I had an unfortunate blow-out last night, with my original Pirelli Rossi's, rear tire...and I just started shopping for tires last week! It did some minor damage to the exterior around the wheel well, in a 2" band, as I had to drive for awhile to get off the freeway and pull over safely. Two questions: 1) seems like everyone loves the Michelin's...how should I choose between the super sports and the PS2's? The super sports are considerably less on tirerack.com. 2) not sure if I want to report to insurance. the rear plastic bumper may be scarred and beyond an acceptable level of repair. Any estimates on cost of repair? The metal doesn't seem to be damaged, only the paint and possibly the rear bumper. Thanks for your comments!

 

There are numereous threads discussing the PSS vs PS2. Use the search function and you'll find several. I read most of them prior to ordering my PSSes from TireRack. They are being installed on Monday! I opted for them due to them being a newer design with lower costs and better performance reports with a longer life to boot. If you use TireRack's functions to compare these tires against the alternatives you'll also find they score overwhelming higher in most things that matter in the community-provided ratings on TireRack.

As to how to proceed with fixing this I'm not sure why you would be hesitant to file an insurance claim on this one. CarFax worries possibly? It clearly can't be deemed to be your fault and unless you have a history of making claims it shouldn't affect your premiums. If you attempt a cheap fix yourself and it doesn't go well, you will have muddied the waters if you then try to go back to the insurance claim route.

For the first step I'd recommend not touching anything yourself yet. Instead, go to your local Porsche-approved or other reputable body shop and ask them for a quote. It will cost you nothing other than an hour or so of time and then you'll have some information about the typical degree of damage for something like this and the cost to repair it properly. This is information you don't currently have that may help you make a decision.

 

Tough break OP. Glad you are OK though.


I had a raccoon hit my car a few years ago at 20mph and it cracked my front cover. I turned it in as I also had a coolant leak result.


The front cover was around $1K for OEM, and another $700-$800 in painting and fitting the new cover, buffing,etc.


Love my PSS's. Have them on all of my other sports cars too. They do everything so well in every conditions, I wouldn't consider another brand or model .

 

Thanks Patrick and Storm...appreciate your comments. I did end up filing a claim on this. Turns out they will also cover the cost of the blown tire. It's going in Thursday for an estimate...I'm thinking the rear bumper does get replaced. So, I'm estimating $2500...

Glad to hear you like your PSS's! I went ahead and ordered a set, which comes in tomorrow, from Tirerack.com. Added bonus, I will be replacing the TPMS' and finally getting rid of the TPMS inactive message!

 

From your picture, I don't see why your rear bumper would be replaced? Is it gouged anywhere?

 

Yeah, the cover edge inside of the wheel well is gouged pretty good ...they may be able to fix it. But I also have a small little scratch I tried to fix myself on the bumper, which didn't turn out to well, although it is only 1"x1/8". This is the only thing, aside from my new inflicted pain, preventing my car from being near perfect on the exterior. Thought I may get a new cover out of the deal, but they may be able to fix this too.

 

I hear you! Good luck with it. By the way, I've had Michelin Pilot Super Sports on my car for almost 3 years now, and I LOVE them.

My tire shop had installed non-OEM TPMS sensors, and they did not work, but the shop replaced with a different brand, and everything was good. So make sure they install ones that are compatible.

 

Since MPSS are not N-spec, would using them void any active warranty /CPO ?

Furthermore, should safety be a concern given they're several years old now yet still not N-spec???

 

No..
I believe the life is about 6 years for safety s concern. DOT date on tire.

 

If you go to the tire manufacturer websites you will find that most list tire lifetime at 10 years most often.

 

No it won't void CPO. I have run most of all the different brands of tires, and MPSS are the best road/track bang for your buck (by far). MPSS are the only tires I run (other than the occasional Hoosiers).

 

If you have money for the PS2's get them. They are a great tire as well. Have them on my 996.2 C4S. If you want to save some money and have great performance that most people will not be able to tell the difference between the two without being biased based on costs the SS will work great.

 

This is information you don't currently have that may help you make a decision.

 

I started looking into PSS's based upon great references from many other drivers on Rennlist. The nail in the coffin that made it an easy choice for me was that the PSS beats the PS2 in every single category on Tire Rack's website and is rated the #1 choice for our car based on over 1000 reviews of each type of tire. And then there is the bonus that TireRack sells them substantially cheaper. I've been thrilled with my initial tests over the last three weeks including some ultra aggressive autocross-style handling tests in a large, empty, clean parking lot. Some of that may be due to the more aggressive front alignment I got at the same time, but the traction I'm getting from the tires is even better than I expected. The ride is also notably better than my previous Bridgestones RE050A's even with the higher pressure that the Porsche dealer used when installing them. A final plus is that the PSS tread wear rating is 300 vs 220 for the PS2... so another effective cost savings there.

To save you from taking the time to do the search, here is TireRack's comparison of these tires. I can also recommend them based upon excellent prices, availability, and shipping costs.

The PS2 is on the left, PSS is on the right.

 

Thanks for this info!
I presume, left colum is PS2, right column is PSS.