Tire Advice for new owner

[Rpostma]

I purchased a 1982 911 SC last week. The tires on it are in good shape but the DOT date codes are 2000. They are Bridgestone Potenza RE940's. 205/55ZR-16 on front and 225/50ZR-16 on the back. From all I have read these tires are too old to trust. This is my first 911 and I am not planning to race this car.. I would like to have a good ride with good performance. So I am looking for advice on tires to replace these good but old tires. Thanks RON

[Oh Haha]

Welcome to Pelican!!

You are making the right decision in replacing the tires.

Here is a recent thread that has some great information on tires that I think you'll find useful.

Please post your tire experieinces

Post a couple pics of your 911 when you get a chance.

[Flat Six]

Originally Posted by Oh Haha

Post a couple pics of your 911 when you get a chance.

Welcome! and +1 on pictures!

Dale

[cgarr]

I like my Hankook Ventus R-S3 for both road and track and you will track it Rather inexpensive tire at about a hundred bucks each!

[Rpostma]

I read this tread before and now again and I am still confused. Almost everyone has a different opinion. I hope to compile more responses and hopefully make a educated decision.

[porsche930dude]

In my opinion. If your not racing the car and theres no obvious defects like cracking or bulging they will be fine. Just keep an eye on them and dont take it over 80 till you get a new set

[GaryR]

Originally Posted by Rpostma

I purchased a 1982 911 SC last week. The tires on it are in good shape but the DOT date codes are 2000. They are Bridgestone Potenza RE940's. 205/55ZR-16 on front and 225/50ZR-16 on the back. From all I have read these tires are too old to trust. This is my first 911 and I am not planning to race this car.. I would like to have a good ride with good performance. So I am looking for advice on tires to replace these good but old tires. Thanks RON

Ron - where are you and your new car located? If available in your size I found the Dunlop Direzza Star Trac (IIRC) to be a fantastic all around tire at a reasonable price. To be realistic, if the Bridgestones don't show any drying cracks and you don't exceed 75 MPH I would run them out. Just join PCA and start learning to really drive the car at our Driver's Education events and be done with it!

Oh, and when I got my new 05 997S I didn't plan on racing... 5 years and 6 P-Cars later here I am.. and racing started in 07..

[Rpostma]

Just some pix from my iPhone.

[HarryD]

Originally Posted by Rpostma

I purchased a 1982 911 SC last week. The tires on it are in good shape but the DOT date codes are 2000. They are Bridgestone Potenza RE940's. 205/55ZR-16 on front and 225/50ZR-16 on the back. From all I have read these tires are too old to trust. This is my first 911 and I am not planning to race this car.. I would like to have a good ride with good performance. So I am looking for advice on tires to replace these good but old tires. Thanks RON

Hi Ron:

A fellow Portlander.... Welcome to the best BBS on P-cars. Without giving us an idea of your intended use it is hard to give suggestions.

Will you drive only on sunny days? During the winter cold? Drive like an old lady or test out the twisties? Etc.

As a data point, my street tires are BFGoodrich g-Force Super Sport A/S tires. I went with an all season tire for better traction in the cold and wet we have here. I do track my car but I have Toyo R888's for that so I do not worry too much about ultimate perfomance.

Hopefully you will join us for our Monthly Beer and Burgers at McTarnahans (http://forums.pelicanparts.com/pacific-northwest-us-wa-id-ut-hi-ak/500446-oregon-pdx-beers-burgers-9-30-a.html) on the second Thursday of every month or a local PCA event (you might find the Arrive and Drives to your liking). If you are a member of the Oregon Region Chapter of PCA, you get regular e-mail reminders of our upcoming activities.

[nesslar]

Sent you a PM about tires, just an FYI based on my experience.
Love the white, BTW!

[RWebb]

contra post #6, even on the street you may need to make a panic stop - the tire rubber is old & hard now and will not adhere well to the pavement, so damage to the car or death could easily result.

do you want to keep the same size tires?

what type of driving will you do?

what criteria are important to you?

most performance tires also give good rain perf. these days, BUT if you needed to commute today in snow in this car...


select the size & run that thru the Tire Rack selector - post the results...

[Quicksilver]

Originally Posted by Rpostma

I read this tread before and now again and I am still confused. Almost everyone has a different opinion. I hope to compile more responses and hopefully make a educated decision.

There isn't "An Answer" to this question because there is more then one driver in the world.

Tires are by far the most important single component to influence the handling of a car. They can make a car's ride smooth and relaxing. They can make the car grip the road like a terrier grappling with a ball. They can help conserve gas. They can last a bazzilion miles. They can grip in rain and snow.

But they can't do all of the above. At best they might do 2 of the above at one time.
So what do you want?

I got the Porsche because I am a fairly obsessive motorhead, G junkie. I figured that I went out to get a car to tear around corners in so I get the stickiest tires I can find. I also figure this is my hobby so I am willing to donate a set of tires to that hobby fairly often. I also don't care how harsh or loud the tires are. My choice has always been DOT race tires. I live in socal where when a rain cloud comes by you will get 7 news channels screaming "Storm Watch 2011 - There is water falling from the sky! What will we do!!!". In other words it doesn't rain enough to worry about ultimate rain performance.
Currently I am running Nitto NT01s which are pretty amazing for this class of tire. They don't cycle out like the Yokohama or Kuhmos have done. (After an number heating cooling cycles race tires tend to lose there grip.) The NT01s apparently use the same compound as the Toyo R compound tires which have the same "last lots of heat cycles" reputation.


