need some help from anyone successfully mismatching tire brands types front to rear on an rwd setup. any help or experience related is helpful as i've never mixed tires on THIS car. i wear out two sets of rear ps2's annually and i'm sick of paying the price this in spite of my belief they are among the best tire if not in fact THE best for the car, but given my constant need, and tire racks current info on them which i've pasted below, i feel i must begin to at least! explore alternative solutions. please remember i am rwd, and have 1k mile Michi PSS up front. love em and got them for 188 each! i've never mis-matched tires on either my previous or current 96t. but my rwd setup has me thinking i can pull this off without deleterious effect.

but here's my dilemma. i've been thinking of throwing on some g force rivals or even yoko advans on the rear to see if i get squirrely. again, any advice is appreciated. i love the old ps2's but 544 ea and B/O? this is enough to make me think twice, as well as seek guidance. TIA!


Rear: 315/30ZR18
N4(Porsche)
Sidewall Style: Blackwall
Serv. Desc: (98Y)
UTQG: 220 AA APrice: $540.00 (each)
Estimated Availability: Back Order
Shipping Cost/Delivery Date

 

i talked to the reps at nitto about the new nt05 rubber thats coming out. 200 treadler so it won't last 10k miles but they also make a r compund in the same design

 

thx steve, i'm less concerned about brands? since there are a cpl choices in the 315/30 for my 12, but more concerned with the different tread patterns. what do you think about my completely mixing patterns? the pss and the ps2 are VERY closely matched.. thx

 

the 315 is becoming harder and harder to find. that is why i was excited to see the new nitto . even has a 40 sidewall which i love as a drag racer. i run the toyo r888 and ps2 fronts with no issues. because they aren't making the r888 in 315 anymore i have to find other options.

since high performance tires rarely last very long i just accept that i have to buy tires sooner than most. i do have some 305/35-18 used that i would let go cheap if you want to experiment on a budget

 

So you run Pilot Super Sport 2 on front and Toyo R888 rears ?

Interesting, I was thinking of doing an R888 in 295/30/18 rear with stock Potenza 2A 225/40/18 front and see if that gets rid of the squirrel

 

its actually bordering on the absurd. 544 ea and back ordered. nice. thx for the offer but i'm going to stay with new, i like to scrub em myself and get a feel for tires from new to old(er).

hoping more will chime in simply about mixing the patterns. man, i remember when i was getting sets of 315/30 ps2 rears at 600 a SET

 

sorry my mistake. to many tires to remember. pirelli p zero up front toyo r888 in the back. I'm not a big curvy road person but i do occasionally run the backroads for something different

 

...lol while the only straighlines I pull are onramps and any short blasts I feel I can get away with. I live in the mountains.

 

if you go fast enough with great grip your supposed to straighten out those curves!!

 

haha, there isn't enough room! I'm dueling motorcycles up here, and besides.

the only reason my car is so fast is because i drive ( ahem ) in very small tight places
..and pls. before this heads fully south! lol if anyone else does have any advice on mixing tread types rwd, please advise.

 

The Yoko AD08's would be a great tire for grip but they are not going to more then 8k miles. The AD08's will out grip the PS2's by a bunch if that is the tire you are looking at.

 

Your question is such that you will get answers that will reflect different comfort levels with the unknown.

First off, your car should be more forgiving than an AWD one. A couple of points, the F&R wheels are not the same width, nor are the fitted tires. The diameter and widths vary, as does the weight bias F to R, so it goes to follow that the coefficient of traction does as well. This is on the street, not racing, so your tires will most likely be working at much lower temperatures, and I'd assume fronts colder than rears.

You already have so many variables that tire brand is not going to matter at all mixed F to R. I wouldn't mix R to L on the same axle however. I have a '99 Boxster that I've had for over a dozen years, Sumis on the rear, Yokos on the front. It doesnt matter. I also had a 996 C2 for 7 years, ran P Zeros with Dunlops, Dunlops with Sumis, etc. On my Turbo I wore out PS2s, then fit another set of them. When they wore out, I fit Sumi HTR-Z ll on rear with PS2 on front, handled poorly due to mis match of rolling diameters, fit new front HTR-Z lls, handling was better than PS2 which was unbelievable. I'm basing this on 2-3 turns that I take aggressively near where I live. Two are increasing radius that I can start in first and end up in third full throttle all the way through, another is second gear 90 degree. The Sumis hold where the PS2s will slip and slide. I actually rotated with the PS2s twice, never with the Sumis. I'm thinking the reason for this is the Sumis are stickier at a lower casing temperature, whereas the Michelins need to be warmed up and will work better at elevated temperatures, like on track.

When I was racing Superbikes with AMA CCS I learned finesse and being smooth is the most import thing to going fast. I apply the same driving my cars and am amazed how fast I can go with inexpensive tires like the Sumis. I like the HTR-Z ll better than the lll. The only down side is, it's a bit of a stretch to fit a 285 rear on my wider than stock rear wheel. It reduces push or understeer and the handling is terrific. The 2" lowering and larger rear bar I recently made really good feel even better.

In my job I do race tuning on motorcycles and have for decades. I have an idea how stuff should feel at speed and know the basics of how to achieve it. Same principals apply for cars. So, I wouldn't be afraid to try different rears at all. Just start out slow, get them scrubbed. Push them progressively harder until you trust them and can read their levels of grip. Be smooth!

PS, Nice Trumpet

 

Totally agree. I have autocrossed with mismatched front/rear to get the right level of rotation. Not on a TT, but the same philosophy holds.
The main thing is to work up to determine the limits and be aware until you get pressures sorted out, the balance may be way different to what you are used to.

Good luck & keep the shiny side up!

 

Mark,
Nitto NT01 in a 245/40/18 and 305/35/18 is an unbeatable set up for these cars when RWD if it's not your daily driver. I have found that when RWD these cars perform much better with a staggered set up (ala 997) with the rear tire about 1" taller then the front. The taller rear gives you a larger contact patch, greater load capacity, more grip, and improves your gearing. A winner all the way around. NT01s are actually relatively quiet (night and day difference compared to 888s) and perform very well even at modest temperatures down to 50F or so. They even do relatively well in the wet if you have tread on them. You can get them for under $1000 for the set which makes them ultra cheap. They wear like iron far exceeding a Michelin Sport Cup for example. I have no idea how many miles you'd get on them on the street but I get almost 600 track miles on each set. I go through about 7 complete sets each year as I wear out tires 1:1 front to rear.

 

thanks nick, highlander, and of course was hoping pwdrhound would check in. i will re-read all this as my comprehension skills are at a low ebb. call it leftover turkey. but i sure feel a lot better about different fronts to rears in terms of brands/tread types now.

in addition to the added grip and elimination of any rear wheel bias uncertainty since i installed my lsd, i just was/am reasonably concerned i not give back anything i've gained, and as i've said. i've NEVER mixed tires on a porsche!

...and thx nick, the old trumpet mostly sits these days, but she's a one kicker any day of the week thx to my finally ditching the 5 wire mag and installing modern electronics LOL