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Tyres

911sse

911sse

New member
This may be an old discussion point for you guys, its been a recent topic for the 3.2 Carrera forum, but I want to get your views on tyre choice for a friend who owns a 968 Sport.

He is due to change all four tyres.

I currently run my 911 on Bridgestone S02's, on 16" fuchs. I love them.

My 944 I recently sold, I ran on ContiSports then Goodyear Eagle F1's. I preferred the F1's, especially in the damp north-east of Scotland!
 
I inherited 16" Bridgestone SO2's when I bought my 968 Coupe and have been very happy with them. Your friend will be running 17" though on his Sport.

The tyres also performed well for me on a recent trackday, good grip in the dry and sensible handling when it was wet and on the limit. Additionally, tyre wear was lower than I would of expected for the 250 miles that I did that day.

bye


paul
 
Bring back Bridgestone RE71's I say. The best tyre I ever used.

I chose TOYOs as they were highly recommended to me by my favourite tyre vendor (see below), plus they are available in an N rating, in 16". I ordered the N rated ones, and was more than a little miffed to realise that what showed up were not the TS-1 tyres as expected, but an older design, FS-1. They were about £10 per tyre more too.

I had them fitted, and to be fair they work very well, but I still felt a mite peeved, so I e-mailed TOYO. To their great credit, they mailed me back and explained the situation in proper detail (and not treating me like a moron like some folk do ... are you listening Volkswagen?)

The upshot is that Porsche had rated and approved the earlier design, hence the N rating, but they have not tested the new TS-1 design, so no rating. I accepted the situation, simply because TOYO made no pretence, and came clean. I would have preferred the newer TS-1 tyres, but the ones I have work just fine.

You live and learn!

John H

PS Is this ANOTHER 968 owner in Scotland?

PPS If you are in the NE of God's own country, can I heartliy recommend Turriff Tyres (unsurprisingly in Turriff). Family business, great prices, great service. I make a 300 miles detour to go there to get tyres, crazy, but worth it.
 
Yes, we are both based in the Aberdeen area.

I have heard of Turriff Tyres before, they do come highly recommended.

However, I bought my last set of S02's from Laws Tyres in Aberdeen, simply because they were a little cheaper. I was amazed at how carefully they looked after the car, asking me to move it around, if I wished to watch them change the tyres. A bit of a revelation really..............

I do love the S02's, as well as the lateral cornering feel they allow!

Thanks for the replies guys!
 
As moderator, I am disqualified from wearing the official anorak, but you could well be in the running Kev!

JH
 
Apologies for hijacking this topic, but has anyone tried Goodyear GSD3's on a 968?

My P Zero's are almost to the markers on the front of my sport, and although I can get a replacement pair, my local dealer gave me the impression that they're becoming hard to get.

I've run GSD3's on my last car and they we an excellent tyre with nearly as much grip as S02's, but better wear.

I don't know if there is an N rated version though. Are Porsche still testing tyres in 16 and 17 inch?


Chris
 
I don't know if there is an N rated version though. Are Porsche still testing tyres in 16 and 17 inch?
Click to expand...

Probably not, and even if they are, they are well behind the market. See my post about Toyos above; by sticking to the N rated tyres, I ended up with an older product.

Read the American websites and you will find that a lot of the guys there rate Kumho tyres for the 968, yet these are largely considered to be "budget" tyres here. Personally I think there is a lot of snobbery and mumbo-jumbo going on about tyres. The big name brands, though admittedly good, are over-priced and selling on the strength of their name. Many of the lesser known budget brands are actually far better products than most folk realise.

For instance; my tyre vendor suggested a set of Nankangs to me for my VW. I'd never heard of them, but he assured me they were the budget brand of Yokohama. I was so impressed with them I now use them exclusively on all my cars, and they are fantastic. I had a set on my 924S that were great, and in retrospect I wish I had stuck to my guns and used them on the 968 as well (as I recall they could not supply the correct speed rating at the time).

John H
 
I agree with you, John.
I bought Fulda Extemo's for my Turbo - hardly the most glamorous name, but apparently the biggest selling tyre brand in Germany and the Germans know a thing or two about cars, I understand! [;)]
 
I remember that Fuldas used to be quite a high profile (ooh terrible pun!) tyre in this country, with the Y2000. Considered pretty groovy (oh no another one!) back when I were a lad!

I also have a set of Khumo's which I use as winter tyres on the VW which are excellent, and half the price of a big name brand.

JH
 
I believe that for a supplier to get the N rating they have to demonstrate to Porsche that a specific batch of tyres conforms to various criteria and that all the tyres within that batch are effectively the same.

Well thats my rather simplified understanding of the process![8D]
 
How come Porsche do this? I don't know of any other manufacturer who insists on this sort of arrangement, and plenty other folk make fast cars with powerful engines.

JH
 
As I understand it, it's legal to have different makes of tyres as long as they are paired on the same axle. I personally wouldn't mix and match though. Our cars are high performance and the tyres are designed to enhance that and balance the car, frankly if you want to try a different brand I would change all four. Might be more expensive, but why risk injury or worse for a few hundred quid?
 
Hi,

I can't comment on Yokohama's as I've never driven on them but I have used two sets of Bridgestone Potenza S02's. BUT they must be N3 rated not N2 as you said. Check in your Owners Manual. As for the Bridgestones they are excellent. very good grip in both dry and wet, reasonable wear rate and quiet. If I were you, and your buget will stretch to it. I'd go for a full set, and then have the geometry checked by a specialist - you'll be amazed at the diffeernce !

I always buy my tyres from blackcircles.com. They give a great discount on tyres and, and if you choose, will include fitting at any of their affiliated nationwide fitters for an all inclusive price.

Let me know how you get on.

Peter F F
 
Thank you both for your feedback. Unfortunately the Owners Manual was not much use. Just referred me to Porsche. From the enquiries I have made (at that includes directly with Porsche) I'm not sure the N rating is too much of an issue. Apparently the various numbers indicate the type of tyre compound used and approved by Porsche but given that these change over time its not even possible to get a tyre with the original N rating as it would have been superseded.
Going to stick with Pirelli (albeit fronts wont have an N rating), so that will retain Pirelli front and rear however it not possible to get an N rated Pirelli of the same make as the rear with the same N2 rating. Most recent rating is N3 as suggested in the Post replies so that would mean replacing the whole lot just to have an N3 rating. That doesn't seem to make much sense to me although I know the purists will say you should have N3s all round.
 
By the way Peter, meant to mention that I went to Blackcircles as you recommended. Lovely new Pirellis on the front now. Feels so much better.
 
just fitted a full set of dunlop sport maxx to my 944S2 .. 225/45/17 and 255/40/17 car is transformed..
 
Now have a 968 Sport and tbh when the time is up I shall probably switch to Conti Sports. The feel of these on my 964 is awesome in all conditions (which is key me thinks). For track I have a couple of spare sets of wheels and plan to go back to Toyo's for these...
 
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