We have a while to go but I wanted to start researching replacement tire options for a stock 2009 C4S Cab. What brands/models do you recommend and why?

Also - do you have them replaced at the dealer or are there other options? We had discount tire muck up some other rims with their tools so I am leery of getting my P-car anywhere near the place....

 

Call me, I'm happy to help!

 

We've had great success using Michelin Pilot Super Sports as replacement for OE tires on alot of our customers cars - check them out, they should be on your very short list of replacement choices!

 

Not sure if it is apples to apples, but I just had a pair of tires installed on my Boxster at an indy shop. The shop has fixed a number of flats for me at no charge so I thought I owed it some tire business.

The price quoted (and charged) was not bad but I didn't compare prices at the dealer where I always get tires for my cars.

Some issues: One I had to bring in something to have the tire tech put on top of the floor jack to protect the paint of the car's lift pad against paint damage. The dealer's lifts are equipped with rubber pads. The tire shop's built in lifts have pads that don't go low enough to get under my car so the shop has to use a low profile floor jack.

The tech removed the wheels without using the lug rod to keep the wheel from possibly dropping down on the rotor. Cast iron rotors are durable but this mars the wheel. If this happens to a PCCB rotor it gets expensive fast.

The tech didn't load/road force balance the tire/wheel. Now I have to say the tires/wheels are well balanced I detect no signs of any tire vibration up to nearly 100mph. But I left the shop with the fear I'd have to bring the car back for another go around if I detected any vibration.

The tech didn't clean the wheels. They were almost black with dust and when I got the car back the wheels had fingerprints all over them. I wonder if he removed the old weights? I never bothered to check. The Porsche techs do this and I didn't think of it until now.

The price? I paid a bit over $520 for the tires/mounted and balanced.

The other day I got a quote at the dealer. Tires $233/each for $466 plus $40/each for mounting/balance. This works out $546. This does not include tax and other things that the $520 price did. These could add another $40 or so to the cost. It does not take into account the PCA discount I get -- the guy manning the parts counter was a fill in for the regular guy who knows me -- and didn't apply any PCA discount. Had I given the go ahead and had the tires done at the dealer the final bill would have reflected any discounts.

So the indy shop was a bit less. While I like to save $40, $50, maybe even $60 as much as the next it doesn't take into account the running around I had to do before to find something to protect the car's lift points. Do you know it is impossible to find a hockey puck around where I live? I had to settle on some flower pot coasties or whatever they are called -- 6" round thin pressed fiber board. It doesn't take into account the anxiety I had about letting a tech who can I'm sure handle F150's with aplomb tackle my Porsche. The shop manager did let me stand at the car and I did until after the tech got the wheels off and he appeared to be ok with car so I walked to the waiting room and killed time.

At the dealer the car and the wheels would have been washed and made to look nice. I would have had access to WIFI and refreshments. The waiting room chairs are leather and comfortable.

Next time the Boxster needs tires? I don't know.

For the Turbo? No. I think I'll stick with the dealer.

 

My car had the Hankook Ventas mounted when I bought it. I've put another 10K miles on it, and the rears are just starting to show their age. I'm shocked to have gotten 10K out of them, plus whatever where already on them. I've been very pleased with the handling. I'll probably replace them with the same, but not by the dealer. I only go there for unique things which can't be done elsewhere. I'm admittedly cost conscious, but not at the expense of performance or safety. Some tire shops are better than others-- just find a good one you're comfortable with.

 

My Porsche dealer only sells O.E.M. tires at dealership prices but they are happy to install whatever tires I bring them. My tires of choice for my 997.2 C4S are the michelin super sports. Great summer tire grip in the wet or dry and tire rack gets them to me in a day at a good price.

 

Tire Rack is a great place to go for many reasons, including Damon's reputation as being a straight-up honest guy. I'd consider taking him up on his offer for advice. I have no affiliation but I've noticed that the forums are full of happy customers. A nice thing with their website is that you can query for the most popular tires and see what people are actually buying as opposed to hearsay. There are a lot of reviewers, so statistical fluke by a handful of unhappy customers is less likely.

One consideration for me is when faced with tires that have otherwise equal temperature/traction/speed ratings is I'll strongly lean towards the tires with the best wear rating. I have the Bridgestone S-04 Pole Positions that appear to be their most popular tire and have a 280 treadwear rating. Mine are holding up well with over 10k miles at this point, perform well, ride well, and have much lower road noise that the PS2s they replaced (to be fair, the noise may have been due to them having only about 20% life left as well). I just don't see paying twice as much for the PS2s that seem so popular on the forum. The consumer rating for the S-04s on TireRack is excellent at 8.66, where the PS2s get a 9.1. If the last 5% of performance rating is important to you (tracking the car etc.), then I can see paying double, but I doubt most of us go there.

I notice that you are in Colorado. If sub-freezing performance is important to you, be sure to avoid the summer-only tires in the winter. They get really hard and slippery when it's freezing out.

 

If your just driving as a street car then the Pilot Super Sports are fantastic. Hard to beat. If you do any track driving then you may want to either stick with the Pilot Sports or maybe even move up to some Pilot Sport Cup 2's or Yokohama AD08R's.

I have the dealer instal mine for me. If non OE they can't sell them but will accept a delivery from TireRack and install for me. With the PCA discount it's not worth the small savings to have any doubts.

 

I am ****. What do I do? I take the wheels off, clean them inside and out, spend many minutes chipping off asphalts, I take out the balance strips, use Goop-Off to remove the adhesive and then I take the wheels and tires to the shop. With clean barrels, this ensures the weights DO stick to the barrels.

Upon receipt, I check them if they have the balance strips/weights and then I wax the inside. Cleaning the barrels, taking the adhesive, etc. do take time; if the shop were to do this, they either lose money or they will charge you.


I carry around the hockey pucks that I made for situations like you just experienced. Yes, we are in California and pucks (at Big 5) cost around $6.00 a piece before tax. You can forget about Sports Chalet or Sports Authority -- both don't carry pucks.


Internet for pucks purchase? Well, expect to pay shipping and handling. Been there, done that.

 

Thanks everyone. This is very helpful. I want to learn more about the pucks. Not familiar with those.

Guess I will check with the dealer to see what they charge to install if I supply the tires. After all, my other cat is a truck (-;

 

Look for magnetized ones so you can position the hockey pucks quickly and accurately.

I used to spend time moving the jack many many times just to ensure that the jack isn't going to screw up my car once I raised the jack --- with the magnetized ones, guessing is eliminated.

 

What The Puck

 

Right? This thread is pucked up. :-)

 

+100


WTP??? LOL .

 

I bought a set of 4 aluminum ones from Maxspeed.

They work great.

http://www.maxspeed-motorsports.com/...m_Jackpad.html