Need new street tires for the Box
 

I know this gets flogged to death here, but...

I need a need set of street tires for the 2003 S

No track, no auto-x, relatively sedate street driving only.

I'd like decent dry AND wet traction, longer life than my current Michelins, and decent ride/quietness.

Any suggestions? Help greatly appreciated.

I really like my Michelin A/S 3s. Really good wet traction, comfortable ride and good handling, and they work well enough in occasional snow (I bet you get snow too).

check out tirerack.com
I have Brigestone pole position S-02 and they perform great, but don't have great treadlife (140 AA A), maybe 10k on the rears. Im looking at the Hancooks (280 AA A)right now and tirerack has a set of 4 18" for around $450'

Bear in mind I am in San Diego, so a summer tire is fine year round and we get very little rain as well.

You being in Maine, you will need winter tires soon as the summer tires are not for outside temp's below 40

I run OEM Pirelli P Zero Rosso N4 they wear well and stick to the road

Pirelli P Zero Nero for me, they handle great wet and dry. Wear is kinda rough though.

Hankook Ventus V12 are great wet and dry and last a long time, however for more track days I would go with the Hankook R-S3 next time.

Hey Jay, I'm just north of you by a few miles, would those be the Hankook Ventus V12 you are talking about? Another budget tire that I would be interested in hearing reviews on are the Sumitomo HTR Z II.
I run the Michelin Pilot Super Sport now and they have been great, except they break loose in corners really easy, or it could be my driving, but they wear really poorly.

My Continental AWS's are pretty darn good...and they even have a 50k (well, 25k since you can't rotate them) warranty.

mgfranz,

I've been using Sumitomo HTR Z IIs & IIIs since I purchased my 1999 Boxster in 2009.
HTR Z IIIs are 300 AA A for tread wear, traction & temp.
Right now I have HTR Z IIs. They are 360 A A.

It doesn't rain much here in Central Texas so a 360 rating for tread wear seems pretty good to me.

My car has well over 216800 miles, and I put the last 112000 miles on since Sep 2009.

I tend to get about 16000 miles out of the rear tires and around twice that with the front tires.

I purchase thru TireRack and I cannot beat the price.

I am no expert and I do not track my car, but I have been very pleased with HTR Zs.

MNC-I

Tires
 

I agree with jb92563. My Hankook Ventus V12's are excellent, wet or dry. Did I mention that they are also VERY reasonably priced?

Yes, the Hancook V12. I was also talking to my neighbor that has them on his M5 and really likes them. He did tell me that Discount Tire will match Tirerack pricing and that way you save the shipping cost.

I have heard a lot of good things about the V12's from others too.

Where in So Cal are you? I live in Rancho Bernardo, just off the 15.
Are you going to the Performance Driving School next weekend?
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I have to agree with them, I just got a set in June about very please so far

I have the same tires and like them, however they seem to flat spot from sitting for just a few days. Do you experience the same thing ? It only takes about a mile of driving and they are fine, first tires I've had that do this.

I have them on my A5 and on the Boxster. I noticed the same thing on both cars.

have them on the front of my e46 and also notice the out of round condition for a mile or so. My car sits for weeks at a time though, since I typically ride a motorcycle to work.

As mentioned, they run true in a mile or so. I'm actually quite happy with the all weather grip (as we seem to get ALL weather around here) and they are quiet.

khoumo asx's on my boxy are doing real well, great on both the dry and wet. they are inexpensive and perform really well. of course there are better handling tires but i think these are about the best bang for your buck out there.

Hankook V12's here too. No complaints for the price.

Some forums would blow up on you for asking a repeated question, but folks here are too nice for that.

Check Car and Driver's comparisons:

Tire Test: Nine Affordable Summer Tires Take On the Michelin PS2 - Comparison Tests from 2009

Monsters of Grip: Nine Summer-Performance Tires Tested - Comparison Test - Car and Driver from 2012.

Based on the 2009 reviews and great cost, I'm on my second set of Hankook V-12s. First set got me 20K miles with some moderately agressive driving.

DBear

V12's on mine. Great tire for the $

Hankook v-12s on my car. They had about 1k on when I bought it and I've put another 1k on them. Very nice riding quiet tire. I'm happy.

Rick

OP is in Maine. Do you garage in the the winter and only drive it in warmer temps? I have heard a lot of good things about the Michelin as/3, tire rack has some new tests on it including a light snow test. If you are looking for comfort and longer lasting vs sticky performance tires something like that might be a good bet for you.

I am in FL and have run the Sumitomo HTR Z III and the Hancock RS3. Good tires but wear and ride are secondary to performance for me and neither would be that good in cold in my opinion.

Another vote for AS3. First set on my first Box so cant speak to life span but otherwise Im very pleased with their performance.

I've got Continental Extreme Contact DW on the Boxster and Extreme Contact DWS all season on my 928. Love the Conti's as I feel they are a great balance of performance and price.

