I must replace the rear tires on my 996 GT2, any suggestions? It's a 315/30-18 I believe, the factory tires are the Michelin pilots the original ones the car came with but doesn't look like those are made anymore.


Also I've been told all I need to do is replace rears, the fronts seem fine if anything I could simply flip those on the rims. Any thoughts on mixed set front/rear...the car is rear wheel drive so the fronts never wear nearly as fast as the rears. Car is not a daily driver, less than 37K original miles, car is a 2002


any suggestions appreciated, where to source etc? I know TireRack but there are perhaps others.


thanks :-)

 

i wouldn't use anything other than michelins esp being rwd and since there are never any more deals to be had in 315/30/18. i just get my tire joint to match tire rack on price. about 500 per.

i thought the pirelli asym was the oem fitment. the gt2 was michelin!? wise choice.

add: can't flip the fronts. the tread can come apart. so says my tire place. i need fronts too owing to my propensity toward hard right-handers lol.

 

If the fronts are original they are in need of replacement due to age. I would put full set on as I don't care for mixed tire brands or tread patterns etc.

 

245/40/18 and 305/35/18 NT01 is the hot set up on these cars if you're looking for performance and a tire that's streetable. Always replace all 4 tires. I wear out my fronts and rears equally fast FYI.

 

^^^ pwdrhound...the stock 315 on the GT2's rear wheel which I believe is a 12" wheel is already stretching the sidewall as it is. my mechanic says I can go with as large as a 335 back there, but said the 315 is the factory recommended size, even so the track tires are wider.


At any rate if this is the case wouldn't a 305 be too narrow in the rear for my GT2?

 

It's a shame you can't get cups in 315 any more, I've been thinking about running Kumho v70a in 245/35/18 and 305/30/18, from experience on other cars they'd be incredible.

How well do the 305/35/18 work on the rear in terms of clearance? I'm struggling with 305/30/19 and catching the top of the wheel well, even with some trimming it's still a problem on heavy compression.

 

^^^ Yes that is what I was looking for at first but could not find it. I tried doing a search on tire rack for the sizes of paired sets 245/40-18 and 305/35-18 and nothing came up. I dunno if they don't carry kumho or Nitto etc...

 

How would an OEM 315/30/18 "stretch" the sidewall he asks rhetorically. A 335/30? That I could see being a stretch but possibly not on a 12" wheel. Hell you can run a 315/30 on stock twist without issue. It might be stretching the limit? but 315/30/18 as the OEM size wouldn't be a stretch. But you know that lol

 

^^^ what's meant by stretching the sidewall is that the sidewall is not straight up and down when mounted on the wheel, in regards to the OEM 315/30-18 Michelin tire on the factory GT2 rear wheel... meaning that the sidewall of the tire is being physically stretched. Not the figurative of "being a stretch" as in ...it's a "stretch" to run a tire that size.


Hence running a narrower 305 tire would cause the sidewall to physically stretch more than the even the factory 315 size.

 

No, the NT01 305 runs wide and is a perfect square fit on a 12" wheel. I run 18x9x12 with either 305/35/18 NT01s or 315/35/18 V710s. Both fit perfectly on a 12" wheel and will give you a bigger contact patch compared to the shorter 315/30s..

[url=https://flic.kr/p/nTLbX7]

[url=https://flic.kr/p/od49Zn]

 

You want the Kumho V710s in a 245/40/18 and 315/35/18. These are the sizes that are optimal for our cars. The sizes you mention are to short. The V710s are very fast tires but don't last very long. I get maybe 250 miles on them versus about 600 for the NT01s.. No clearance issues but proper offset is critical. 18x9et47 and 18x12et40 is the deal.. I have no rub even at 96/120 ride height

 

^^^ where to get NT01 and V710...they don't seem to have those on Tirerack... also the car is mostly driven on the street, and not really driven much. don't want a tire that will wear out super fast.

 

Very nice pics! and I plan order new wheels at 18x9 43mm offset and 18x12 40 offset with 245/40/18 & 315/30/18 for first try and maybe or 305/35/18

 

Another reason to stay with the Michelin is tire life. A 9x12x18 w 40 offset frt/rear is also optimal.

I think folks run other tires not because they are "better" but because they are less expensive than the *best* available. Though if i only got 260 miles per set of rears i guess I'd be shopping/experimenting too.but on balance, tires seem like a silly item to try and save money on. Given the potential capabilities of the car.

 

I found some Pzero Rosso in the OE size, in fact when I did a search and put in "OE' tire for my GT2 these came up, not the Michelin PS2 because those I guess replaced the Original factory tire the Michelin Pilot Sport. I think at one point the GT2 came with the Perelli Pzero or the Michelin Pilot Sport, but that could have been toward the end of production since the entire build was limited and ended before they thought.