Is that the tire to have? Most of my friends won't drive R compound on the street because they want softer, quieter rides and a longer life.


To get a more meaningful feedback from a group like this the first thing you need to do is describe how you are intending to use it and what type of compromises you are willing to live with.
If you are thinking of going the "Ultimate Grip" direction I would seriously recommend going for a ride with someone who has a car with gumballs and a stiffened up suspension to see if you really like it after 15 minutes of driving over seams in the road and feeling every one. (I like it!)

[GaryR]

You guys are way out of hand, do you think he will be running a LeMans?
Do you run the car on the track? If No, then anything is fine as if you are running beyond 75 MPH you are breaking the law and risking the lives of other people and chances are you are not the speed racer you think you are. I've yet to take a new guy out on the track and think "oh boy, here is the next Shumacher". Buy friggin RECAPS if all you are going to do is drive like an adult on public roads. You want to learn to drive beyond that? Sign up for instruction at the local PCA Autocross or Driver's Education (on a track) events. Drive like an idiot on a public road and regardless of how much you spend on tires or their brand you WILL be a parts car for us.

[HarryD]

Originally Posted by GaryR

You guys are way out of hand, do you think he will be running a LeMans?
Do you run the car on the track? If No, then anything is fine as if you are running beyond 75 MPH you are breaking the law and risking the lives of other people and chances are you are not the speed racer you think you are. I've yet to take a new guy out on the track and think "oh boy, here is the next Shumacher". Buy friggin RECAPS if all you are going to do is drive like an adult on public roads. You want to learn to drive beyond that? Sign up for instruction at the local PCA Autocross or Driver's Education (on a track) events. Drive like an idiot on a public road and regardless of how much you spend on tires or their brand you WILL be a parts car for us.

Hi Gary,

Calm down... You have a good point but I can say in the Northwest (as opposed to the Northeast where I grew up), running summer tires year round is not a good idea. I switched from Yokohama ES-100's (sumer tire) as my street tire for this reason. In the winter, summer tires seem to get too hard for the changing cold, wet surfaces we get here.

As you note, any quality one will do. He can even get them at Les Schwab!

If he has a more specific need, them the choices change.

Also, I think any P-car owner will benefit from a few days at Autocross or DE to get a sense of how the car behaves at/near the car's (or drivers) limits.

[Rpostma]

HarryD I am signed up for the ORPCA March 19th event. I would love to come to the Thursday get together. I know where but when. I am planning to sign up for DE classes and hope to learn what I can do. This is my first 911 and I will have to see what kind of driver I will become.

[HarryD]

Hi Ron:

We meet at McTarnahan's on the second Thursday of the month. We start trickling in at about 5 pm and most folks are there by 6 pm. Good group of guys.

I may attend the event at Matrix.

While DE is big fun (I try to do at least one a year), you might want to try an Autocross first (I attend 5 to 7 of them). Our first DE at PIR is not until June and the ones which are earlier are at Oregon Raceway Park which is not geared to novice drivers (the track is very technical).

In March 13th we will be having a "Drivers Skills Training Class" which will help you get the basics and it is immediately followed by an Autocross to give you a chance to practice your newly aquired skills. Don't sweat if you do not have a helmet, we have them to loan.

Hope we meetup one day.

[GaryR]

Originally Posted by HarryD

Hi Gary,

Calm down...

I'm calm Harry... my point is don't spend 10 seconds worrying about tires if they aren't all cracked up and/or dry rotted. BIG difference between running at speed and picking up some Ice Cream and as far as I am concerned anyone running around like Speed Racer on public roads is an ass and needs to be categorized properly...so let's find out WHY he wants tires shall we?

[5String43]

When I bought my '82 SC last summer, it also needed tires. Badly. What I wanted was a balance between traction in the wet and dry, value and decent ride. Because of previous experience with the same tire on a similar car, I went with Yokohama Avid ENV's. No regrets.

[HarryD]

Originally Posted by GaryR

I'm calm Harry... my point is don't spend 10 seconds worrying about tires if they aren't all cracked up and/or dry rotted. BIG difference between running at speed and picking up some Ice Cream and as far as I am concerned anyone running around like Speed Racer on public roads is an ass and needs to be categorized properly...so let's find out WHY he wants tires shall we?

Gary,

I do not think we are that far apart. If you read my first post in this thread, what you are asking is what I believe I am asking. Hopefully, Ron will provide some additional information and we can then share some informed opinions.

After all, if the fellow just wants to tool around, then, as you state, any safe tire is ok.

If he wants to drive the twisties, he needs to put some thought into what he needs and when he will be driving.

If he wants to go to the track or be the next Michael Schumacher, then the discussion needs to be very different.

[Rpostma]

My best estimate for how I want to use my car is mostly nice summer driving the twisty back roads of the Northwest. Maybe some wet roads no snow or ice. I would like an performance tire with a good ride. I do not plan to put more than 3000 miles per year.