I need your advice on tires.....

[jsceash]

Originally Posted by recycledsixtie

Okay don't go tell me to go search. This is slightly more complex a question.
I have 16 inch rims and winter tires for my 2001 Box base. The car sits a little too low for my liking but when I bought them the price for rims and tires was super cheap.
My question is this. I need new summer tires and was thinking of getting all season tires to replace the 17 inch worn out tires. This would extend the season of driving on 17 inch rims and if the snow got too bad I could switch over to my snow tires.

Also complicating the situation is that I may sell next spring and get another P car(987 or 996) and do you think a prospective buyer looks at tires closely other than wear level?

Would I notice much difference between all season and summer tires in summer?
I am not an autocrosser, track guy. What about noise level between a/s and summer tires? Do any of you use a/s tires year round and are you happy with them?
I would appreciate any input! You guys rock....

I agree with Topless 16" tire sizes and 17" and 18" tire sizes are all staggered so the outside diameter are right at 25" +/- .3" so you will not notice a big height difference in any case 205-55-16, 205-50-17, 225-45-17 , 225-40-18 all have the same diameter

Personally I would never buy a tire higher than a Dot 280 AA for my car and almost all the all seasons are well over Dot 330 range. All seasons tire are a compimise and you end up with a fairly hard treaded tire and little performance. Again that is my prefference, which also means if there are cynders on the road my car isn't.

There have been some not so bad reviews of the Sport Contact DW I believe they are one of the lower Dot rated seasonal tire I also believe they are pricey about $1000 US a set

[Joe B]

+1 for the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 tires on my 2003 S. Very smooth and quiet with more than enough handling and grip for sane street driving. I wanted something best suited for my climate and roads. Here in Wyoming it can snow any month of the year, and the roads can be dry for weeks in winter. I didn't want to change back and forth twice a year to and from snow tires, because then if I took a trip somewhere warm (CA., AZ.), I'd ruin them. If the snow gets too deep for the all season Michelins, I'll drive my 4x4 pickup truck.

http://www.michelinman.com/tire-selector/category/ultra-high-performance-sport/pilot-sport-a-s-3/tire-details?Wt.mc_id=Paid%252520Search%3bGoogle%3bpilo t%2520sport%2520a/s%25203&WT.srch=1&mkwid=sGYSfF2G9&gclid=CJ-W27vN6rkCFS9dQgodhhAAyA

"With pirelli on the sidewall, few will even notice that they're all seasons."

Who cares what anyone else notices (you were kidding, right?).
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[recycledsixtie]

Well my local garage is getting me a quote on summer tires as he thinks that in this part of the world that you need snow tires for winter and summer tires for summer. Yes I asked here if a prospective buyer looks at the kind of tire the Boxster has on it and if that influenced a buyer's decision and I would think the prospective buyer would look at the amount of wear left on the tires not so much the kind of tires.

I asked the garage owner(he also has a Boxster base 2001) what kind of tires he had and he said Chinese tires - they are cheap. Winter tires for winter driving etc no a/s. He being from China/Hong Kong it makes sense. Well I said I did not want cheap and nor super expensive. I will see what he comes up with.....

[riverside986]

Originally Posted by recycledsixtie

I asked the garage owner(he also has a Boxster base 2001) what kind of tires he had and he said Chinese tires - they are cheap. Winter tires for winter driving etc no a/s. He being from China/Hong Kong it makes sense. Well I said I did not want cheap and nor super expensive. I will see what he comes up with.....

You should perhaps consider doing a bit of research on your own, might not want to depend entirely on the garage guy picking the tire with the best retail profit margin. But I understand that the upcoming sale of your car is also a factor in the choice, difficult balance of price vs quality.

Technology has changed a lot in past few years, not sure all the old assumptions about summer vs all-season tires still apply. For example, here's a recent comparison test (of quality A/S tires) from Tire Rack:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=177

Tire Rack is a decent place to research tires, they offer customer reviews and surveys as well as detailed comparison testing. I've bought from them a few times; I confess that my new A/S 3 set was a few dollars cheaper direct from my local tire retailer, even with CA sales tax of over 8%.

Gil

[recycledsixtie]

Originally Posted by Joe B

+1 for the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 tires on my 2003 S. Very smooth and quiet with more than enough handling and grip for sane street
Who cares what anyone else notices (you were kidding, right?).
__________________

Hi Joe,
To answer your question. When I do something to the Box because I do not keep my cars that long, I look at what I like and whether it would appeal to the prospective buyer. I try to stay oem with everything but tires do provide some leeway.

I stay away from JD yellow(sorry JD), tiptronic transmission and lowered suspension as an example of being in the minority. Anything custom made forget it.
Cheers. G.