Maxxis MA-Z4S Victra Tire Review - 2003 986 Base

[justanother986]

Ever since I retired my 1997 SAAB to project car status, my '03 986 2.7L has been my daily driver. It's a fine reliable car that starts every morning and gets me to work. One thing I have noticed about it driving it on a daily basis is that it feeds on a diet of rear tires. I put about 10,000 miles (the rears were at around 40% when I bought the car) on the Michelin Pilot Sports since I bought the car, and they wore down to drag slicks. The good thing is that they wore so evenly, the poly layer under the rubber started to show in the same exact spot on either rear tire. Now that's some seriously precise alignment!

I was looking around at different tires online, perusing the usual "good" brands like Michelin, Pirelli, Continental, etc. I found that (aside from the ContiExtreme DWS -- these look like a superb value) I could put my money in places other than for the Boxster's voracious appetite for soft compound rubber. $300 installed for a Pilot is a bit much for my taste. In my search, I came across a company called Maxxis. Yes, they're not Pirelli. Or Michelin. And call it sacrilege or what have you, but man, these tires are great! Model is the MA-Z4S Victra. They're sticky as hell, have firm sidewalls, and a really aggressive tread pattern. They are rated for 420 tread, AA traction, A temperature (W speed). Best part: I paid $218 including shipping for a rear pair. That's less than the price of a single Pilot Sport. To be fair, I should follow my review in about 10-15k miles (in case they fall apart). Additionally, wet traction is great (I can't speak for snow; haven't been there yet). For those of you with daily driver Porsches out there, give these things a look -- you may be pleasantly surprised.

URL to manufacturer site:
MA-Z4S Victra

[mikefocke]

Used to live in Oakton and used to drive my '01S around there. PS Ribs lasted more than 15k miles with perfectly even tread wear across the entire tread surface and still had way more than legal tread depth when I retired them due to their age.

I attribute their better wear when compared to what others report as much to the alignment in favor of even wear as to the tire characteristics. Who does the alignment and what they know about aligning Porsches makes a difference in my opinion. The guy who did mine also maintained a bunch of Porsche race cars so he knew more than just "set to specs" but what each side of the spec meant to handling and wear and the tradeoffs that were available. And I wasn't a pussyfoot around a corner type of driver by any stretch.

[MikenOH]

The tread looks an awful lot like one of the Hankook models.

Maxxis is owned by cheng shin rubber out of Taiwan; not sure where the tire is actually made by they have plants all over Asia including China.

[randy_k]

The Hankook V12 Ventus tires are almost exactly the same price. I bought two rears for MY99 from Tire Rack and they are a proven tire. I only found 2 bad reviews on them during my research out of more than 50 positive ones. I have put about 1K miles on them and they handle very well for the money. I'm not a go fast kinda guy around town and don't plan on tracking the car. so they suffice quite well.
Thanks for your input on tires though. Possibly another source for others.
Randy