Any suggestions for street tires?

[jb92563]

Originally Posted by kodabear

Its taken me a long time to realize this but the honest truth is that for street only use you really should not be driving such that you'd ever need sticky tires, unless of course you want to end up like Paul Walker. My recommendation is to find the proper speed rated tires in the proper sizes with reasonable tread wear >=300. All buying sticky low wear tire accomplishes is having to buy another set real soon and more $ for the tire guys. It's a money making scam as far as I'm concerned.

If your looking for dual use tires, that's a different story.

No Sticky tires for street use, whats the fun in that?

Even for safety sake on the street the extra traction could not hurt, but since most of us bought a Sports Car, its likely that we will drive in a spirited fashion now and then.

I have been using the Hankook V12's for daily use and a few auto crosses and I have discovered that it has excellent wet performance as well.

The treads have held up for 2 years now and still may have another year in them for daily use.

In retrospect I'd like even more stickiness for Auto-X and am thinking about the Hankook RS-3 for next time.

[RaisedOnPorsches]

I'd had good experiences with Sumitomo HRT Z-III tires for street use on a 2.5l Boxster.

[Dave S.]

I'm going with the Continental Extreme Contact DWS All Seasons this time. A friend of mine put them on his 993 a few years ago and they still look like new and handle well.
I only drive my car in summer, never track it, and I live in the mountains of Colorado, where you can get snow in any month of the year, so I prefer to have an all season tire.

[eicheldp]

Originally Posted by Dave S.

I'm going with the Continental Extreme Contact DWS All Seasons this time. A friend of mine put them on his 993 a few years ago and they still look like new and handle well.
I only drive my car in summer, never track it, and I live in the mountains of Colorado, where you can get snow in any month of the year, so I prefer to have an all season tire.

I have the DWS's on my daily driver and am not impressed with the tread wear. I travel 100 miles RT of highway driving on the toll way and my first set went bald after 20,000 miles. My dealer rotated the tires every 5000 miles and performed an alignment at installation.

Offered me a new set @ 40% off and now I have 4/10 tread depth after 22,000 miles. I may not be going back to these since they are supposed to have a 50,000 mile warranty.

Looking at Michelin Pilot Sport A/S3 for the 04 Boxster S. Have the same tread as the PSS, tirerack has them rated close to the performance of the PSS and they have a 50,000 mile warranty. Also less expensive than the PSS.

[Topless]

Originally Posted by eicheldp

I have the DWS's on my daily driver and am not impressed with the tread wear. I travel 100 miles RT of highway driving on the toll way and my first set went bald after 20,000 miles. My dealer rotated the tires every 5000 miles and performed an alignment at installation.

Offered me a new set @ 40% off and now I have 4/10 tread depth after 22,000 miles. I may not be going back to these since they are supposed to have a 50,000 mile warranty.

Looking at Michelin Pilot Sport A/S3 for the 04 Boxster S. Have the same tread as the PSS, tirerack has them rated close to the performance of the PSS and they have a 50,000 mile warranty. Also less expensive than the PSS.

Hmmm, I'd say 20k miles on a set of Boxster rears is outstanding treadwear. I usually get about 5k on the rears. Different tire choices for different reasons.

[eicheldp]

Originally Posted by Topless

Hmmm, I'd say 20k miles on a set of Boxster rears is outstanding treadwear. I usually get about 5k on the rears. Different tire choices for different reasons.

Topless,
The 20,000 miles was on my Hyundai Sonata. That's my DD. Just bought the Boxster in Late October. The Boxster has the original Yoko's on it from 2004 with 16,000 miles.

[kk2002s]

Originally Posted by RaisedOnPorsches

I'd had good experiences with Sumitomo HRT Z-III tires for street use on a 2.5l Boxster.

+1
They came with my car, apparently relatively new. I've put 15k miles on them, they are still in excellent shape. I will be taking them through to Fall. So that should be about 20-22k for me. Then I am in the same boat looking for tires. It will be an all season next.
I even drive them in the winter. I know No No. Never had any dry road traction issues even in single digits. They have be very good in rain
I've driven in snow with them and that is definitely not their purpose.

These are price friendly, good gripping fairly long lasting Summer Tires

[mikesz]

I too bought a set of Sumitomo HRT Z-III from Tire Rack. So far so good. Of course only had the car 1 year and drive it on the weekends.

[kodabear]

Originally Posted by jb92563

No Sticky tires for street use, whats the fun in that?

Even for safety sake on the street the extra traction could not hurt, but since most of us bought a Sports Car, its likely that we will drive in a spirited fashion now and then.

Michelen sport pilots have a 300 wear rating and are plenty sticky for any street use. If you need the extra traction for "safety" you are driving over your head.

As far as "fun" can't answer that as I have not had fun driving "fast"in street cars for years' there, because frankly all street cars are dog slow. .. But then I have a racecar that pulls close to 3gs and can lap laguna seca faster than any porsche ever built has except for 3... 962, rs spyder, and gt1. So my perspective on fast is vastly different from most

[LAP1DOUG]

Originally Posted by kodabear

Michelen sport pilots have a 300 wear rating and are plenty sticky for any street use. If you need the extra traction for "safety" you are driving over your head.

As far as "fun" can't answer that as I have not had fun driving "fast"in street cars for years' there, because frankly all street cars are dog slow. .. But then I have a racecar that pulls close to 3gs and can lap laguna seca faster than any porsche ever built has except for 3... 962, rs spyder, and gt1. So my perspective on fast is vastly different from most

I generally agree with Koda, with decent tires and suspension, there is no curve on the street that will truly challenge a well driven 986 at any sane street speed. So, get some kid of decent Michelins, or BFG's and just enjoy the ride and the long tire life. But, if you want to ever auto-x or track, you need an entirely different level to be competitive.

Hey Koda, that looks like a Van Diemen FC in your avatar. I can't believe the excellent values available on these now. I'm an old S2000 guy, but they have gone out of sight, so I'm starting to look for an RF92+. Any suggestions?