tire recommendation needed

[muddfun]

hello
i am in need of new tires for my stock 87 944s
it is my daily not autocross just getting to work
currently i have 205/55/16 and 225/50/16 on a 928 wheel
i am not going to use those wheels instead i have a set of wheels off my other 944s that i want to use they are staggard to but i am at a loss of whice tire size to run for a daily driver
not looking for expensive performance tires trying to save money for my engine rebuild because i leak lots of oil
thanks in advance
pedro

[Dmitry at Pelican Parts]

Hi Pedro - what size are the staggered wheels that you're wanting to use?

[muddfun]

Originally Posted by Dmitry at Pelican Parts

Hi Pedro - what size are the staggered wheels that you're wanting to use?

current tires on spare car 225/55 & 245/50 rear
fuel economy and nice profile prefered to performance
thanks
pedro

[muddfun]

going with top wheel
botton wheel is history

[PaulHunt]

I like the Bridgestone Potenza's have them on my 944T and my CTS.... Owned a few tires, this one is the best I have used.

[muddfun]

thanks Paul, but i was hoping for size recommendation first then brand
pedro

[IdahoDoug]

Pedro,

If you're looking for tire size recommendations, you need to tell us what size wheels you are using. Dmitri clearly asked you for the "wheel size" and you clearly replied with the "tire size" only.

I recommend you remain with stock wheels and tires for a vehicle whose primary use is being driven daily to work. If you install larger diameter wheels you should install lower profile tires to maintain the rolling diameter, however then your commuter is vulnerable to potholes and road debris damaging a tire. So I suggest remain with stock wheel/tire sizes.

[muddfun]

hi idahodoug
you are correct. oversight on my part. i don't know the wheel size. i will check to see if they are stamped on the inside. i guess i assumed stock wheels were all the same sizes
pedro

[IdahoDoug]

It may be visible from the outside - usually in a subtle spot or if there's a wheel center cap it may be under that, but it will definitely be stamped on the inboard surface.

As a former product developer, I urge you to be honest about your tire choice as it will pay dividends. On a 30 year old car with hardened suspension bushings, compacted noise reduction foam, and conforming to the less effective noise reduction available in those days, a firm riding "GT Super Race SS" tire will take some joy out of driving every day. Jounces, bounces, crashes over suspension joints, poor traction in the rain, and ever present tire drone. But people often buy tires like that because the car is "supposed" to have that type of tire. Don't buy it.

I once had quite an argument with someone about tires and real world driving. I pointed out that if we lived next to each other and both drove the same car to the same company, but he had "GT Super Race SS" tires, we would arrive at the same moment. Further, I pointed out that if he tried to get away from me on the way to work, he would be unable to unless he was at the absolute edge of traction and taking stupid cornering risks. If our drive were poor pavement and broken concrete, his tires may not even do as well as mine because of a lack of compliance and resilience.

Even on a race track, we'd be separated by fractions of seconds if equally skilled.

So don't get sucked into the hype of having to put hard rubber, noisy tread harsh riding racy tires on your Porsche. I put nice Pirelli all season touring tires on mine and its smooth and quiet and tracks well, and I even took it out in the snow and had an absolute ball - it did great. Choose a tire suited for what you're using the car for, and be advised the performance difference today between a quiet touring tire and a performance tire is fairly minimal to imperceptible - even on a serious drive through your favorite canyon. But the reverse is NOT true. By that I mean the ride harshness and noise level of a performance tire is abysmal and even your passengers will notice.

[petrolhead611]

If tyres are rated that same way in the US as they are in the UK( all tyres have wet braking, noise level, and fuel economy marked on a sticker when you buy the item) then first criteria should be best wet braking performance. A crash will cost you far more than you would ever save by having tyres that wear very well and are economical with fuel.

[IdahoDoug]

That is good advice. Too many magazines rave about dry weather handling but I've been around long enough to know what really matters in a tire is "what will it do for me when I've made a mistake?" Wet braking is THAT category.

I've driven nearly every brand of supercar and exotic and a few race cars, and that is what I've learned about tires for my personal drivers. Who cares if I could turn a lap time 0.005% faster if I buy a tire that stops me 12 feet longer in the wet. 12 feet is the difference between a hit so hard it will total the car, versus merely changing your shorts and resolving to pay attention next time.....

[djnolan]

https://tiresize.com/tires/Porsche/944/

Those wheels pictured look like the turbo size.

Sears has a treadware 500 A temp traction tire for the non turbo foraround$400 out the door.

[muddfun]

thanks for all the thoughts. i am having a hell of a time finding the staggered size setup with the same brand non chinese tire at a reasonable price
i might just go with the base setup of 215/60/16
but does that affect the way it drives? will i loose a gear?

