Tire Rec's for 3.2 Carrera

[craigyirush]

Hey Guys,

Time for new tires on my '86 Targa (as well as a corner balance and alignment).

I have 6's and 7's x 16" wheels. I live in So. Cal so no need to deal with snow or much rain. The car is a daily driver though I might do a track-day this year.

Darrin at West End alignment suggested Bridgestone Potenza Pole Positions (RE050A) 205/55s and 225/50s.

Does anyone have these? If so, would be interested in your opinion.

I'm also open to suggestions.

Thanks in advance.

[twobone]

I have Hankook RS2

The price was good, they feel as sticky as my old Bridgestone SO3s and they have a very good rep on this forum.

They are wearing fairly quickly, but thats what you get for sticky tires

[J.J.]

Toyo T1R

[Oh Haha]

Sumitomo HTRz

Fuzion ZRi

Yokahama AVS

[911st]

Check out the Dunlop Z1's. loved them. Great on the street, rain, and track. Great value and look great.

[Arkman]

I put the dunlop's on my 87 this spring. It's like driving a different car. Tire Rack likes th em too... and they seem to be a good value : Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec

[Nine17]

Last spring I put a set of Kumho Ecsta SPT's on my 7's and 8's. I'm not a big fan of the new semi-slick tires on a car which lacks ABS, Dynamic Stability Control, or Traction Control. I want a tire with gentler break-away characteristics that lets the car slide a bit before letting go. The Kumhos feel terrific and were a steal at $75-$79 a skin from Tire Rack.

[911st]

Then you might look at the Dunlops. That is one of there big pluses on top of great traction (isn't better if the tires don't slip?).

I ran them on the track and they were very controllable and predictable at the limit. One of there target markets was the drifter set.

They also have better traction in the rain than most touring tires.

The only thing they do not do well is freezing and snow.

There is a lot of data, tests, feed back -- at TireRack.com if you look.

[Steve W]

+2 - Z1 Star Specs

[GH85Carrera]

I have 7 & 8 15 inch Fuchs. The tire selection is pretty limited at Tire Rack for 205 & 225 - 50 15s.

[Quicksilver]

Tires are about the most significant choice to change the performance characteristics of a car. You can make a car soft and smooth, harsh and bouncy, loud, quiet, a corner burner, freeway cruiser, etc... The important characteristics might be grip in dry, grip in wet, grip in dirt, grip in snow, life, noise, feel, expense, etc...
I always find these threads to be pretty useless as pretty much all of the information is out of context and what people want can be very different. (e.g. - I would only consider 2 of the tires mentioned here but my current rubber is superior to them for my use.)

- What do you want out of your car?
- What do the people recommending the tires want out of their cars?
- What factors are you willing to ignore?
- Has the person recommending the tires actually compared any tires back-to-back to develop an opinion? (Comparing fresh new tires with an old used up 5 year old set doesn't give an informed opinion...)

So the real question before anyone gives a recommendation is what do you want the car to do?
- How do you drive it and under what conditions?
- What are you willing to ignore? (ride, noise, lifespan?)


Now that I have finished expending hot air...
My overriding requirement is grip. I don't care how long they last. Cost is an issue but I will deal with it. I just want grip in the dry. Good wet grip is a plus but it is a bonus not a requirement. As to life: I generally expect about 5k miles out of the rear tires and 8k to 10K miles out of the front,

All I run is R compound tires. I paid for a corner screamer so I want a corner screamer. (I don't want to be passed in a corner by a Volvo wagon just because he has gumballs on.)

I currently run Nitto NT-01s. They are amazingly sticky and they don't seem to cycle out so the performance at the end of the lifespan is surprising. They are pretty unusable in the rain so on really wet days it is putt-putt-putt or leave it in the garage. Apparently The NT-01s use the same rubber compound as the Toyo RA-1s/R-888s but are much cheaper.

I've run Kumho Victoracer V700s which have comparable grip when new but they cycle out pretty quickly. With full tread they work rather well in the wet. The tread life is a little sort so the $$$ can add up.

I'd like to try a set of the Victoracer V710s as they are higher grip with less compromise but there is a hole in their available sizes...

I used to run Yokohama A048s and A032s before that. They have great grip when cold but can get a bit greasy if they get too hot. They have a surprising quantity of wet grip. (The A032s were really good in the wet for some reason) The price is pretty good too. I would still be using these for my street driving if I hadn't tried the NT-01s

The last "High performance street tire" I had on the car was the Yokohama AVS Sports. For me I found the reduced grip compared to the R compound tires meant I was slipping and sliding around the corners so much I pretty much ground the tires down in exactly the same number of miles as a set of A032s. Lesson learned.

For a different use:
Alex Roy (see 31 hours, 4 minutes) said that the only tire that would stand up to continuous high speed running was the Bridgestone S02s. Apparently a Z rated tire will still tend to blow about 1/2 to 2/3s the way across the country. (He did LOTS of testing. Pretty amazing stories.)

