911 Upgraded Tire suggestions?

[28tbsfan]

I’m getting my 1989 Targa 911 upgraded to do roughly 290HP. I’m looking for suggestions for new tires for the front which are dry rotted…

Cooper Zeon RS-3’s were mentioned by a friend?

[darrin]

sounds like a nice upgrade! Keep in mind that your car's now making about the same power as a later 930 (911 turbo), which ran on pretty much the same tires as the non-turbo 911s. Put another way, not sure you need anything different tire-wise for your engine upgrade. Instead, I'd focus on getting the right tire for your anticipated driving conditions. Specifically, I see you're in Chicago, which gets pretty cold for much of the year. Summer only tires lose much of their grip when temps drop into the 40s. Thus, if you plan to drive in the spring/fall/etc., you might want to consider getting high performance all seasons like the Michelin Pilot Sport AS4+ or continental Extremecontact DWS -- tires that will provide really nice grip in warm weather but will keep supple/pliant when the weather gets cold. No experience with the Coopers, but it's always best to run the same tires front/rear and I did note that although these coopers are available in the stock 205/55-16 front tire size, Cooper don't appear to make this tire in the 225/50-16 size generally used on factory 16x7 rear wheels. Going with the available 245/50-16 size for a rear tire (which has a larger diameter) would effectively take away some of the HP gains realized through your HP upgrade.

[Showdown]

All I’m going to add, as a Chicagoan who regularly drives in the city and surroundings, is that low profile tires, while looking cool are terrible for our streets which have the quality of a lunar landscape.

Consider a tire with meat, it’ll make your ride exponentially more comfortable.

[jac1976]

Originally Posted by Showdown

All I’m going to add, as a Chicagoan who regularly drives in the city and surroundings, is that low profile tires, while looking cool are terrible for our streets which have the quality of a lunar landscape.

Consider a tire with meat, it’ll make your ride exponentially more comfortable.

I’m from the camp that higher profile tires look cool.

[Showdown]

Originally Posted by jac1976

I’m from the camp that higher profile tires look cool.

Ditto, I like meat on my tires, dinner plate and my girl’s derrière.

[28tbsfan]

I went w Continentals up front