tire help

[benjamminfla]

Short story: I need two front tires for my 2000 Box base (I believe stock wheels), what tires do you guys recommend?

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Long story: when I bought my Boxster in February, it came with new rears and a spare set of new rears, though they are all knock-off brand tires.

I quickly looked at the fronts before I bought it, just checking that they weren't completely bare, so that I could drive home safely (4.5 hour trip), and they checked out (or so I thought).

I'd only driven the car in nice, dry weather since then, doing a few maintenance items and getting used to the car. Fast forward to two Saturdays ago-on our way home from a Euro car show (where ours was the only Boxster out of 500 European rides, and got a lot of looks and conversation), the drivers side front drop link broke on our street. So I checked the passenger side front as well and who would have known, it was the driver side part installed (backwards)! So I ordered new ones and got them on (boy does the car feel better!).

BUT I also noticed while I was down there that the inside half of both front tires was 100% smooth, while the outsides of both had plenty of tread. So my plan is to get new front tires, have all 4 balanced and get an alignment done-but I want to know what (front) tires recommendations you all have.

Thanks,
Ben

[husker boxster]

Short story - match your rears.

Long story - you should never have mis-matched front and rear tires. Their characteristics will be different, resulting in unusual (at best) driving situations. You could end up with unpredictable results in rain or high speed driving. It is dangerous to have different tires on the front and rear of a high performance sports car.

Check the manufacture date on your rear tires. If they are 6-8 yrs old, it's not worth matching to them as they're getting too old for high speed driving. You're going to need a full set if the rears are old.

If you need a full set of tires, there are plenty of threads on this topic. You need to decide what fits your needs. There are plenty of inexpensive tires that work fine on a Boxster. There are plenty of mid-level priced tires too. And Michelin and Continental are just releasing new tires on the upper end of the price scale. Search on tires here and go to TireRack for lots of information.

[Night_Rider]

Originally Posted by husker boxster

Long story - you should never have mis-matched front and rear tires. Their characteristics will be different, resulting in unusual (at best) driving situations. You could end up with unpredictable results in rain or high speed driving. It is dangerous to have different tires on the front and rear of a high performance sports car.

Could you expand on this a bit?

I'm about to buy my first Porsche, a 2000 Boxster Base. It goes for PPI on Friday.

The fronts are BFGoodrich GForce Comp2 AS 205/50ZR17

The rears are Eagle F1 Assymetric AS 255/40ZR17

What should I expect?

When I test drove the car I did feel a little wheel bounce that felt like a balance issue, enough that I made balancing a contingency of the sale.

[husker boxster]

Originally Posted by Night_Rider

Could you expand on this a bit?

I'm about to buy my first Porsche, a 2000 Boxster Base. It goes for PPI on Friday.

The fronts are BFGoodrich GForce Comp2 AS 205/50ZR17

The rears are Eagle F1 Assymetric AS 255/40ZR17

What should I expect?

When I test drove the car I did feel a little wheel bounce that felt like a balance issue, enough that I made balancing a contingency of the sale.

Tires are a series of compromises. Manufacturers must decide how much performance and durability they want to build into a tire, regardless of which type it is (summer, all-season, etc). Even within the "normal" summer tires for a Boxster, there are variations of the theme - ultra high performance vs just summer. Some tires are good in the rain, some not so much. There will also be variations in cornering and braking. Some will get you 25K mi, some barely 8K. How one manufacturer decides to define their summer tire will be different than how another defines theirs. And I haven't even mentioned building tires to a price point and the compromises made to do that.

With that as the backdrop, it becomes obvious that Brand X will have different characteristics than Brand Y. Mixing brands front and rear becomes a toxic cocktail when you get into extreme situations. Driving in rain or thru standing water becomes dangerous if Brand X is good in rain and Brand Y is not. High speed driving can turn a car into more understeer or over-steer with mixed brands vs a neutral balance with a complete set. Even a mundane on or off ramp can become "exciting". And chances are the excitement will come suddenly and without the normal advanced warning.

Go to TireRack and look at their charts comparing tires across 8-10 characteristics. Some tires can be close to each other while some can be on the other end of the spectrum. I've had Mich PS2s, Mich Super Sports, and Continental DWs (lower S, not all-season DWS) on my Cayman. The PS2s were junk - they were harsh and took a full lap to warm up. Super Sports were great on the track and OK in the rain. The DWs are great in the rain and OK on the track. Both were comfortable on the street. 3 tires, 3 different results. Try mixing and matching them. It would be crazy.

Can you buy a car with mixed tires and drive it home? Yes, if you control yourself and drive it like a normal car. But who drives a Porsche like a normal car? There will be some situation you find yourself in that will be dangerous because of mixed tires.

[Night_Rider]

Originally Posted by husker boxster

Can you buy a car with mixed tires and drive it home? Yes, if you control yourself and drive it like a normal car. But who drives a Porsche like a normal car? There will be some situation you find yourself in that will be dangerous because of mixed tires.

Thanks. I'll take the caution. Just due to the economics of it I'll run these till they're done and put a set on then. It will be my daily driver.