[rgoodrich]

Mine's an SC. Had jumbo ecsta' and they were slippery. Changed to Goodyear Eagle G1 D2's, stock sizes on 16's. Completely different car. Sticks like glue, rides great and are quiet. I'm happy with this choice. I might try some R-compounds in the future. Need to pay for the last upgrades first.($$!)

[911st]

I think my times went from about a 2:22 with 205/225 on 7&8's with the Z1's to about 2:20 w 205/245 MPSC's on 7&9's.

However, the ultimate drive to the track tire, the Toyo RA1's seem to be back in production. They are roomered to be a sister tire to the Nitto's track tire and have the same compond.

[GH85Carrera]

The super stickies would be great for local autocrosses but, almost each year I drive to Porsche Parade. This year it is almost 800 miles each way. That would pretty much eat up half the life of a set of gumballs. I refuse to go back to the days of two sets of wheels, been there done that.

I drive my car 4 to 5 thousand miles a year.

Right now I just want a set of compromise tires that can hold up to a DE, numerous autocrosses and handle driving a couple thousand miles without eating half the rubber.

I just tried to buy some Toyo T1R tires but the rear times are no longer available. I am back on the hunt for some V rated summer tires that will fit on my wheels. I will post about whatever I do purchase.

[Steve W]

NT01s are great tires, I currently run those on my 3.2 for track and ax, and R888s on the GT3, but they are threadwear rated 100. The Z1 Star Specs seem to get about 90% of the grip with a thread wear of 200. We did an ax once with Z1s in the back, with NT01s on the front on my 3.2 on wet drizzly day and did pretty well (1 second off another class winner running full NT01s), pulling about 1.2-1.3 Gs according to the Iphone.

[csmab]

Go to Tire Rack and read the reviews and surveys on tires that fit the size you are looking for. I have always used their site to help me with my purchasing decisions. So far the user reviews have been dead accurate. You can sort the reviews by make of car so that you can dial in to the Porsches.

CSMAB

[Quicksilver]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

The super stickies would be great for local autocrosses but, almost each year I drive to Porsche Parade. This year it is almost 800 miles each way. That would pretty much eat up half the life of a set of gumballs. I refuse to go back to the days of two sets of wheels, been there done that.

I drive my car 4 to 5 thousand miles a year.

Right now I just want a set of compromise tires that can hold up to a DE, numerous autocrosses and handle driving a couple thousand miles without eating half the rubber.

I just tried to buy some Toyo T1R tires but the rear times are no longer available. I am back on the hunt for some V rated summer tires that will fit on my wheels. I will post about whatever I do purchase.

For straight highway cruising (assuming a good alignment) there should be minimal wear on even on an R compound tire. If the roads are heavily siped (like Oregon) that can really cut the life of the tires too. And with the mileage you list I would expect to get more then a year out of the rears and 2 years out of the fronts. R compound tires are more likely to get punctures though. I think a major reason for this is that they will pickup stuff and fling it so it has a greater chance of not staying flat on the ground.

I still have done a number of 1500 mile road trips on the Rs and I wouldn't have it any other way!

From what you describe I would think the Yokohama A048s would be perfect but tastes definitely vary.

- - -
I had a really interesting conversation with a Bridgestone engineer a few years ago where he explained that, assuming that you aren't sliding the car around a bunch, about the biggest factor in street tire wear is consistently hard braking. As he explained, braking is where the average driver sees the most Gs for the most time. The higher G forces combined molecular adhesion cause rubber molecules to shear off because of the forces involved. So even if you never slip the tire stopping at higher Gs will significantly reduce tire life.
(But standing on the binders is so fun!!!)

[mmack]

Lots of good options mentioned here, but I'll give a "+1" for the Direzza Star Specs. I have four track days on my 205/225 combo and they're holding up great. I've been spoiled by R compound tires for many years, and these grip nearly as well. Very predictable, and they seem to keep their grip after multiple heat cycles. I don't see much compromise as a street tire either.

[86 911 Targa]

Originally Posted by craigyirush

Hey Guys,

Time for new tires on my '86 Targa (as well as a corner balance and alignment).

I have 6's and 7's x 16" wheels. I live in So. Cal so no need to deal with snow or much rain. The car is a daily driver though I might do a track-day this year.

Darrin at West End alignment suggested Bridgestone Potenza Pole Positions (RE050A) 205/55s and 225/50s.

Does anyone have these? If so, would be interested in your opinion.

I'm also open to suggestions.

Thanks in advance.

For our '86, and all previous 911's, & one '89 930, we have used Pirelli.

Street use only.

20K for the rears, 40K for the fronts.

Good luck,

Gerry

[911st]

Testing the New Extremes of Extreme Performance Summer Tires