Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Hi Folks on this great site and I hope you all well! But advice needed!

I currently have running on my S2 Dunlop SP9000 225/50/16 fronts and 245/45/16 rears on standard rims but these will need replacing shortly. I know that this size is slightly 'wider' than normal and could have been fitted to the Turbo models. Anyway, the 245/16 configuration doesn't seem to be available anymore, so I am looking for a decent replacement. I don't do track work and we just go out for drives, as usual no rain! I like the wide stance of the 245's and am looking for something similar.
If anyone has ideas, it would be appreciated. Thanks all...

Dave
Cape Town

Bridgestone and Continental make both sizes and N Rated.

I have just put some new Conti's on the rear of the 4's.

My 911 is on Bridgestones.

N rated is unnecessary really on an S2 & not relevant. I had a variety on my 944, Bridgestones have a very stiff side wall & gave a stiff ride, a pain when it was my daily driver. Contis were OK. The best were Goodyear F1 GSD3 which aren't available any more but I'm told the current Goodyear (Excellence?) is pretty good.
Kumhos are pretty good as are Falkens. Or possibly Toyos.

I was pointing out that if N rated is something you are precious about that they available.

I think Bridgestone might have changed a bit over the years, I had them on my R32 they were fine. Had them on my S2 and they were fine.

I like the Conti Contact Sport 2 seem to wear pretty well and keep me on the black stuff ok.

Just bought some from Asda Tyres and had them fitted in Strood by RM Tyres. Fastest I have had 2 tyres changed, 4 lads on the job.

Not having a dig, I do see people advocating N Rated lmost as a religion at times. Interesting that RM will fit other tyres! They never used to, always used Rochester Tyres for that. Bridgestones are now S03 I think, my 944 was on S02s.
The prblem is on a 944 unless its a daily driver they'll go hard with age long before they wear out, so you may as well run something pretty soft. Pauls 944 is on Kumhos which seem pretty good.

RM were on the Asda website pick where you want your tyres fitting list. Surprising how many local fitters there were.

I saved about £40 on the next best price I could find after discounts. Not a huge amount but worth having.

I put a set of Falken ZE914s on my S2. 205 front 225 rear. Really good tires and only cost me 315 quid fitted.

They are not the sporty Falken, that is the 453. I've had 452s on the Jags & they were fantastic, better than PZero anyway.
I found two issues, A. they are rubbish when very cold & in snow, B. They can take an age to run in, anything up to 500 miles.

I fitted some Khumo's on mine in 205 + 225. Mine were £280 fitted. They seem good so far, done about 3k miles on them and they grip well.

These would probably be my choice TBH.

Barum Bravarius 2 do them in that size I think, and they are absolutely amazing... Too soft if you do 12k a year, but for the average reduced 944 mileage they will wear out at about the 4 year point if you do about 5k a year.

Barum is owned by Continental as well, their way of braking into the Toyo market that was a few years ago, so quite keenly priced too!

My white turbo was wearing them at the Blyton trackday, nice and sticky, but they didnt get even slightly melted or damaged, but were loads better than the Bridgestones I had on before, or any other tyre I have tried in 16s

I think MyTyres or BlackCircles might have them, but god knows who in SouthAfrica might have them

Kumhos are OK, but Toyos I could never along with in T1-R guise. On the Pug 205 the CF-1s worked well on the road (I must be an anomaly here, since they really seem to suit that car, with the other owner agreeing), yet on my 306 (very similar suspension setup) the T1-Rs were not great, even after having the geometry checked etc. On other cars I did not warm to them (Clio 172, the odd BMW (4WD VAGs they were fine with I admit)).

On other cars Contis have never dissapointed but their life is not what one would call long lasting. Yes I know N rated tyres may be biased towards 911s but there is a night and day difference between how my S2 (on KU31s) and my Turbo drove. Ok, the suspension may play a part, but the grip this thing has is head over heels my old S2 (which was not terrible I admit). The 951 is on N0/N1 Michelins. The life of them (as I have found with Michelins in the past) is surprisingly good as well (on my daily, I see around 30k out of the fronts and that is not pure motorway work (it does have 1/2 the power though)). Even on the Turbo the rears still have plenty of tread left after I covered 7k in the car (they were changed at some point in 2011, so I reckon they have done around 8-9k).

For a weekend driver the Michelins would probably be overkill, causing me to sway back to the Contis. Bridgestones I admit do have hard sidewalls, but at least you can feel what the tyres are doing over the squirmy Toyos (on my 306 Gti-6 I did not ever get 7k out of them before they were illegal, and that was with me not putting my foot down (I think 34MPG average may aid that when most struggled to hit 30). Goodyears have been good tyres as well I would say on the various motors I have driven with them.

The biggest issue for you IMO will be the 16" part. Whilst the front should be cheap (they are quite a common size on many repmobiles (Mondeos, Foci, Passats, Golfs, Octavias, you get the idea ), the rear may end up being a little costly.

Thank you all for the interesting and informative posts. Much appreciated!

Dave

Seeing as this was a few years ago now and a lot of the tyres mentioned are discontinued, what are people putting on their S2s nowadays? Standard fitment

The correct sizes are 205/55/16 front and 225/50/16 rear. Itll drive a lot better, too.