[paulofto]

When I bought my Boxster it had Bridgestone S-04 on the back and RE 050 on the front. The backs needed replacing but the fronts had 7/32 left. It seemed to handle fine. I subsequently put Goodyear F1 Assymetrics front and back (I junked the rears and sold the fronts for $200). The handing is now superb. Matching tire make and model seems to make a huge difference

[Deserion]

Match your wheels.

I'm on my second set of Hankook Ventus V12 Evo2s on my '04. A very good summer tire, especially considering the price. Likely will do the same for the 911 when I get new tires on that.

[steved0x]

Originally Posted by Deserion

Match your wheels.

I'm on my second set of Hankook Ventus V12 Evo2s on my '04. A very good summer tire, especially considering the price. Likely will do the same for the 911 when I get new tires on that.

I just noticed that too.

Another good budget summer tire is the Sumitomo HTR Z III, that is the street tire I ran on my Boxster before it turned into a mostly track car. I also ran them on track a few times when I was first getting started and they did good for me. Since you are in FL, a summer tire would be a good match.

We do get a lot of rain in FL - I was still in NC when I mostly drove the car for street driving but the sumis did good in rain for me too.

If your inner edges are bald with plenty of tread on the outside, you might have too much toe in the front which drags the inner part of the tire along.

What 4 wheels do you have on your car right now? Two matching backs and two matching fronts?

[benjamminfla]

Originally Posted by steved0x

I just noticed that too.

Another good budget summer tire is the Sumitomo HTR Z III, that is the street tire I ran on my Boxster before it turned into a mostly track car. I also ran them on track a few times when I was first getting started and they did good for me. Since you are in FL, a summer tire would be a good match.

We do get a lot of rain in FL - I was still in NC when I mostly drove the car for street driving but the sumis did good in rain for me too.

If your inner edges are bald with plenty of tread on the outside, you might have too much toe in the front which drags the inner part of the tire along.

What 4 wheels do you have on your car right now? Two matching backs and two matching fronts?

I've got matching tires on the front and back on stock 17 wheels (front wheels a bit skinnier than rear).

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[benjamminfla]

Thanks for the replies-I'll see what rears I've got and go from there.

Also, thanks for mentioning the Hankooks, it's good to hear that they are good on the Boxster.

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[itskenallen]

Most tyres will be good on the Boxster in the dry. It's in wet conditions that you'll see the difference between good tyres and bad tyres. Personally, since I live in Ireland and we get a fair bit of rain, I would get a tyre that's B or A rated in the wet. But that's just me. I don't think it's worth putting cheap tyres on a performance car. Michelin Pilots, Goodyear F1 Assymetrics, Continental Contisports, Bridgestone Potenzas are all highly rated tyres and I would recommend sticking to one of the premium brands.

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[Frank N]

I use Pilot SS in the summer and BFGoodrich g-Force COMP-2 A/S in the winter.

[DrCactus]

+1 Hankook Ventus V12 Evo2s These are pretty good tires for the price. They work very good in the heat and rain but little rough on cooler days and nights but that's pretty standard.

[rexcramer]

Originally Posted by DrCactus

+1 Hankook Ventus V12 Evo2s These are pretty good tires for the price.

+ another 1, I bought 4 the end of January and I am very pleased with them.

[JayG]

IMHO, for general street driving there are a bunch of great tires to choose from
These are all summer tires (in no particular order)
Sumitomo HTR ZIII
Hankook Ventus V12 evo2
Michelin Pilot Supersports

Of those the Supersports are the most $$ and the Sumis the lowest$

If you have the $$ get the SuperSports. Want to save a few $$ get the Sumi's

I have used all of them and would take the Sumi's over the Hankooks (my opinion)
The SuperSports are wonderful tires, best of its class. I currentlyt have thme on my DD wheels and had the Sumi's before. Then main reason I got the SuperSports is I got them for free, otherwise I would have bought the Sumi's.

No recommendations for winter tires as I don't use them in San Diego

Your tire wear is alignment related. Get a good one done

[FoxRvrBox]

How is the date coded on the tire? I have an 03 and i know the fronts and rears are different manufacturers ...

[steved0x]

Originally Posted by FoxRvrBox

How is the date coded on the tire? I have an 03 and i know the fronts and rears are different manufacturers ...

One side of the tire will have something like DOT 2616, this means the tire was made the 26th week of 2016.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=11

Some tires (Toyo/Nitto are two) may have a leading 5th digit that can be disregarded.

[BirdDog]

I love the Michelin Pilot Sport PS2's I have on my 2001 S, but they were a bit pricey...

They stick like glue wet or dry.

[Nmbrsix]

Agree on never mismatching tread patterns unless the situation doesn't allow for anything else.

I just purchased the new Conti ExtremeContact Sports and am quite happy with everything except how they tramline on grooved freeway pavement.

I hear the new Firestone Indy500 is a great tire (essentially identical to the Bridgestone RE003 sold in non-US markets) and is very reasonably priced.

[sharkbyte]

Interesting comments on Hankook. That's what came on mine - I can't wait for them to wear out so I can replace them. Loud and don't seem to grip as well as I would expect.

Could be me with first mid engine/rear drive car but not terribly impressed.