Just got my 2001 996 turbo. 5300 miles, 1 owner. I LOVE THIS CAR. It is my 2nd 911 and blows away the C4.

I would really appreciate some advice / help from experienced Porsche owners.

Questions:

1. I live in Chicago. What do you all recommend in terms of snow tires and should I purchase a separate set of wheels to mount the snow tires on? Can I just move the tires on and off as the seasons change?
2. Can anyone recommend a good independent porsche maintenance and repair shop in the downtown Chicago area?
3. Anything I should be looking out for with this car?

 

5300 miles on an 01? Sigh... how can you not drive this car?!?!?

Enjoy it, be safe.

 

Congratulations, unbelievable such low miles... PICS!

Anyhow, in Montreal we used to keep a separate pair of wheels for some cars (Audi A8 and a minivan), steel wheels work best in the snow with narrower tires. My brother on his 335i uses the stock 18" rims with all-season tires for the winter.

I am sure those that are located a little north of me would have some specific input for running the 996tt in the snow.
Hope this helps.

 

I purchased my car Out of Chicago 4 years ago. It came with a new set of snow tires. They are still on the wheels that were on the car when I bought it. Let me know if you are interested. I live in California and will never use this set up.

 

Pair? He needs snow tires on all four wheels.

I'd suggest Tirerack. Their website will recommend tires and wheels. I run the Dunlops in Iowa (so close to your needs) on a separate set of wheels. You don't want to be swapping tires. Wheels aren't that expensive. They'll recommend narrower, which is good.

As long as there is 3" or less of snow, it is unstoppable.

 

I agree that you probably don't want to swap tires every year if you can avoid it. Especially with these high performance low profile tires, I believe there's a significant risk of tire damage every time you unmount them from the wheels by the guys who work at the tire shops (ask me how I know ).

 

Swapping is not good for the tires. Also there is no such thing currently as a 295/30/18 snow tire that fits the rear wheel. If you find some, let me know. I ended up getting a wheel tire set from Tirerack - OZ Aleggerritta 8.5X18 fr and 10X18 rear with 225/40/18 front and 265/35/18 rear. These are the recommended sizes in the manual. I got Blizzack LM 60's and they work fine in heavy winters, so Chicago should be a breeze with them.

 

tirerack all the way! They have a set of cheap wheels for winter (sport edition cup 4) that I thought didnt look that great so instead I went with a set of 997TT replica wheels from ebay and regretted it since they vibrated like crazy. A few months later I saw a 996 in the garage at work with the sport edition 4 from tirerack and it actually looked surprisingly good. I moved to california so dont need winter tires anymore but if I moved back to the midwest that is exactly the set I would get with blizzaks lm-60.

 

Does the 996TT use a tire pressure monitoring system? Do you have to buy a set for the extra set of winter wheels/tires?

 

996TT doesn't have a tire pressure monitor. Atleast my 02 doesn't.

 

Where about in Chicago are you? I am in River Forest...

Email damon@tirerack.com (Damon Witters). I run on the Blizzak's. I think a set of tires and rims will run you about 1500. They have to be dedicated snow tires - and its worth getting a complete set (tires and wheels). They also have a great storage rack for 120 or so to keep the off-season tires.

Email me regarding shops frankdorn@gmail.com

Be safe - let me know if you have any interest in going to the track next spring!!!

 

I replaced my ashtray with an Orange aftermarket one. Works great!!

 

I apologize in advance for using this thread to ask this question - but I'm a new user and can't PM other people yet.

If the OP isn't interested in your snow wheel+tire set, I'd definitely be interested. I'm up in Seattle. Can you post/send me details? Tires, condition, wheels, sizes etc.

Thanks!

 

A lot of people say you shouldn't swap tires, but I did it every year in my last 911, a 996 C4. It was my daily driver and only car and I drove it year-round in Boston. I swapped the tires every spring and fall and I never had a single issue doing it and I did it 8 times during the time I had the car.

So while it's not recommended, it's not necessarily a bad thing either. It really depends on how risk-adverse you are.

 

1. Forget driving it in the snow, get a winter beater car.
2. Marski
3. Cops