Macster

from the rear Contis. I had expected a bit more, maybe 15K or so, cause I'm making effort to avoid frying tires.

But on lift today getting oil/filter service and tech pointed out tires: Inside edges of each rear tire down to under 3mm tread left while outside edges have just 5mm.

(Oh as an aside: 997 GT2 in same shop on lift getting new exhaust system. Nice looking car. PCCBs. Pilot Sport Cup tires. All black wheels. Only 65 miles on car.)

Cause I'm heading out in 2 weeks back east into unknown weather for a week I opted to have rear tires replaced. Same tires: Conti 18 inchers. Don't know what cost is: Between $300 to $400 each tire service manager quoted me.

Bit of a scare: Dealer parts guy told me can't get N2s but says cause car still covered by (new/improved) CPO new front tires - N3s if that's what rear tires are -- are free. But later today dealer service manager called me and said the parts department had located 2 new N2 rear tires same as on car now.

Dealer going to do an alignment check. Just had one done less than 5K miles back but want to be sure. Not as confident in the last alignment as I would have liked to be. Not done at this dealer but at another.

Sincerely,

Macster.

Wachuko

10K sounds about right... I did get close to 20K from mine (with one DE event), but the roads here are great and flat... easy on the tires.

Hoosier_Daddy

... stay out of the boost!

Last930

I'm just about to the end of my original rears with 13,200 miles. Tiptronic cars wear faster because of the additional weight in back. I used to get 9-10,000 on rears in my old Tip coupe.

Sam CS 05

not to hj your thread but curious to know what is a proper wear pattern on these tires? I mean a wear pattern that rules out anything out of line like the alignment, balance etc...
TIA.
Sam

Macster

Do not know for sure. I have only this experience with tires on my Turbo, this being the 1st set of tires I've had to replace since I bought the car -- used -- with brand new tires on it.

From my experience with my 2002 Boxster -- with nearly 226K miles on the car and having had countless sets of tires on the car over these miles -- with proper alignment, rear tire wear is very even across the tread face with 2 exceptions: 1) There can be a bit more wear in the center portion of the tread. Why this occurs I do not know but it is "normal"; 2) The right rear tire can wear a bit faster due to the lack of a limited slip differential and depending upon how aggressive the driver is going around corners, especially right hand corners at least in those areas where we drive on the right side of the road.

This in spite of what appears to be excessive rear camber to the point one would expect the tires to wear on the inside edges first. Based on matching tire wear to alignment before numbers the biggest "killer" of rear tires is rear toe-in. Proper rear toe-in even when combined with excessive rear camber (though while high still in spec though) does not affect tire wear in any noticable way.

Now the Turbo may be different in that given the engine's location and other factors rear wheel alignment might be compromised to provide better handling, better high (or low) speed stability, better something at the expense of reduced tire life and this can include uneven tire wear, biased perhaps towards the inner edges.

I'll try to remember to ask the Porsche tech when I pick up the car later today what tire wear patterns I could expect after his alignment.

Sincerely,

Macster.

deckman

I have a C2 and don't know if the Turbo's wear in the same manner, but the 2WD versions typically wear faster on the insides for the rears. Because of this I refuse to by asymmetrical tires as they can't be dismounted from the wheels and then switched from left to right. Useful life is extended doing this.

DesignerGenes

Sounds about right - #2. But look at it this way, you may only need to buy rears at this time. My rear-drive 993 went through 2 rears for every set of front tires.

I put these cheap-*** Kumho Ecsta SPTs on my 2005 Turbo S, and I'm not sure yet what they'll get. I don't see much wear at 7,000 miles. That includes foure DE days at speeds up to 150 mph (MMP with the 2/3 mile straight and 24 turns). Guess I should have listened to the high-end tire salesman who cussed under his breath about "cheap tires on such an expensive car."

If I'd bought P Zeros, I'd be happily buying another set from him by now. What do those Continentals cost? Go check out the prices on tirerack.com. And think abot paying one third the price for tires that last twice as long.

DesignerGenes

Added:
I forgot to mention that in April 2009 I was clocked at 110 mph in the rain on a 1/3 mile straight (MMP short track). Damn Kumhos ain't no good in the wet either!

JPA1

i knew i had to change my fronts, but i thought my PS2 on the rears would last a big longer... not really... after 7K miles of mainly gentle driving, i got to the cord on both rears on the inside, but not on all the circumference, just some (large) spots (see pictures), and very thin (may be 10mm at most)... could it be too much camber ? some comments say the TT wears out tires faster at -relatively- low speed (e.g. driving in the city) as the tight curves pinches the tire more... others say the speed bumps are the real culprit... what's the real story?
I guess i"ll go to the dealer and ask to check alignment...

PAULUNM

Can someone explain the difference between the different "N" tires? I'm totally confused- N2, N3, etc.

Also- what's the consensus here on Contis vs PS2? Contis would last longer I assume...

wross996tt

for N-rated see this

Not a fan of PS2s myself...I prefer the Yokos to Bridgestone/Michelin...I've not had the contis.

Macster

I'm no expert but the N rating is some indication the tire has received some testing and meets whatever requirements Porsche requires the tire to meet to receive the N rating. There is much discussion as to whether this results in a better tire or just a more expensive tire.

I don't know for sure. All I know is I have used N rated tires only on my Boxster (and I've used a lot over 227K miles) and have never been disappointed with the tires.

Furthermore, I intend to use N rated tires on my Turbo.

N1 is the first model tire of that brand to receive the rating. N2 is a subsequent revision of the tire which receives the N rating, and so on.

My info is that different N rating tires are not to be used. For instance, you can't use N1 tire on one side and N2 on the other. Nor can you use N1 on the fronts and N2 on the rears.

When I took my Turbo in and the rear were tires found to be worn to the point of needing replacement the parts manager told me that he didn't think he could get a pair of Conti rear tires with the same N rating and thus the front tires would have to be replaced too.

Of course I was a bit upset by this but he went on to tell me that since the car covered by CPO that if this proved to be required the CPO warranty could cover the cost of replacing the front tires with tires compatible with the new rear ones.

As it turned out he managed to locate a pair of rear tires that matched the existing rear tires and all was well again.

Sincerely,

Macster.

jcb-memphis

Been happy with sumitomo htrzIII's....about 10k on them now with 3 de's and a big rear wing...I have 2mm left to the wear bars on a gt2 street alignment - 1" via JIC's. 185/ea tire....see the 993 section's thread or my thread on 6speedonline...

Jeff

TrackDays247.com

Normal. My PS2s last 10k.
BTW, they can be found at GREAT prices, lightly used, on EBay.