997 GT3 Michelin Cup Sports

997 GT3 Michelin Cup Sports

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Discussion

nbetts

Original Poster:

1,455 posts

229 months

Wednesday 29th November 2006
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I have not worn my tyres out yet but I have just found out that the rears for the 997 GT3 are £345 each... Before I order some and tuck them away - does anyone know of a source for these tyres - or would be interested to see if a leverage deal could be done with more than one order.

Given the performance of the car and the compound of the rubber - I can't see the rears lasting that long on the road - let alone the track.

Geneve

3,861 posts

219 months

Wednesday 29th November 2006
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These tyres are brilliant in the dry and the wet, but I'd be interested to know how quickly they wear, as the wet performance is likely to diminish as the tread depth reduces.

They start with 5mm, and will need replacing by 2mm - although that would be the time to use them on track

Ideally Porsche should offer an alternative brand of GT3 approved road tyre for high mileage/winter/road use.

It was Prueninger who wanted the Cups as the only option - bet he doesn't have to buy his own tyres though!

johnfm

13,668 posts

250 months

Wednesday 29th November 2006
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try Motorsport Wheels - they have always been cheaper than any other supplier for me. Dave at Elite is also good.

DiscoColin

3,328 posts

214 months

Friday 1st December 2006
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Just a small question : what exactly is the issue with being required to use rubber that is signed off by Porsche for the specific model? I am trying to get around why it is a problem using the tyres approved for the new Turbo as winter tyres (not on track of course, and probably on a second set of wheels). By definition these should be rated for higher load and speed, are the same size (or there abouts) and should be a whole lot longer lasting. That the chassis isn't tuned for them is not overly relevent as in winter weather/long range cruising you aren't exactly going to be going at hoon factor 9. Are you?

I also don't see how they could possibly have a leg to stand on declining a warrenty claim on the basis of tyres approved for a heavier, faster model in the same range...

What am I missing?

steve rance

5,446 posts

231 months

Monday 4th December 2006
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nbetts said:
I have not worn my tyres out yet but I have just found out that the rears for the 997 GT3 are £345 each... Before I order some and tuck them away - does anyone know of a source for these tyres - or would be interested to see if a leverage deal could be done with more than one order.

Given the performance of the car and the compound of the rubber - I can't see the rears lasting that long on the road - let alone the track.


I get 3 track days out of a set of rears. No deals, no deals, no deals

Steve R

hunter 66

3,905 posts

220 months

Monday 4th December 2006
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The rears are the problem, but are still road legal even when you only have the circumferential grooves left ( like F1 slicks )according to Pro tyre. Mine are now showing a bit of canvas so off they come alas as Steve says "NO Deals". When very worn they are "excitng " in the wet.....

Davey S2

13,096 posts

254 months

Monday 4th December 2006
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As the tyres are bespoke for the car you wont get deals as you will probably only be able to buy them through OPC's.

The robbing B@stards at Lotus do the same thing with the bespoke Yokohama AO48's for my Exige. You can buy AO48's at a lot of places but can only get the LTS (Lotus) compound ones from official dealers.

You might find that tyres like AO48's or Toyo R888's offer almost the same performance for a lot less as you can get deals on them.

chrisw.

6,299 posts

255 months

Monday 4th December 2006
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Specifying only the Pilot Sport Cup tyres gives Porsche the majority of the claimed track time difference between the 997GT3 and the previous 996GT3 MkII. But as with the M3CSL, PS2's also work (within their different limitations) --- if Porsche will concede the point.

Lighter internals, a higher compression ratio and wider throttle bodies may give a slightly higher revving more powerful engine, but this really adds up to only a very little on the road, the driver being by far the biggest limitation to most of these cars (I do include myself in this).

I do wonder how the electronic tech-glitz will be viewed once the 997GT3 is out of warranty ?

And will the real trackday heroes be stripping out the PASM etc? --- or buying Manthay (?) 996's ?

Time will tell.

Davey S2

13,096 posts

254 months

Tuesday 5th December 2006
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For road use I would be surprised if anyone could tell the difference between the standard Michelins and a similar semi slick tyre like AO48's or R888's.

Track use may be different though.