I never hear about "N" spec tires here

[Tippy]

When I had a 996, it was widely accepted to use only "N" spec tires on them. Tire Rack will fight you tooth and nail to use such when ordering.

An "N" spec is a tire designed just for 911's with stiffer sidewalks to account for the rear-engine layout.

Never read anyone here or the 911 NA forum running them.

I think you'd pick up a lot of performance on a track running them.

Thoughts?

[RarlyL8]

I ran 18" N spec Pirellis on the Red Rocket. They handled very well. The track guys in our local PCA talk brands and models but not N spec so I'm not sure it the quality of the track tires hasn't surpassed the old N spec.

[Tippy]

I guess I should have said, running N spec street tired on a track might buy some reduced lap times.

Not to mention, in an emergency maneuver situation, N spec tires help a lot!

[Miguel Antonett]

N spec tires are tires that fulfill certain Porsche specs allowing the manufacturer (Pirelli among many others) to put that code "N" on their tires. They're NOT "911 tires". The purist shall use "N" coded tires only BTW. I did for years on many of my cars... nowadays means nothing other than a market tool.

[GeorgeK]

FWIW on my street driven only 911s, the N spec tires are the only ones that *never* gave me *any* issues. Some non N spec were too soft, some tramlined like crazy, some were gone in 3K miles, etc...
I came to N spec by chance, while trying to find correct sized winter tires for my C4 in 16". Started from there.

[Tippy]

Originally Posted by Miguel Antonett

N spec tires are tires that fulfill certain Porsche specs allowing the manufacturer (Pirelli among many others) to put that code "N" on their tires. They're NOT "911 tires". The purist shall use "N" coded tires only BTW. I did for years on many of my cars... nowadays means nothing other than a market tool.

So the latest tire offerings dropped their weight ratings? I remember the rears on Continentals could handle an additional 1000lbs of weight over the non-"N".

My Sumi's are not "N" rated, and feel like a bowl of jelly in back.

My Michelin Pilot Sports were dead steady.

[billjam]

So how do you identify N spec tyres? Sorry, "tires"!

[GeorgeK]

They are so named. On the Porsche site is a page of homologated (N-rated) tires.

http://www.porsche.com/usa/accessoriesandservices/classic/tyreapproval/

[Noah930]

Interesting that in the chart/link supplied in the post above, there's one N-spec tire listed for our cars: Continental ContiSport Contact.

When did Porsche introduce the N-rating specification for tires? Was that around back in the 70s and 80s when these cars were made? I thought it was a much more recent era of 911 to which the N-spec applied.

[Tippy]

Originally Posted by Noah930

Interesting that in the chart/link supplied in the post above, there's one N-spec tire listed for our cars: Continental ContiSport Contact.

When did Porsche introduce the N-rating specification for tires? Was that around back in the 70s and 80s when these cars were made? I thought it was a much more recent era of 911 to which the N-spec applied.

Since I only hear on 996 cars, I assume '99??

[Cajundaddy]

I have freely used both. N spec tires are always very good quality for typical Porsche road use. There are better street-rated track tires for a lot less $$ though. A lot better and a lot less. Hankook RS-3, Dunlop Z1 Star Spec, BF Goodrich Rival, RE-11s are all non-N spec tires that just grip way better, longer in continuous lapping than Continental, Super Sports, Pirellis, or PS2 N spec tires. All tires are a tradeoff though and those hotshot tires are often not as good in the rain, and may offer less road and noise comfort than the far more expensive N spec tires. There are no perfect tires so choose wisely. If you love N spec tires, buy em.

[Tippy]

Deleted due to incorrect info

[Cajundaddy]

Originally Posted by Tippy

N spec has nothing to do with grip AFAIK, it's about a stiff sidewall to accommodate our rear engine layout.

This is a misunderstanding.

No significant difference in load rating between N spec and other high performance tires in the same size and class. The Hankook and Dunlops mentioned above have a significantly stiffer sidewall than the Michelin PS2 (N spec). N spec tires are also recommended for 987 (mid engine cars) and Cayennes (front engine).

They are high quality tires at 2x the price but no rear engine voodoo is involved.

N-Spec Tires for Your Porsche - Choose the Best Tires with Zig | Tire Rack

[Tippy]

Ok, I retract statement about grip. Sidewall stiffness and grip are what N specs tires shall meet to be approved by Porsche for use of the autobahn according to TireRack:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=26

[Tippy]

Originally Posted by Cajundaddy

This is a misunderstanding.

No significant difference in load rating between N spec and other high performance tires in the same size and class. The Hankook and Dunlops mentioned above have a significantly stiffer sidewall than the Michelin PS2 (N spec). N spec tires are also recommended for 987 (mid engine cars) and Cayennes (front engine).

They are high quality tires at 2x the price but no rear engine voodoo is involved.

N-Spec Tires for Your Porsche - Choose the Best Tires with Zig | Tire Rack

I'm going off memory here, and that's never a good thing, but IIRC, the Continentals I bought N spec could handle like a 1000lbs more than the non N of the same exact size and model.