What tires do you recommend for a 944 Turbo

[trbrownback]

I recently bought a 1986 944 Turbo with 60k+ miles. Shortly after I bought it I had a flat front tire. When I took the tire in to get it repaired the shop owner looked rather surprised. The date code on the tire is September of 1992! The tires show some slight cracking but not extensive dry rot like you might think. He suggested I not drive them too hard (which I haven't) and to replace them asap.

To make a long story short I'm ready to replace them and I'm looking for suggestions for a replacement tire. I have 205 55 R16's on the front and 225 50 R16's on the rear. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I'd like a mid price range performance tire.

The car is not modified except for a K&N filter.

[billy mild]

I would look at Goodyear Eagle GT's mine have been great. Good ride quality, and seem to be pretty grippy in the corners.

[racer]

Check out a tire website like Tirerack or Discount tire. The number of working "staggered" sizes is getting smaller for 16" wheels.

You could run either your current 205 Front, 225 Rear set up or change up to 225 Front and 245-45-16 rear.

Do you want a 4 season/all season tire? High performance summer tire? Track tire?

Not sure if available in 16s, but in 17s I have some "fuzion" street tires. ZRi I thnk they are called (Fuzion is the "tuner" line made by Bridgestone). They have been a really nice street tire. Good grip in dry and rain. Not much snow experience though. After years of using R comp tires I have been pleasently suprised by their grip and wear.

[djnolan]

I have a 12 year old set of Yokohama Avid's V speed rated directional on these size wheels. Brand new tires as far as the tread wear, but 12 years old! I think Yokohama makes a similar tire today. In general the rule is 5 years and replace regardless of the miles but with an extremely high quality tire I guess you can stretch it out a bit. I cant bear to throw brand new tires out especially as nice as these are.

[CHICKS]

Originally Posted by billy mild

I would look at Goodyear Eagle GT's mine have been great. Good ride quality, and seem to be pretty grippy in the corners.

When I was looking for Eagle GT's a few months ago, goodyear, discount, and tire rack told me they were NLA.

Well looking now, it may have just been my size.....

[VirginiaF1]

Originally Posted by trbrownback

I have 205 55 R16's on the front and 225 50 R16's on the rear. I'd like a mid price range performance tire.

I've owned Ecsta and SP Sports... both were very good for around $95 each but worlds apart in ride characteristics.

Ecsta was quiet, smooth and grippy/communicative up to 7/10ths. ( Audi A4 Turbo Quattro)
I'd rate it a B- in heavy rains.

SP Sport is loud, firm and grippy/communicative up to 8/10ths. ( Porsche 944)
I'd rate it an A- in heavy rains.

No Goodyear experiences..

Kumho Ecsta
TireTeam - Kumho Tire Ecsta ASX (KU21) 225/55R16

SP Sport
TireTeam - Dunlop Tire SP Sport Signature 225/50R16


Eagle GT
TireTeam - Goodyear Tire Eagle GT 225/50R16

[running_cold924]

yokohama avid v4s tires, 205-55 16 fronts and 225-50 16s rear. nice and grippy even in rain

[Stutzdriver]

Goodyear Eagle GTs on mine, great tires in the correct size!

[Aufgeladen944]

Before you go buy tires, there are many things that you have to consider:

How long do you want them to last?
Will you drive in the rain?
Will you drive in the snow?
Will you race the car?
Do you care about ride comfort and noise? Or more about steering response, handling, dry grip, and performance?

Things to ignore: treadwear warranties and UTQG ratings (treadwear, traction, etc.). There are many ways that tire companies get around those ratings, and good scores on any or all of that means nothing. There are cheap tires that do great on the tests and SUCK in the real world.

I have Continental ExtremeContact DW (the summer ones) and they're not bad. They're not quite as sticky as my old Bridgestone RE11's, but they're a little more comfortable and VERY economical. Right now you get a GPS with a set of four. I got them at the beginning of the summer and they're pretty decent.

If you want the tires to last longer, avoid anything summer oriented. The Continental ExtremeContact DWS is a FANTASTIC all season tire. Again, no "all season" is going to be GREAT at everything-there are always tradeoffs. But if your'e not tracking it, these are a fun tire that do well. And again, you get a GPS.

Bridgestone has an excellent set of summer tires available in our sizes though. The RE11 is damn near an Rcompound in performance but costs about half as much. You'll only get a few thousand miles out of them, but wow they are great. Have had two sets myself.

Cooper has a decent line of sports tires that are going to be good for most people call the RS3 or RS3A (all season), but I don't think they're available in our sizes.

You don't get what you pay for with tires, but you shouldn't just buy the cheapest things you can get, either. A happy medium does exist but you must find the tires to suit your needs.

So here's my recommendations:

1) If you're doing track days, Bridgestone RE11
2) For just summer driving, the Continental ExtremeContact DW
3) For just day to day, normal driving Continental DWS.

PS: Michelin tires are waaaaaay overpriced. You're buying the name with them, which mostly means paying for advertising.

Hope that helps.

