Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Hi all,

I want to get new rear tyres, 255/40/17 N rated, to match the front (Continental Contact) but am having difficulty locating new Contact 2's. National Tyres have rang the supplier, and been told that the Contact 2 tread style is still being sold, but there are none in the country, they're on back order, but a shipping date from Germany is unknown. I've emailed Continental to see if they have a shipping date.

In the meantime, does anyone have an opinion on a Plan B, just in case i can't get a pair?

Thanks a lot,

Steve

P.s. I'm still loving every minute spent in and around the 964! Have got the car booked in for all new rear CV boots, discs and pads this weekend, and was hoping to get rear tyres on Saturday too.

The downside is that after doing all that, i now can't afford to drive the bloody thing!!

I run Toyo Proxis

Super value, I think
2nd set now (C4)

John F

Thanks John- i'll have a read-up on them...

Continental own another company called Barum which they keep quiet about, unless you know the Continental rep, they are trying to break into the Toyo market, by, like toyo did in the early days, selling a seriously high quality sports tyre at a loss to break into the sports market.

My turbo has Barum Bravarius 2 tyres on it, on the recommendation of the continental rep, and they are AMAZING, Toyo Proxie grip in the dry, and awesome grip in the wet.

Did the tipec track day earlier this year and gave it some stick, was able to keep up with cars with much wider tyres and traction control through the twisty bits and was left with no signs of tread roll or melting after a few outings on the track, which normally I would have expected to see some melting with road tyres.

The tread pattern is visually nice, the only thing I would say is that the sidewalls are softer than continentals, which will improve your ride, and I could not feel on the track, and only noticed when fitting the tyres (as it was easier than with continentals due to the side walls being slightly more supple)

Bloody cheap too..

Not sure if they do them in your size, but I would recommend them for anyone, especially those with tyres on 16 inch wheels where getting the two tyre sizes in continental, Bridgestone and PZeros etc are getting harder, especially with matching types on the front and rear due to the wildly different sizes (many manufacturers think of 911 front sizes as domestic and the rear as sports, so its getting hard to find a full set that match in both sizes)

Cheers Jon- are the Barum Bravarius 2 N Rated? Just been looking at them on Tyre Shopper (apparently a sister company of National Tyres) and the price looks great but doesn't show as Porsche rated.

Update from Continental- they've emailed me back to suggest that i buy tyres from a different manufacturer, because they still won't give a build or shipping date for an order i made! Crazy.

So...i'll price up Proxis and Barums, but i need to sort soon....

Don't need to be N Rated, providing size & speed rating is adequate.

I run Bridgestone SO2'As, and have for many years, great tyres for 911's, rated N3 for 993 in 18", but I think N2 in 17". The SO2 is however rated at N3 for 17", I believe and is also a fab tyre. You may have to shop around online for them now, but good deals are out there, and often you are only paying a relatively small amount extra over budget plus tyres, or non N rated. If you need links for a couple of sites, I can probably rake them up, let me know.

Hi John and Jon!

Thanks a lot for your recommendations. Just spoken to National Tyres- they've no listing on the Toyos, but can get hold of Barums for tomorrow (£214 inclusive), so on that basis, (and if they're good enough for a Turbo, they're good enough for me!) i'll get them fitted!

Thanks again,

Steve

That's interesting- i've read so much about how they must be Porsche-rated under pain of death, and have had tyre fitters telling me that the Insurance won't pay out in the event of a claim if non-N rated tyres are fitted! Am confused!!

I really need to refresh the browser page more regularly- sorry, missed this one Sam! I've just rang National, but the price for SO2s was coming out at £528 fitted for a pair (although i found some for £166 each), which is over budget unfortunately. Thanks anyway though.

I rang my insurers, and they confirmed that the tyres do NOT have to be N rated as far as they're concerned, which helps open the field a bit! That's a lot of hassle for 2 tyres, but sorted now- Barums ordered!!

My tyre guy says that if that manufacturer makes an N rated tyre he has to fit it. If they don't then he can fit whatever.

Well it's finally done now- Barum's fitted yesterday, rear discs, pads and sensors fitted this morning!

Typically, it rained all the way home, but at least got the chance to discover that the back end of the car STAYS at the back now, and the car stops perfectly!

Thanks to all for the advice!

ohhh tyre fitters...

Tyre manufacturers as well as Porsche, would not dare mention that N rated tyres have to be fitted otherwise an insurance company would not pay out.. If they did, the fines from the EU as part of the competition and block exemption rules would bring them to their knees.

However, tyre company reps, like the bridgestone rep that once visited me, tend to have a big mouth and a vested interest in selling their brand and will say things like "Insurance companies will not pay out if N rated tyres are not fitted". Fortunately, as soon as I mentioned block exemption to the bridgestone rep, he became a bit coy, embarrassed and back tracked.

N rating is awarded by Porsche, usually as a complicated deal between tyre manufacturers and the Porsche factory, where tyres are supplied free of charge to the manufacturer, in exchange for the award of that tyre product being awarded "N" rating.

Under current EU law, a vehicle manufacturer or other agent can not specify what parts are used to maintain a car, once the car is sold, in any shape and form, which includes insurance companies taking any notice of what parts are made, or approved, by the manufacturer.

The only provision is that the parts have to be of equal quality as the original component and conform to local regulations, such as the "road traffic act" or "construction and use" in the UK, or TUV approval laws in Germany.

This becomes a bit of a sticky issue... If you fit a really dodgy fake part from China.. then technically your insurance company can void a claim, or a main dealer can void your warranty. More than anything, this is the case that Aviva (for example) could argue that the part was sub standard, and the manufacturer would not care about their name being slated, or your problem.. However, if you use parts from a large manufacturer, such as Continental (Barum) then if Porsche or Aviva tried to say it was substandard, then Continental would probably earn more that year from the court case, than they would out of tyres.

Not only this, but it would also ruin a beautiful relationship between Porsche and Continental.

The only time a UK main dealer get funny, is once you are out of the manufacturers warranty, and into the "extended warranty" where the manufacturer is no longer underwriting the warranty, and a investment company is, in which case, you are down to a contract between yourself and the investment company, that you will only use genuine Porsche parts, otherwise they can void your contract... Block exemption only effects manufacturers and the interests of road worthynes, however a contract between you and "XYZ Investments on Behalf of Porsche Cars GB" (Note, not "Porsche") is a civil matter between you and the XYZ... So they can, and have, invalidated a claim for a blown up engine, on the basis of your upgrading your radio to a Alpine unit, or the installation of a Parrot hands free kit.

Insurance companies are different though, their contract with you, has to be a standard contract of insurance, valid europe wide and within the template set down by the EU, which means they can't pull any "Has to be manufacturer approved" bull...

Which, also opens up a can of worms, where technically, if you fit a good quality wastegate to your car as an alternative to a genuine part, rather than for its performance benefits, they can not penalise you... Which I would not advocate, but its an interesting point of law.

In short, an insurance company insisting on N rated tyre, would be like them being involved in a conspiracy to assist in a monopoly by the manufacturer of the car, which was why the EU block exemption rules were drafted.

Tyre fitters, a very special breed, tend to believe everything the tyre reps say..

I am sure you will like the Barums, I think they are awesome all weather tyres and even held up really well on trackdays.