Okay everyone, my little experiment with the Pirelli Corsa system was pretty much a bust! I loved the tires for the first 1500 miles and they were great in the wet. But after that they went away very quickly!! The weekend before last I took one of my favorite 247 loop drives from my house. The drive has some great turns the first 100 miles and the last 60 miles; some real twisty second and third gear stuff that requires some real concentration and is just a blast. The last 60 miles on the way to my house is one of my all time favorite roads in all of Northern Ca. and I have driven it many hundreds of time over the last 40+ years, maybe into the thousands. Needless to say I know every turn and all the dangers of the route. This time I did notice that it appeared a little slippery then normal from the very start. When I was on the last 20 mile stretch, which is my favorite, I went through a turn which I had taken much faster many times before and found myself totally sideways looking at the bank on the right side of the road which was about 2’ behind a drainage ditch! Instinct took over and all came out good, but I was very surprised to say the least. When I got home I inspected the tires and noticed the rears were worn through the wear bars! The amazing thing was that they only had 1,743 miles on them. That’s about half of what I have been getting out of the MPSC’s and they are $400 a set more!! Needless to say no more Pirellis for me. Summer is nearly here and I will be making the trip to Ashland and back probably 5-6 times, a 900 mile round trip, so I have decided to try a set of PS2’s, something I have avoided doing just out of fear as I have come so accustom to relying on the superior grip of the MPSC’s. The final tally on the Pirrelis was 1793 miles!!!

I just had the PS2’s mounted yesterday and have only driven them a short distance. I am familiar with them as I have them on the 997S, however I don’t punish that car as much as I do the GT3. Plus I now have the 3.9, so I will have to find the limits with this combo!! I will report back with the results.

 

Thanks for the update! What size are the PS2's? I noticed you had gone up to 325's previously.

 

I went with the stock 305's this time around!!

 

You might want to try a set of Bridgestone RE-11's next time. Lots of grip without the hyper-wear problem of the Pirellis. I have tried everything over the years and the RE-11's have been the best compromise for the street. It even rained in Reno a few times (hard to believe) and they were the best I've tried - a lot of fun to drive.

 

Just curious, but why go back to 305 when you have all that extra power?

 

Another one of my little experiments. I just came back from a 75+ mile drive and I was pleasantly surprised at how well they stick. I took about 1/2 a tenth off, but you can still really feel the PS2's scrambling for grip. Oh, and I had to leave the TC on!!!! Very important, otherwise the exit is a little sketchy!! (and a lot of tire smoke on hard launches)

 

Trust me, I know about rain in Reno. Remember three New years eve ago??? Thanks!

 

Just came back from a 950 mile road trip over some of my favorite northern California/ southern Oregon roads and just turned 6,000 miles on the 3.9, so thought I would give everyone a short update. The motor is still smooth as silk and I have experienced no problems of any sort, other then an increased tire bill and some serious brake wear! I just recently took the car to James for a “check-up” and he gave the brake system a nice flush and some fresh race fluid which made a huge difference and brought everything back to life. One amazing factoid is that this motor has yet to use any oil! I have changed the oil twice now and will do so again this week. I asked James about this and he told me that Kermit doesn’t use oil either. Must be the LW pistons!!

The motor just keeps getting stronger and stronger, I really noticed it at around 3000 miles and on this drive I had a chance to really wring it out in 3rd and 4th gear which I don’t often do around here locally as I run out of road. Until you get a chance to drive one of these you can’t really appreciate how these motors pull all the way to 8800!!

One more thing; I find myself leaving the car in third gear on many of the corners I used to down shift to second to make better use of the added trq. I did install a new set of MPSC’s about 400 miles before this trip so I had plenty of grip and it made for a very fair comparison as to how the car preformed on my last trip over these roads as a stock 3.6. This is a trip I make several times over the summer and have done in many different cars but always in the summer months and never in the winter. When the car was a 3.6 I averaged right around 15 MPG some times high 14’s or low 15’s but always consistent. I was rather surprised when I looked at the trip computer today when I got home and saw that I averaged 16.1 for the entire round trip. I think I can contribute this to the fact I can use a higher gear in a lot of the twister section with the added trq and HP. (hopefully it doesn’t have anything to do with the fact I’m getting older and I’m losing a 1/10 or 2!)

The car is a real pleasure to drive and I am looking forward to many more of these trips. I actually have another scheduled in about two weeks!! I did kill a fair amount of bugs today!!

 

glad to see you didnt sell it and your still enjoying your 3.9. i thought going to ps2's with all that power would be a disaster and one experiment that wouldnt last long. i have a set on my modded black series and the rears are screaming for grip when i pull out of any parking lot and im barely on the gas

 

That's why I never trust Pirelli !! Right from the start of the PZero, and the Hero...
from the past M3, 996, Maser QP .. etc... they all start good in the 1st 2000 miles; then went down side, exactly what snowboarder said above!!

On Porsches or another cars; i will only go for Mich, BS and Advan tyres !!!

 

Yeah, that was a failed experiment for sure. They lasted about 2000 miles before I took them off.

 

True, and when the go away, they go quickly!! I'm sticking with the MPSC's. I'm just hoping that they won't start putting a "use tax" on them here in Mendocino County like they are everything else now!!! living in California does have some disadvantages, the whole state is broke!!!

 

Thanks for tire updates...I also hear good things about bridgestone re-11 tires as a cheaper replacement that is stickier than a ps2 but last longer then the ps cups

 

That was a great read Snowboarder! I'm glad to hear how much you are enjoying the 3.9.

 

I was liking everything I was reading about the tires, response and handling, until I got to the weight. Fr's are 7# more the mspc and rears are 5# more. Thats a lot of unsprung weight and almost cancels the savings of the pccb's.
Thats one thing Michelin has down and has for years. They are always the lightest tires available every time I have checked and tried to find an alternative.