Anybody here with Dunlop SP Sport 9000 on their 911?

I have those tires on my Carrera 3.2 and I'm starting to think that they may not be so good.

If the car has been standing unused for 2 or 3 days the tires develop flat spots and make the car jump up and down until I have driven it for 10 miles or so.

Also I find the tires to be rather sensitive to the outdoor temp. As long as we have warm summer weather there're no problems. On cold mornings though the tires will cause the car to vibrate/shake until after 10 miles or so of driving.

Sometimes the symptoms are quite strong and other times they are almost nonexcistant...?

Please comment

[pacmyster]

I run them on my Carrera 3.0 and have had no such problems. Then again there really aren't too many cold days here in Florida. Ask again in January and I'll pay closer attention.
Pete

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'77 Carrera3.0
Citrus Region PCA
www.geocities.com/pcafaro2000/carrera30.html

[Nickshu]

I run these tires and have had them for about 9 months.

I've done 2 autocrosses and 2 DE's on them and have been pretty happy with them (at my low level of track experience).

No such flat spot issues have been experienced...you should have a warranty you can use. I once had a tire guy tell me he was told at a tire manufacturers convention that the industry standard is that 1 out of every 5-6 tires is bad for some reason or another. Crazy.

Nick.

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_ _ __ _ _
Nick Shumaker
1982 911SC Coupe
nickshu@yahoo.com
PCA -- Rocky Mtn. Region

[GeorgeK]

I have then on a few cars: Carrera '76, 930 '83, 944 Cup '88, BMW M5 '95.... Guess I relly like them. They are IMO the best compromise in performance/durability/wet weather handling you can get. While some other tires may be better in some department, the SP9000 are the best overall by far.
I never had any symptoms that you have, and the cars sometimes sit for 6 months.
Are these on the 17 inch Cup replica that are giving you so much trouble?
Manufacturing defects ARE common, and the 911 is very sensitive to them.
GeorgeK

[wckrause]

Any high performance tire will be crap in cold weather, on cold roads. It's the composition of the rubber, that get's very hard and slick when cold. If you're looking for all weather performance, then you need a tire that has an all weather rating.



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Bill Krause
'79 911SC Euro
MY PELICAN GALLERY

[Bill Verburg]

I have them on mine and concur with your observations. I park the car on an inch thick braided rug to alleviate the symtoms. Interestingly I also drive an Audi 4.2 A6(gf's car) with the same tires, that does not exhibit this behavior.

As far as the really cold temperature behavior, any of the ultra high performance tires are dangerous as far as winter(even if its just really cold) driving is concerned.

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Bill Verburg
My Home Page My Pelican Gallery page My Porsche Owners Gallery Page

[wckrause]

My understanding is that the composition of rubber in "Performance" tires will get very hard and slick in temps as warm as 40F. (Which is considered balmy here in Minnesota).

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Bill Krause
'79 911SC Euro
MY PELICAN GALLERY

[Bill Verburg]

I picked up my Audi S4 on a day in Jan. the daily high was ~5F. The oem Bridgestone RE 040's were not in the least happy, needless to say the car was parked for the next week until snows could be fitted.

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Bill Verburg
My Home Page My Pelican Gallery page My Porsche Owners Gallery Page

[Jamie79SC]

I'm very happy with these tires on my 79 SC (second set on the rears in fact) and have been very happy. Inexpensive, works in rain, and while they're pretty sticky, they let me know what's coming long before they do anything nasty.

-Jamie

Thanks for your answers. Now I have something to think about. I've talked to a costumer who has a Toyota MR2 with low profile tires. He has problems with flat spots too. He claims that it's the rubber compound that is the cause.