different design than the PS2's and are better performers (read magazine tests to confirm), even while being more practical and economical, both mileage and price wise. These are, by far, the best street tires I've ever driven on. Just be sure to get the road hazard insurance -- you'll use it.

(FYI: there are reports though, that these tires can be problematic at the track for cars w/ a lot of neg camber, where temps stay super high and cornering loads are also extreme, due to the built-in rain compound on the in-side of the tires tearing off in in fingernail size chunks. Which would still be under warranty

[mcomet]

I was looking at getting the Super Sports... they are not N rated tho right? (I ask because I did my tires at dealer since it was already there and they didn't want non porsche spec tires) ...not that it matters... that will likely be my next tire...

[black_box]

motor trend's review here: Testing the Michelin Pilot Super Sport - Motor Trend

Notable is that they got better times, and 50% more laps with PSS's than PS2's. The biggest diff was the wet performance though. My personal experience is that PSS's in the wet feel grippier than most other tires on dry.

[ekam]

More grip and higher tread wear rating? I guess these will be my next set of tires.