New tyres
 

Hi i have a 2002 boxster and in need of 2 new fronts tyres at the moment they are Pirelli
225 40 ZR18 N4 which after much reading i think i now understand the language but do i have to go with the same now such as the N4 being necessary or can anyone recommend others ?

Your front tires need to match the rear tires for brand and model. If the "N" rating is slightly different, I would not worry about it. But don't mix Michelins with Pirellis, for example.

Also, if your rear tires are more than 5 years old, replace those now, too.

They don't have to be N rated. Porsche will tell you yes, but in hindsight, just have a good trusted brand of tyre that's the same on all 4 wheels. As said, age matters as much as tread.

I've got Falken 453's on mine. Not N rated at all, but they're unbelievably good tyres.

i have just been offered Pirelli P Zero Nero GT what are your thoughts ?

Definitely read the age code on your tires. Mine had 13 year old tires on the front, 9 year old on the rear, when I bought it. Scary! 6 years is the recommended age for replacing performance tires. 10 years is the absolute maximum for any tire.

I just put a set of Hankook EVO Ventus V12's on our 97. They are not N rated. I am very pleased with the way they perform. We have Pirelli P-zero's on my wife's 09. They are great. If you can afford the Pirelli's, do it. If you need to get some mileage out of the tires, then a quick search will offer up several lower priced options. IMHO, the N rating is another Porsche tax that you don't need to pay unless you want to.

Definitely check the age of the rears. If they are over half worn or really old, try to swing all four. Even if you need to choose a lesser tire.

I think it was $640 for the Hankook set in January.

I liked the performance/price ratio of the Hankook EVO Ventus V12's, but they wore much faster than the wear rating suggested on my Kia Soul which doesn't bode well for how they will do on a higher performance machine. I also thought their sidewall stiffness was not up to par with better performance tires.

What model of Pirelli are the original tires? We need to know that in order to compare the P Zero Nero GT with the original tires.

I would compare the category of the two tires (summer high performance, all-season, etc) along with the tread wear rating. If they are close, then it would be a fairly good match even though they might be be exactly the same model.

I'm about to go to the shop this afternoon installing 4 continental extreme contact dws 06 on my 2002 base. Will let you know how I like them... heard only good things about those.
Tomorrow morning is the alignment shop.

they are P zero rosso

Also in favor of the Hankook Ventus V12 evo2. On my second front set, third rear set. Very good especially for the price.

I put on Michelin Pilot Sports when bought new tyres. I quite like them. Only problem with the Michelins is after 30k miles they are 75% gone. The correct spelling of tyre got me thinking. I grew up where one bought "tie-errs" (spelled "tires"), and now live where they are "tars" (spelled "tires"). Its amazing this forum can bring together two nations divided by a common language.

Our friend in Oxford U.K.
Before we get deep into anecdotal recommendations and geekish terminology I suggest you ask for tyres suitable for your climate. In England you probably need the very best wet road grip as the primary performance criteria? Presumably you are not racing on a Track with your car?
Until Brexit, your EU tyres come with a helpful chart to help you make an informed selection:
Full Guide To The EU Tyre Label | Blackcircles.com

When I bought my car it had some horribly mismatched tyres - Goodyear F1s on the back and some cheap tyres on the front. The rears were completely worn out (they looked like slicks), but the fronts were fairly new (I gave them away).

Like JamesSP I went with Michelin Pilot Sport (PS2's). I love them. They stick like glue, wet or dry. They were a bit pricey though.

I haven't tried anything else, but I'm sure you'll get some great recommendations here.

I had p zeros on the car when I bought it. I hated them, very noisey and did not handle well for auto cross. I have been using Michelin super sports ever since and have not looked back. They have amazing tread life and are amazing in the rain

replacing ancient Nexten PH1's with.....?
 

I live in SoCal, so snow or even rain isn't really an issue. I'll never track, so that's not the issue. In other words, don't need the best, but don't want trash. Ride smoothing would be nice given the lousy roads. I've got Kumho's on my e30 and have been very pleased with the price/utility ratio, but certainly not wedded to them. Have Contis on my bicycle, but that's not exactly a reason to put them on my Boxster. Anyone around here want to make a recommendation for something I should be looking at (and if you're really local and want to turn me on to a trusted installer, all the better.) Thanks!

Simple, best price/performance ratio for street driving is Sumotomo HTR ZIII
you can get 2 sets for the cost of Pilot SuperSports and 95%+ of the performance

If you don't care about the cost, get the SuperSports

if you are getting 30k+miles on a set of performance tires, your are doing great!!

Hankook Ventus V12 EVO2 K120, I put 4 on in January +/-$640 and have been very pleased with them.

I have about 4k miles on PZero Nero AS and they handle well. Not noisy, nice ride for a sport car tire. I really like continental extreme contacts, but they are not making them anymore.