[Arizona_928]

I run the good year 225's in the back on my phone dials. I like them, but they look goofy. They don't fill the rim. But they are good tires. I run kumho 245's on my D90's and they fill the rim. I noticed that the kumho's wear faster though. It's easier to break loose the good years too.

Get whatever is in your budget really. It's like comparing apples to apples.

[flash968]

never ever ever cheap out on tires. they are the single most important component in the car for handling, braking and even acceleration. their traction in varying conditions is the only thing connecting you to the road.

lying in their hospital bed, after plowing into something due to a loss of traction, nobody ever said "at least the tires were cheap" or "they last a long time".

[trbrownback]

Wow! Thanks for all the great replies. You have all given me some things to consider and tires to look at. I have looked at some of the recommended tires but I haven't had time to look at all of them. I am still trying to decide if I want a performance oriented tire or an all season tire. I only drive the car on weekends and have some great mountain roads to drive here in western NC so I'm leaning toward a more performance oriented tire. Thanks again to all who replied. Tom

[ideola]

The Kumho Ecsta tires are an "ultra high performance all season tire" and they are, in my opinion, the best bang for the buck for the use you describe. They are almost always toward the lower end of the price range, and for an all season street driven car, you will be hard pressed to find anything that performs better for the money. I used them on my 928, and I currently have them on the 937. On the 941, I have 10" tires in back, and opted for the Toyo Proxes 4 because I couldn't get the Kumhos in the size I needed. The Toyos are a little more expensive, but they are a very nice high performance street tire.

I had the Yokohama equivalent to the Ecsta, but they seemed to wear out faster than the Kumhos. IMO, Goodyears are overpriced for what they are.

[haroldina]

Guys, please, when you say to buy Kumho Ecstas, specify which ones. There are quite a lot of models in the Ecsta line and there's a huge difference between them all. For instance: I would never tell anybody to buy an Ecsta AST because I have used them and they're awful, but the ASX is a competent all-season tire.

Mikey provided a link, so that at least clears that up, but which ones are you talking about, Dan? There are at least 15 different ones to choose.

[ideola]

Sorry about that...I did mention specifically the "Ultra High Performance All Season" tire, which is the ASX. Kumho also have a new model, the 4X, that is listed as "Ultra High Performance All Season", but I have no experience with it.

And note, my comment was not that the ASX is the BEST tire out there...but I do think it's just about the best bang for the buck. Hankook has a similarly priced tire in that category, but I have no experience with it. As I mentioned, the same-class Yokohama wore out more quickly than the Kumho. I have Toyo's on one car and like them in terms of noise, grip, performance, and comfort, but haven't put enough miles on them to comment about wear. They were about 50% more per tire than the Kumhos. If money were no object, I would get the Toyos or the Bridgestone Potenzas. At least in the "Ultra High Performance All Season" class. Which is all I put on my street cars.

[Rasta Monsta]

Love my Hankook RS3s (dirt cheap, sticky as hell), but they are hard to find.

[ideola]

Originally Posted by Rasta Monsta

Love my Hankook RS3s (dirt cheap, sticky as hell), but they are hard to find.

Tirerack has 'em!

[Rasta Monsta]

So they do:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearchResults.jsp?tireIndex=0&autoMake=Porsche&autoYear=1986&autoModel=944+Turbo&autoModClar=&frontWidth=205/&frontRatio=55&frontDiameter=16&frontSortCode=44950&rearWidth=225/&rearRatio=50&rearDiameter=16&rearSortCode=45750&tab=All

They are totally bad arse, and for $444 you can't really lose.

[Rasta Monsta]

(plus they have stoopid little flame patterns. . .IN THE TREAD. ROFL!)

[trbrownback]

Alright....here's the decision....after much research and agonizing (performance v. practicality) I'm going with the Continental Extreme Contact DWS. I'm not crazy about the tread design but for what I will be using the car for it fits my requirements. As much as I would have preferred a summer performance tire (i.e. Hankook RE-3 or Continental Extreme Contact DW, etc.) if I were forced to drive my car during the winter here in the mountains I would be reluctant to drive in "near freezing temperatures, light snow or ice" on the summer performance tires. I have an '02 Ford Ranger 4x4 I use as a daily driver that performs well in the ice and snow we get here occasionally but if it were out of service for some reason I'd have to drive the Porsche.

The Continental's had one recommendation here on this thread and was highly rated (#1 in Ultra High Performance All Season rankings with good reviews) at Tire Rack and highly rated at Discount Tire.

I looked at the Kumho's hard though. I had a set on a '90 Miata I had and really liked them...so much so that I put a set on my daughter's '00 Honda Accord.

Thanks for everyone's input. It certainly helped with my decision. I'm not sure I would have even considered the Continental as I have had no prior experience with them. I have had Goodyear's before on other cars with disappointing results. A prior '86 n/a 944 I owned had BF Goodrich Comp T/A's that had a tread separation problem and I didn't see anyone mention a BFG tire so I didn't even look at them.

Again, thanks for the input.