New Cayenne - Snow Tires question
 

I am waiting for the January delivery of a new 2019 Cayenne S. This will be my first Porsche. I'm really excited!

I live in the mountains of Utah...so snow tires are important here. I ordered the car with 21" rims and summer tires. I'd really appreciate suggestions on the snow tire selection.
#1 - will 21" snow tires work out ok? All winter driving on residential roads and interstate highways. No offroad, but deep snow is always possible.
#2 - should I purchase some 19" rims and put 19" snow tires on?
#3 - if 19" rims are recommended, do you have a suggestion on a good source for used rims?

Thanks for the feedback!

You need to make sure 19" rims will clear everything like brakes and such. No idea on the newer cars but my '05 came with the big brakes and 19" was the minimum size that would fit. I wouldn't think it'd be an issue with an S but you never know. As for tires I went with Blizzak and liked them very much. Great grip in the snow, the little we got here in the Seattle area anyway, and not too noisy. I actually need to get rid of the set now that I don't have the car anymore but I'm not sure if stock wheels from an '05 would fit or if you'd be interested.

I found some nice 20" wheels I liked and bought new from Tire-rack. About $1,000.

Thanks for the tips! The 2019 comes standard with 19" wheels, the 21" are an (expensive) option. Welcome to the world of Porsche options!
I'll ask the dealer about the '05 wheels. Thanks for the offer. I'll also look at tirerack.com

I used 20" Pirelli Scorpion on the stock rims of my CTTS. Worked amazing during NY winters and Vermont ski trips almost on a weekly basis.

Thanks Griza! I'm hearing that the Pirelli's are great snow tires.

21s with summer tires will turn your car into a 5000 pound sled, it's fun at times but overall not good for safe driving. Even a little snow and the back slides out like butter. I have a set of 18" rims with snow tires on them for the winter months which work great and clear the brakes as well (2009 GTS), in my 8 years of ownership I've only changed the rims once as I work from home most of the time so if there was snow out I'd use the wife's ride (Audi Q7 with 18" all seasons).

I just actually installed 21" Pirelli All Season tires on a couple of weeks ago, they don't look as sporty as summer tires but apparently there is a 50000 tread life warranty on them so I was curious how they would last. My last few sets of tires only lasted 8000-15000 miles each so I'm trying to find something that lasts... I tend to be heavy on the gas pedal...

Thanks!
 

Thanks Richie. Excellent suggestions.

Get a dedicated wheelset
 

I'm thinking your suggestion is the right way to go. No sense making a problem where I dont need to. Many thanks for your reply!
Dennis

I had a set of 22's for summer and turned the stocks into my dedicated winter set. Didn't want to ruin the look by putting on smaller rims. Never had one second of a problem in snow, ice, wet withe 20"s winter setup.

Thanks for the feedback
 

Another great idea. Thank you.
Dennis

Being in Utah I would get the smallest rims that will fit and that you can get the proper tire styles. Would look beyond this winter for what else you might want to do with your Cayenne. Plenty of off-road / Overlanding trails in Utah, Idaho, etc. I am not talking rock climbing or mud holeing. We have had a lot of fun (six years/80k miles camping off-road with our 2013 diesel) as have a lot of other Cayenne owners. Ours has been in the hot Chihuahuan desert to north of the Arctic Circle where it got down to -36F. We run BFG KO2s three season and Nokian Hakkapeliittas for snow & ice. PCA is even looking at adding Cayenne activities. Overland Expo has 43 forum pages of Cayenne's off-road:
- https://www.expeditionportal.com/for....68922/page-40

Thanks for the feedback
 

These are great suggestions. My car comes with 21 summer tires. Dealer suggests getting 21 inch snow tires. I was leaning towards a second set of 19" rims and matching snows. What do you think?

If you're getting a second set of rims, just see what works best economically. Try to get a rim size that has a lot of options for tires. The 21's are definitely limited in terms of all-season/winter tires.. Much easier to get them on 18-20" rims.

^^^^^^

This is what I did. 2014 CTTS that came with 21" wheels and P Zeroes, so realized I needed some type of winter setup. BTW, not too fond of the Pirellis; put Michelin Latitude 3's on after about 20K on the Pirellis and like them a lot better. I've been given two (2) new Pirelli Scorpions in 21" and when the Michelins wear down, I'm going to get two more and try them year round as my next summer setup. Should be interesting. Anyway.....

For winter wheels/tires I went with 19" OZ wheels and Blizzaks. Ordered from Tire Rack. I'd never had studless winter tires (had studded tires years ago when I lived in Seattle) and I really like them! More road noise than summer tires, but much, much less than studded tires. 19" wheels have the trade off of better ride comfort but less taught handling (compared to 21" summer setup), which isn't too surprising. First winter with my winter setup I went to an empty parking lot after a light snow (about 2") and explored handling/limits. Could get the Cayenne to slip/spin but noticed that if I let up on the gas and released the steering wheel, it came back into control almost immediately.