Mike

+1 Sumitomo HTR Z III
Came with the car. I bought at 52k miles. I now have 72k miles, 20 months of driving. I do have to replace the rears but the fronts are still good
I drive them through the winter (Oh No), some snow and I have never had any traction issues. Well in the snow it not very good.
I was going to replace with Mich Pilots but since the Sumitomo's have been so good to me and are price friendly, I'm replacing the rears in a couple months, then next spring the fronts with Sumitomos.
I do now have an extra car so I can pick and choose my winter driving

Thanks for all the input. I only take it out in winter on dry road days once a month or so. Just to roll the running gear and get the oil up to temp.

95% of my driving is summer, and only wet if I'm on a trip and it rains.

Some good alternatives here - I will check with Tirerack

Dunlop Direzzas or Continental ExtremeContact DW.. Greay Prices on them too . You can find them under $100/per tire front and rear

I need some new rear tires on my 2001 Boxster, and was searching this thread for any thoughts on asymetric rear tires. I thought I read in my manual (but can't seem to find it) that I should run directional on the fronts, and asymetrical on the rears. Currently have Kumho ASX on the rears, and have been happy, but am getting mixed responses from Discount Tire and Tire Rack on whether I need asymetrical on the rears. Thoughts?

Continental Extreme Contact DWS (asymetrical) on the rear of mine. They are inexpensive, look great, and perform really well in all road conditions so far.
I chose these after getting frighteningly bad rear end hydroplaning/squirming on wet roads with my old tires.
The fronts are Kumho directional tires. Also inexpensive and solid performance.

Add another for the Hankook Ventus V12 Evo.

I think most folks would recommend to run the same tire on all 4 corners (with the only difference being in the sizes). I think some of the higher end Pirelli tires come in matched sets with the fronts being directional and the backs being asymmetric and that may be where you had seen that. So if you wanted to run that configuration you might be able to get some Pirellis.

Are you on 17s or 18s?

Steve

Thanks for the replies. I've got 17" wheels. I've been happy with the Kumho asymmetrics on the rear, but am running Goodrich g-Force comps directionals on the fronts. Those are fairly new (maybe 5,000 miles), and I'm happy with them and wanted to match up the set. However, I don't really like the tread design on the Goodrich asymmetrics. But I swear I read in some official Porsche something about asymmetrics on the rears, which is why I posted. Oh, well, I'll figure it out. But thanks for the input.

Welcome to the forum & thanks for searching before posting, I agree with Steve, you must be confusing Pirelli's philosipy of different tread designs for front & rear. The main consideration is to match the remaining tires & I would put the BFGs on the rear THIS time.

BFGs are a great tire and I was logging in to recommend them when I saw you had them on the front. Go with them on the rear, I've been super happy with them. For a summer tire, great rain traction (as much as can be expected in a rear wheel drive sports car) and pretty decent wear. I'm in need of new rears and while I have BFG G-Force sport (the old version of the Comps) I'm going to be getting new comps on the rear and then going with comps on the front when those are worn out. No sense in throwing the baby out with the bath water. Great tire, great price and I'm an hour and a half away from the south bend tire rack location, so great price on installation along with top notch equipment.

My Potenza SE-02's (n3) are shot and I am getting a set of Hankook V12 evo2 put on tomorrow. I have 18's and they are $740 out the door mounted and balanced.
I did a lot of web research and talked to a lot of Porsche drivers and got lots of good feedback on the Hankooks. There is not too many reviews on the evo2, but what i found was positive

The SE-02s performed great, but as the are 140 treadwear, they don't last long. Hopefully the new V12 @ 320 will wear better. They will be mostly used for spirited driving on my DD. Gonna try a few AX and if I get serious, Ill get seperate 17" wheels and probably Hankook RS-3's

I post later how I like them.

I switched to Hankook V12 evo2's and can't be more pleased with them. Especially at their price vs. the competition.

Just did a spirited drive with my new V12 Evo2's and they felt great!
time will tell

Continental DWS Extreme Contact.

I agree on the Sumitomos. Replaced my Pilots withe HTR Z II and have no complaints at all. try Tire Rack- can't beat the price.

+1 Tire Rack
 

I agree Tire Rack has some great prices and some great tires with very, very fast delivery. However, I do question some of their "expert" advice. Yesterday I was chatting with one of their tire "experts." I want to go from a 255/40 17 to a 275/40 17 on the back of my Box. He said it would scrub because the 275 would be -- get this -- SEVEN inches taller than the 255. Think he needs a little more training before turning him loose on customers.

I agree mine break loose in the corners and wore pretty fast for a mild driver like me.

I bought my car with (almost) new Michelin Pilot Super Sports on it. Backs are worn down after 13k, fronts still look good. They car was was too loose in the rain (especially on the worn down tire). I'm going to replace the rears with Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3. As a daily driver and no AX or DE I think these are a good choice. 500 AA A rating. Tire Rack had a good price; however, the installation is going to cost a little more since I wanted to get them road force balanced. Discount doesn't do that. In a few months, going to switch to them on the front too.