New Tyres (18") - Any Recommendations

[Rotorhead]

Friend of mine has a 1997 993 C2, Varioram, Manual, Coupe .........
The car came on its original 17" wheels, but he has acquired a set of refurbished 18" 'hollow spoke' Technology wheels.

He has asked the question; which tyres to fit?
- Sizes are F. 225/40 18 - R. 265/35 18
- Porsche list Continental, Pirelli or Bridgestone in 'N' spec (Oddly they don't currently list Michelin)
- Are the new Michelin PS4S tyres available in suitable sizes? And are they likely to come in 'N' spec

Priority is good all round performance, with a preference for quiet/compliant ride (Goodyears normally best but not sure if they do the sizes).

Any advice/recommendations appreciated. Thanks

 

[Gustosomerset]

Yes...it does seem odd that the PS2 is on the approved list for the wide body and Turbo 993 cars, but not the narrow body - both on 18" wheels. The only difference AFAIK is that the offset on the wide body rears is different (with the addition of spacers?) but I can't see why this would make a difference. As a more general point, is it the case that these N rated tyres are, in fact, different tyres to those without the N rating - or are they simply tyres to which Porsche attributed the rating. In other words, is/was there, for example, a generic Bridgestone Potenza S-02A 225/40 ZR18 tyre without an N rating that was somehow constructed differently to the Porsche N rated version? I have seen vehement assertions of both possibilities elsewhere....

 

[Rotorhead]

Ah, the mysteries of the great 'N' spec question.

I don't know the answer, any more than anyone else, but I doubt that, these days, Porsche spend time attuning a tyre specifically for the 993.

So, whether choosing the old Michelin PS2 in 'N' spec, or the new PS4S in generic spec, I'd be interested to listen to user feedback.

 

[Gustosomerset]

Maurice - many thanks for that. Yes, I thought the rear 18" wheels on the wide body cars were simply a different offset (ET40 instead of ET65 as you say) but then when reading the Tyre Approvals doc there's an asterisked note that seems to suggest that 65 offset wheels could also be used with '25mm spacers on rear axle'? All of which sheds no further light at all on why the Michelin tyres are recommended for one and not the other. FWIW Steve Bull (who looks after my narrow bodied car) recommends the Michelins (despite all of the above), and you favour the Continentals. No-one seems to have much good to say about Pirelli's these days - I wonder if any other 993 owners have votes for the Bridgestones?

 

[Rotorhead]

Hard to judge the relevance of N-spec tyres to the 'classic models'. The biggest improvement to the capabilities of early cars has been in tyre technology in general.

Take the 2.7RS which came originally with Pirelli CN36s - drive on the original tyres now and the cars limitations would be very apparent. There is an N-spec tyre - the Pirelli P6000 in the almost correct sizes, which fits other Porsches with 15" wheels, but I doubt if Porsche did much in depth development with each model. It can really only be an 'approval', and many RS owners prefer to run on other options.

Which means, if you wanted to go Michelin, surely the latest generic PS4S should be a better tyre than the older PS2?

Of course it's always nice to get user feedback - even though most opinions on tyres are purely subjective. Hence, I suppose, why Continental and Bridgestone have their advocates, and, in my case, Goodyear F1s.