993TT : What is best tyres for Scottish Winter?
Discussion
I've been warned off trying to drive down to Verbier this christmas / new year on summer tyres (esp. with the supercharger) so I've been looking for winter tyres.
The Pirelli Snow Sport range have been recommended by Elite Tyres (in Horsham - I tried my local OPC but they had no clue re: 993 winter tyres and pointed me in Elite's direction).
They cost about the same as decent summer tyres of the same size, so I'm not complaining.
Apparently the Snow Sport range is pretty new as well, so presumably they are current technology and should keep me on the road!!
(good job a previous poster reminded me, for some reason I had the name in my head as 'Snow Race' which would be pretty damn dangerous in a 2 wheel drive 911!!!!!
)
I live in Kent so not exactly Scotland... however I understand that winter tyres are not just for snow, and in fact give better grip / safety in cold dry conditions compared to summer tyres. If I'm talking shite then let me know - however it was an easy sell to me as if they're better between November and March, then I can always swap back to summers in March and not lose anything (after all the summer tyres aren't going to be wearing when they're sitting in the loft).
Anyone here with winter tyres know about wear rates / life? I'm not going to do track days in them unless it's snowing at Brands and there's a cheap day available (just for laughs)...
The Pirelli Snow Sport range have been recommended by Elite Tyres (in Horsham - I tried my local OPC but they had no clue re: 993 winter tyres and pointed me in Elite's direction).
They cost about the same as decent summer tyres of the same size, so I'm not complaining.
Apparently the Snow Sport range is pretty new as well, so presumably they are current technology and should keep me on the road!!
(good job a previous poster reminded me, for some reason I had the name in my head as 'Snow Race' which would be pretty damn dangerous in a 2 wheel drive 911!!!!!
) I live in Kent so not exactly Scotland... however I understand that winter tyres are not just for snow, and in fact give better grip / safety in cold dry conditions compared to summer tyres. If I'm talking shite then let me know - however it was an easy sell to me as if they're better between November and March, then I can always swap back to summers in March and not lose anything (after all the summer tyres aren't going to be wearing when they're sitting in the loft).
Anyone here with winter tyres know about wear rates / life? I'm not going to do track days in them unless it's snowing at Brands and there's a cheap day available (just for laughs)...
snow tyres. look here:
www.michelin.co.uk/uk/auto/auto_cons_bib_eqt_4_rou_hvr.jsp
or do a search on Google. You'll probably need a set of 17" wheels
>> Edited by johnfm on Friday 26th November 21:16
www.michelin.co.uk/uk/auto/auto_cons_bib_eqt_4_rou_hvr.jsp
or do a search on Google. You'll probably need a set of 17" wheels
>> Edited by johnfm on Friday 26th November 21:16
I've continued to use SO2s.
Aside from a bit more understeer then what i'm used to, but for THIS car, I don't have anything to compare to.
I don't really push or drive my car hard enough to explore how the tyres respond in extremis.
Good to know that should I ever decide to- I have a decent set of boots.
Aside from a bit more understeer then what i'm used to, but for THIS car, I don't have anything to compare to.
I don't really push or drive my car hard enough to explore how the tyres respond in extremis.
Good to know that should I ever decide to- I have a decent set of boots.
Winter tyres tend to have higher wear rates on dry tarmac than summer tyres and the compounds also tend to age quicker. You'll also most likely not want to drive on winter tyre with very little tread left as that defeats a good part of their purpose.
So all in all you won't get the same miles out of them as summer tyres. But if you plan to use teh car where you'll encounter snow I don't think you'll have a choice.
Narrower is better for winter tyres; for the C4S and tt Porsche recommends 205/50 17 on 7" rims for the front and 225/25 17 on 8" rims for the rear. But the offset on the rear rims is very low (30mm) so you can't use standard Porsche 993 rears. This will all start to get rather dear..
So all in all you won't get the same miles out of them as summer tyres. But if you plan to use teh car where you'll encounter snow I don't think you'll have a choice.
Narrower is better for winter tyres; for the C4S and tt Porsche recommends 205/50 17 on 7" rims for the front and 225/25 17 on 8" rims for the rear. But the offset on the rear rims is very low (30mm) so you can't use standard Porsche 993 rears. This will all start to get rather dear..
cyberface said:
Anyone here with winter tyres know about wear rates / life?
I bought some S/H wheels on Ebay and they came with a new set of Dunlop Winter Sport snow tyres. Annoyed that I'd been duped I thought they would wear out quickly and I would soon be replacing them.
18 months and 15,000 miles later they are still going strong, the rears are down to 4 mm now so they will all be changed soon. Different car to yours and half the power but I am very happy with them in the dry and feel confident in the wet.
They have very wide groovesand knobbly bits on teh blocks and I've used them on snow twice to good effect. They had much more traction than my other 944 on normal tyres
Just had the Pirelli snow sports fitted... they are N rated so a Porsche fitment anyway.
The compound is softer and the tread blocks are very high, loads of grip but you do feel the tread moving about on roundabouts, etc.
The tyre guys said they'd be much better for grip in cold conditions i.e. not just snow, but if you let them get too hot then they get destroyed - i.e. swap back to summer tyres in March.
There's a very small increase in road noise on motorways.
The tyres are rated to 150 mph, but then again if you're going that fast in snow or icy conditions then you're either Yvan Muller or you've got a death wish...
The compound is softer and the tread blocks are very high, loads of grip but you do feel the tread moving about on roundabouts, etc.
The tyre guys said they'd be much better for grip in cold conditions i.e. not just snow, but if you let them get too hot then they get destroyed - i.e. swap back to summer tyres in March.
There's a very small increase in road noise on motorways.
The tyres are rated to 150 mph, but then again if you're going that fast in snow or icy conditions then you're either Yvan Muller or you've got a death wish...
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