[flash968]

i recently moved to ireland. there is a bit of rain here. it also stays around freezing during the winter. there is no snow in my area. wet traction was the priority for me, followed by noise. this is completely opposite of what my priorities were in socal, where all i was really concerned with was dry traction.

i just last month went with the falken FR510 on the A3, and hancook ventu V12 evo2 K120 on the smart roadster. both cars are on 17s, and in stock sizes.

the falken, with slightly better wet traction, and better noise level was the choice, passing up the conti 6, which was initially my choice. the conti would have had better dry traction, but on a front wheel drive car, never to see the track, dry traction was a non-factor. i would never be able to take advantage of any gains offered.

the hancook was the choice on the smart, due largely to size availability, with options very limited, but they have proven to be an excellent choice, and due largely to the wet traction. with a car that weighs less than 1800lbs, and a 225 in the rear and 205 up front, the car would be prone to hydroplaning, but this has not been at all a problem with these tires.

[Mr. Squid]

Originally Posted by muddfun

thanks for all the thoughts. i am having a hell of a time finding the staggered size setup with the same brand non chinese tire at a reasonable price
i might just go with the base setup of 215/60/16
but does that affect the way it drives? will i loose a gear?

Have you checked the widths of the rims? Typically the 16" wheels came in a staggered set up, and you should be looking for:

Front 205/55R16

Rear 225/50R16

You shouldn't have any problems finding something to fit your car.

www.discounttiredirect.com

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearchResults.jsp?zip-code=&frontWidth=205/&frontRatio=55&frontDiameter=16&rearWidth=225/&rearRatio=50&rearDiameter=16

[petrolhead611]

In the UK( with probably exactly the same tyre brand choices as in Ireland), Auto Express do a very thorough tyre comparison test session. This year they did 11 tyre models ranging from Chinese through mid-range up to high priced on a VW Golf. The wet braking test results range from you could possibly end up dead to certainly not having the accident. Some mid range stuff was quite good in that test, the Chinese you wouldn't buy unless you were suicidal.
Saying that I did purchase some Mud&Snow Chinese tyres of a slightly higher price band than most, and found wet traction and braking to be satisfactory on a very light car used primarily for Autosolo in the winter.Because the sidewalls were very stiff, as a further bonus tyre wear was better than on fancier makes, so called rain tyres which wore out within 700 miles(mostly road miles getting to and from events)( i was putting 182 BHP through the front wheels on a car weighing just less than a tonne, and UK Autosolos are very tight compared to US ones and I only used first gear on events, hitting the rev limiter-35mph- a few times in each roughly half mile or so run).

[muddfun]

finding reasonably priced tires is not that easy. crappy chinese tires are plentiful but after reading about wet stopping ability and all the accidents that happened today (finally got our first rainfall of the season) i am probably going to settle on the 215/60/16 or 215/55/16 same brand all around and not do the staggered setup.
i dont think i want brand x in front and brand y in back
but are 215 the way to go if all 4 are the same size?
thoughts?
i get new tires on wednesday
pedro

[IdahoDoug]

Let me just say that you should NEVER mix two different brand tires on a car. I didn't read anyone recommending that above but just in case someone reads this later and gets the wrong idea. Staggered tires from the factory are the same brand and come with specific inflation specs.

By not being in a hurry, I have been able to consistently buy top name tires on sale that were the same prices as the third world crap. I also like tires from S. Korea and have installed my 3rd set of Kumho Solus TA11s on a few of my cars. They are quiet, refined, do well in the wet and even OK on snow. I'd have put them on the Porsche when I got new tires a few months ago but I found a fantastic deal on Pirellis at Tire Rack and was driving right past their Indiana warehouse towing the Porsche on a trailer. So they came with free shipping as well!! Heh....

Seriously, look at the TA11. I looked at Tire Rack's testing and now have these on 3 of my cars - the Lexus, the Audi Quattro and the funky Mitsubishi Van.

[djantlive]

I have a set of Dunlop dz210 (I think that's the model). they work great and are cheap at abt $ 250. for all four

[flash968]

i agree about not mismatching. each end of the car will behave differently, and that gets dangerous.

p.s. - i had dunlops (didn't note which model, but they were all season) on the rear of the A3 when we got it, and kumho extas on the front. both were possibly the worst tires i had ever had. they were all slicker than deer guts on a door knob. the kumhos were noisy, and the dunlops were stiff. much happier with the falkens. quiet and track great in the rain. in a perfect world, they could be a bit softer, but they're not bad at all, and i've pretty much stopped noticing.