996tt Tyre Choice

[Guest]

hi Guys

Made it through my first set of tyres... and it was fun!!

So now I'm looking into what I get next - the car currently has P-Zero Assimetrico N3's on it.

Been looking at Bstone So2's

Pilot Sports

Contis

Yokohama AVS

Anyone used these - found them any good, both in terms of grip and wear??

Thanks for you help in advance

Boff

 

[Guest]

Whilst Yokohama makes tyres that are the correct size, as far as I know they are not N rated, so are not approved by Porsche.
Yokohama's are normally pretty soft and can wear fast (on a Nissan I used to own, you could push your finger nail into the rubber on a hot day).

Pirelli's have the most grip I believe, although the Michelin's are close.

I have Bridgestone's on mine, On the driving day I had, the two instructors reckoned they were the easiest to drive with. They do not have the most grip but break away progressively and controllably.

The Conti's offer a good balance between grip and wear and work well in the wet.
They also have the best lip to protect the wheels from kerbing.

Based upon the comments that have come up when this topic is raised, for normal road driving I am not sure there is that much difference (since you shouldn't be right on the edge on the public road).
In general it seems to be a case of sticking with what you are happy with.

I wil shortlty need some new tyres for the back, but I'll probably stick with the S02's.
No-one seems to have tried all the options, and it is hard to remember how they all behave, so accurate comparison is hard.

Remember that when you do get some new tyres, especically if for the back, the grip levels will be noticeably down for up to the first 200 miles.
When I changed mine, I had the stability control working on corners where normally there is no issue. You need to drive a bit more conservatively for a week or two.

 

[garyw]

Nearly posted the same question[&:] I'm off for some new tyres tomorrow, presently running Pilot Sports and can't wait to be rid of them due to constant squealing and chirping under normal braking and cornering...these tyres actually scare me and quite a few other road users, I even had a fellow driver on a cruise comment because he thought I had locked up the wheels they were making so much noise[:'(], so if you want some fronts with quite a bit of tread left, they will be at the tyre centre for collection.
I'm going for the Rosso's even though I can't get the latest N5 for front and rear, so settled for N3 (not sure how much difference it will make).
I have also ran the conti sport 2's which were great, very quiet with plenty of grip, not too well wearing on the rears though....
I will post my findings on the Rosso's

garyw

 

[garyw]

Well new boots all round[], it hurt quite a bit...
first views of the Rosso's are;

quieter road noise to Pilots, conti's were quiet anyway.
Hardly any rim protection where the conti and Pilot sport had quite a good rim lip to save any slight[] damage.
They are not a pretty tyre compared to others, the tread pattern extends slightly around the edge making them look slightly chunky, almost 4x4 but not quite[]. I know its not about looks of a tyre but it can set a car off.
No chance as yet to try the cornering and braking (luckily) capabilities, apart from that I will give them some time to settle. Leaving tomorrow morning for Lemans so that should give them chance to settle in..[]

silverline tyres did the work, left the rims totally undamaged and seem to be well balanced so far..
IMHO..
garyw

 

[Michael Downing]

ORIGINAL: garyw
presently running Pilot Sports and can't wait to be rid of them due to constant squealing and chirping under normal braking and cornering

Nah - they make you seem like a hero! []

 

[garyw]

True []

but others may have another name for it[]

garyw

 

[gaxor]

In terms of all round performance road/track haven't found anything better than the standard fitment Pirellis. Progressive on track, reasonable wear on the road. OK Pilot Cups are better on the track, but really need a good warm-up before one see's the benefit.

 

[Guest]

A bit pedantic, but:
There is no standard fitment tyres.
I wanted to choose which tyres the car came with, and was told the factroy randomly use Pirelli, Bridgestone and Continental.
I got Bridgestone, but other cars had a selection.

You can specify the material of the sunvisor and what colour the dials are, but not what tyres come on it. Even as a special request.

 

[gaxor]

Actually, as far as I am aware only 2 tyres are approved for the 996TT

http://www2.uk.porsche.com/english/gbr/news/christophorus/0304/pdf/cpm_301_sommerreifen_engl.PDF

ie Contis or Pirelli Assimetrico

 

[gaxor]

Being even more pedantic - having re-read my post, I said the standard fitment Pirellis - The Assimetricos are the standard fitment Pirellis, as opposed to the Rosso which isnt

 

[Colin Booth]

Collected my 996TT' S from the factory at the end of April, it came with Bridgestone S0- 2's.
COLIN.

 

[garyw]

and mine came fitted with Pilot sports...as from the factory.
I asked the OPC prior to purchase about what tyres and they said it was random...

garyw

 

[Guest]

I asked before delivery and was told []

It came with Pilot Sports, which are a bit squeely...on road and track...fronts last 19k rears last 8.5k...

Now switched to Pirelli Corsas, excelent track tyre....although I went up to 235 on the fronts from 225 as many people said it helps turn in....

 

[garyw]

I was looking at going up a size on the fronts, it would also mean they could have fitted the latest N5's all round,both the garage and OPC said NO!! . whether this was for legal reasons I have no idea, but too late for me now[:'(]
A little bit better turn in wouldn't of gone unmissed

garyw

 

[garyw]

Mind you Chris, you have put my mind at rest, at least i'm not the only person who found them(Pilots) to be squealy..[]

garyw

 

[Guest]

Gary,

The GT2,3's have 235 on the fronts, was told this by tyre Garage and track users too....

Having just done the ring with 235's on the front, I can confirm there is no turn-in problem....however I did notice the tarmac was rippling on the outside edge...[][]

 

[Guest]

The problem with changing up to 235 without changing the rears to 315 is that since the car is 4WD with viscous-coupling means that the increased rolling perimeter therefore even in straight line you're straining the tranny and increased wear WILL occur thats mainly why they, OPC said NO... On the Gt3 this not aproblem since its RWD only. More, the PSM is finely tuned and if you're doing 120mph the increased rolling radius means that at every second the rears have spun a few more times than the rears "meaning" to the PSM's ecu that the rears are loosing traction and the car is on the verge of loosing control.

 

[garyw]

ORIGINAL: kiko

The problem with changing up to 235 without changing the rears to 315 is that since the car is 4WD with viscous-coupling means that the increased rolling perimeter therefore even in straight line you're straining the tranny and increased wear WILL occur thats mainly why they, OPC said NO... On the Gt3 this not aproblem since its RWD only. More, the PSM is finely tuned and if you're doing 120mph the increased rolling radius means that at every second the rears have spun a few more times than the rears "meaning" to the PSM's ecu that the rears are loosing traction and the car is on the verge of loosing control.

Cheers for the information....
so maybe the OPC were correct []

garyw

 

[Guest]

The obvious question then is can you put 315's on the back?
Then the front with 235's and back will match.

The GT2 bodywork is no different, so I would think they should fit in the arches, but the the wheels might need to change. GT2 has 12" and TT 11" rears.
However, the GT2 has 8.5" and TT has 8" fronts.

 

[Guest]

Personally I'd never fit 315's on OEM Turbo wheels... I'd buy a set of GT2's, afterall we're talking about a 200mph car with an odd weight distribution and tyres play a very special roll on these cars hence the N rating.