tire question

[Mike Kast]

I talked to a guy from tire rack today. He was pretty hot on selling me brigestone so3's. They would run me around 800 bucks. I thought that was a little pricey. Life is about 15,000 miles. My buddy at work said that is a nickel a mile. Looking at it that way makes it even worse!
His next recommendation was bridgestone RE750's for about 650
I didn't want to make a decision so fast about it without thinking on it some. Do these tires ever go on sale? Do I really want all that tire for the road? I have never had the car on a track, but now that the suspension has been freshened up I would like too. Realistically? Maybe once or twice a year if ever.
so, the car is a road cruiser and I really don't know what is in my best interest. The way I look at it I'd rather spend the money if the performance gain is justifiable. I do drive the corners pretty hard whenever I get a chance so it's not like I don't ever get it over 4000RPM's.
I DON"T KNOW WHAT TO DO!
My plan was to just replace the front's with the Falkners that are on there now but the correct size. I don't think they make the tires I have in the rear 255/40/r17 in the size I need up front.
It seems like a bad idea to have different tires front and back but I could do that for 200 bucks and get the alignment corner balance for another 150 or 200 and be driving happily for a while. Or get the 800 dollar bridgestones and be down another grand... That is a serious unplanned expense but if you guy tell me it's the best way to go I will suck it up.

[Sonic dB]

I dont know about the others...but I just got the Yokohama AVS ES100s and I dont know how the more expensive ones could be much better. These tires stick like glue and the car just hugs the pavement through the tight turns, wet or dry. For the money, these are the best...and look cool too.

Also... talk to your local Quality Tire / Americas Tire Co...They will match or beat tireracks price and the valves are free etc. Great service.

but as the Super Genius, you probably already know this.

[89911]

Tires are a point of compromises. Generally speaking, the better performing the tire, the shorter life span. Nothing is worse then driving around on a set of crappy, long wearing, tires waiting for them to wear out so you can get a better set. Tires are the single biggest improvement to your cars handling. Period. Look at it as a price to pay for enjoyment. This isn't your wifes minivan that you want the tires to last until the lease is up. Get the best you can afford and you won't look back. I bought S03's also and thinkg they are great.

[Kevin Stewart]

The best bang for the buck is the Khumos, Kevin

[alf]

There are inexpensive tires that will do almost if not as well as the more expensive ones, Kumos, Falkens and Yokohamas come to mind.

I had S03s they were great all around performance tires. Now i have Toyo RA1s and they are much better than S03s, but they will also last half as long

[Padrino]

I just got a set of Yokohama AVS ES100s for $380 mounted and balanced for all four. Size 205/50/15 for my 70S. Absolutely like glue on the road and can't beat the price. Check them out!! K

[Danskman]

Price seems way too high for the S03's. I put those on my SC last June. Did all my research and ended up buying them at Big O Tire. Price was $599 for all four out the door - mounted and balanced. I went with 205/55zr15 on the front (7's) and 225/50zr15 on the rear (8's).

Absolutely love the tires.

see this thread;
New SO3's today! almost...

[aigel]

I have dulop sports for the daily driving. They should be much less. I can look up the exact designation. Wear is 200. I have autocrossed them and they do pretty good for a street tire. Check tire racks web page. Should be less than $600 for the set.

George

[CRNT918]

What are the four most important parts of a car?
The TIRES!

I have the S03's on my SC, use them on the street and as rain tires on the track. I think they're wonderful. And in the dry, they're only about 1.75 seconds slower around around Blackhawk and Gingerman than my
Victoracers.

Pete

[stefang]

I love my S03s, but I've also liked Yoko AVS Is in the past, which are superceded by the ES100. I think Kumhos 712s suck. The RE730s are also pretty good. I think the SO3 and Michelin Pilot are probably the best out there, but that doesn't mean you need the best. Pay attention to wet handling, that's where a lot of tires fall down. The cheaper ones will slide a little more on the track, but so what - slow down a tad. You should be fine with the 730s or ES100 and feel better about not spending a wad. Don't go the route of just replacing the fronts with a pair of cheapos.

Danskman - he's running 17s!

