What Tyres are people running?

[Darren Sharp]

I'd like to start a discussion on what experience people have had with different rubber on their cars

[JD]

As Lisa said in another post - I have Bridgestone RE71's in 205/55/15. I have hardly driven on them so I cannot give an opinion yet. On the other hand Lisa and Mike think they are great :mrgreen:

[Terminator]

Darren,

On what size wheels do you plan to put these tyres?

[lisa_spyder]

Darren,

More importantly which car - what suits an early 911 may not suit a 993. Tyre size will effect choice dramatically. The RE71's are only being remade in 205/55/15 which is perfect on a 6" rim and will also fit a 7" rim.

The other choice in Bridgestone for a daily use tyre with great adhesion in the wet and a pretty good performer when engaging in"spirited driving" is Bridgestone G III. These are my current all rounder favorites if you need to use a size other than 205/55/15's. They are a smidge soft in the wall, but the tread pattern is good and the tread extends a little beyond the "footprint" of the tyre which gives good adhesion when you're really pushing through a corner :twisted: . We run these on both the 356 Outlaw on 7" & 8" x 15" rims and on the 911 on 16's". Best deal is that they are cheap, much cheaper than their performance suggest they should be.

The only drawback for "period buffs" is that they look like a modern tyre. But anything that looks period in the same sort of price range which generally is under $1000 for all 4 is **** by comparison and I wouldn't drive on them. I want a tyre that works, not one that looks "period".

A lot of us are running these GIII's as our daily tyres now. And I haven't had any negative feedback from anyone (apart from the "look thing").

Carl will be able to offer more insight as he is our tyre guru - I am coming from an experience perspective here .

Cheers,

[Darren Sharp]

These will be for fitment on the '72 for Roadworthy, it’s currently setup with a lot of camber for track use and the inside of the rears is chewed out as a result.
The car has 6 & 7 15" Fuchs with RS flares on the rear, current rears are 205/60 15
I'm not sure what the correct / best size would be for these rims.

The 993 has Michelin pilot sport 2 fitted in 285/30 ZR 18 and 225/40 ZR 18
These are a great tire for modern cars, they are much better then the OEM Bridgestone S02 and Pirelli P-Zero.
I had P-Zeros on one of my other cars as the OEM tyre, good when new but terrible when they wear down.
They are very noisy and the car squirms all over the road.
I've been told by a Pirelli dealer that they had a bad habit of going out of shape and squirming is a common complaint.

Darren

[lisa_spyder]

Go with the G III 's. 205/60/15 is fine all round on those rims.

[72911S]

Hi Darren,

I have the same wheel sizes on my 72S and the 205/60/15 fills the rear guard very nicely but I think you'll find that it looks a bit chubby on the front 6" rim. I have a 195/60/15 up front which looks right. The RE71 205/55/15 might look best all round and keeps the same rolling diameter and width front and rear.

See what Carl thinks...

[72911S]

Speaking of tyre sizes...here's a great tyre size calculator.

Allows you to compare several tyres at once...

http://www.1010tires.com/tiresizecalculator.asp

Cheers

[72911S]

Darren...

Here's the comparison for the sizes I've mentioned

http://www.1010tires.com/TireSizeCalculator.asp?action=submit

[reedminor]

I'm running Yokohama a539's 205/55/15... v rated

Very happy with them, as good as the Michelin Pilots I replaced, very reasonably priced... Less than $200 a corner... and they work well with my suspension set up...

Been on the car for a few thousand miles now and seem to be wearing well too.

Justin Reed

[carl888]

These will be for fitment on the '72 for Roadworthy, it’s currently setup with a lot of camber for track use and the inside of the rears is chewed out as a result.
The car has 6 & 7 15" Fuchs with RS flares on the rear, current rears are 205/60 15
I'm not sure what the correct / best size would be for these rims.

The 993 has Michelin pilot sport 2 fitted in 285/30 ZR 18 and 225/40 ZR 18
These are a great tire for modern cars, they are much better then the OEM Bridgestone S02 and Pirelli P-Zero.
I had P-Zeros on one of my other cars as the OEM tyre, good when new but terrible when they wear down.
They are very noisy and the car squirms all over the road.
I've been told by a Pirelli dealer that they had a bad habit of going out of shape and squirming is a common complaint.

Darren

If it's just for roadworthy then I guess the cheapest stuff you can find. If you are chewing up the rears, then your cars alignment is not suited to your driving style, simple as that. What settings are on the car? Happy to make some suggestions, I've tested them all for better or worse. Also, for which car, and what compound are you chasing, a street ot track tyre?

[e72phil]

Yeah Darren, go with the Bridgestone G III's, but also make sure you get them 4 wheel aligned as this makes such a difference to performance handling.

More than happy with my rubber which has had some hard driving in wet and dry and is wearing very well.

More than i can say for the set of 18" bridgestone SO3's I had on the Beemer which wore out a bit quick and with nothing like the thrashing the 911 gets.

Talk to Carl Jones. he will get you a matched set from the same production batch.

[lisa_spyder]

Rule of thumb: front wheel align after fitting new tyres... best rule of thumb: as Phil says 4 wheel align after fitting new tyres. Everyone seems to forget the rear for some reason but the back tyres can chop out just as if not more quickly than the front if incorrectly aligned (as your previous post noted Darren).

As for running plenty of negative; yes it can be done without chopping out the tyres. But it does depend on the settings, not just the camber and on the tyres used and as Carl rightly noted the driving style of the individual. Most importantly it depends also on the springing and the shockers (and to an extent the suspension bushes) and sometimes people forget that too :wink: .

Cheers,

[Darren Sharp]

Carl

I’m after a street tire that’s also suitable for sprint days etc
As it turns out the person I’m buying the car from has a relationship with Bridgestone in NZ so the car will be fitted with GIIIs all round when it arrives here.
I think he has been running
Rears 205/60 15 on 7” Fuchs
Fronts 195/60 15 on 6” Fuchs

I'll look into the alignment when it arrives

Darren

[Terminator]

I have GIII on the RS which is also LHD so take it from me its only a pain passing on dual cariageway roads otherwise I don't notice the difference anymore.

As for the tyres I have punctured 2 in less than 5000km, bad luck I guess otherwise they feel fine even better now that I have upgraded the bushes all round.