Stef

[Jim Richards]

I just put Toyo T1-S's on the 95 993 for $800, including a 4-wheel alignment. So far I'd say they're very good. I'm planning on getting RA-1's for the 73E before the DE season starts.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Falken Ziex are about $100 each in your size at www.vulcantire.com. I just bought some from them a while back, big improvement over my shot Yokos.

[dickster]

i went with SO3's and love 'em. but i only do a couple thou miles a year.

[na2ub]

If you are anything like most of us on the board, then you will want to analyze the grip and wear numbers / letters for the above mentioned selection. Tirerack.com has all the statistics available for each tire. After comparing a handful of popular tires, I stuck with the Bridgestone 750. It offers good grip numbers, with higher than average wear.

[greglepore]

Look at the Kumho MX. Great tire for the money. The ES100's are nice too, have a friend w/ a Boxter that loves his. I just bought Falken Azenis, love them, but sizes are way too limited, and I ended up with a rear tire that is very tall, was suprised that I could feel the "grunt" difference.

[jmohn]

For a summer daily driver, you could go to the "Tirerack.com" site, click on "Ultra" or "Max" performance tires and pick any one of them and probably be satisfied. Keep in mind, the difference between the best and worst of these tires is marginal in comparison to the average "sedan" tire. I'm using Kumho 712's and am happy with them, I've heard very good things about the Yok. ES100's. The reason I don't buy SO3's or Mich. Pilot Sports is I don't track or race my car so that last 1/10 of a percent of performance isn't necessary (I can't "outdrive" my Kumhos, so why pay more?). The SO3's are about 87% more than ES100's; so ask yourself. Is there 87% more performace with the SO3's? And, am I willing to pay for it? If the answers are ... yes. You've made your decision. (As you can see, I've made mine.)

Good luck,

Jerry M
'78 SC

[Emission]

I've got AVS Intermediates all around. They have been discontinued.

When the rears wear thin, I will replace them with Yokohama ES100's - and keep the AVS Intermediates on the front until they die.

My car burns rears 2x as fast as fronts. (frown)

[Mike Kast]

Wow... Thank you guys, That was a good lesson. I stopped by my non Porsche mechanic this morning and asked his opinion. He has a 2003 Vet so I asked what tires are on there? He said "the tires that came on that car are 800 a piece. When I need new tires I'll get the cheapest ones that fit the rims."
Then he said "talk to Joe, He has Porsche experience, he might have a better opinion."
So I moved on to the next bay and talked to Joe. I asked if mixing tires front and back would cause instability like the tire rack salsmen told me. He said "You probably wouldn't notice any significant difference in the tires until you started getting into extreme conditions. Like getting up to 150mph the centrifugal forces would start to distort the tires and the car might become unstable. Or racing on a track. For driving on the road you will probably never see those conditions
His recommendation- almost any tire in the 225/45/17 measurement will be pretty sticky and if I wanted to keep the rears till they wear out, to get some Falkens up front and drive on.
Maybe when it's time I'll try some funner more exciting tires but this time of the year is always a struggle Taxes and retirement, kids education funds all need funding and I'm not happy with my credit card balance right at the moment.
I'm gonna cheap out and feel good about it! The improvements in my car with the new front suspention will be absolutely mindblowing anyway, I'm sure of it! I just want to drive it again! It's been almost 2 months. What did you do New Year's Eve? I tore my front end apart until 4AM
Ahhhhhhhhhhh the bachelor life...

[Mike Kast]

Originally posted by Sonic dB

but as the Super Genius, you probably already know this.

Thank you for the vote of confidence Sonic... but, not likely

There ain't much meat left on the bone

[Randy Webb]

At the Boise PCA meeting I asked all 4 of the big tire manf. tech. reps to reccommend a tire not their own - they all said all the majors were good.
Then I spoke to each one F2F & alone -- the Bridgestone guy said that they had the best technology and that the major advantage was the at their tire maintained its performance as the rubber wore down -- "nobody else has that technology."

So I expect that is a big part of the premium.

Also, how many mile/year do you drive? After 5 years the rubber is gong to be so hard you will want ot swap to a new tire. That may affect your 5 cents/mile concern.