Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

I just looked on National Tyres.
Now £310 for four fitted Barum

Rang up National to get a quote for 4 Barum Bavorius tyres on my 944 Lux. The sod there proceeded to argue with me over the speed rating on the tyre saying it was too low for this type of car.

Why do tyre fitters think they are so smart trying to sell you tyres you don't want.

Is there any reason why Barums are not suitable?

I'm not going to lie, whilst some reputable folk have praised Barums I possibly found them to be on a par with Kumhos or some Pirellis on the cars I have had them on (BMW E36). Not terrible but not the best. OTOH they are possibly fairly priced as well . I wonder whether others have found them better than what came off due to the age.

As an example, my Escort is far far better on the new tyres than it ever was on the Toyo T1-S. The difference? The Toyos were now a decade old...

Before anyone accuses me of being a tyre snob the 'Scort is now on Nankangs. OK, they are the NS-2Rs but still. On that note I would say that the NS-2Rs are probably the best road tyre I have ever had on a car with not much extra noise for a DOT R tyre and if wear is not a problem. I never ever thought a sheddy old Ford could grip so well in all honesty! Getting them in all tyre sizes however is tricky but the 17" Porker boys are catered for here .

My wheels are 15 inch Fuchs so Nankang NS-2R's are out of the question.

I'm not going to get Pirrelli's as they are way over priced

The options are

Barum Bavuris 2 (H rated)
Continental ContiPremium Contact2 (bite the bullet and pay the extra) - Though they only have an H rating like the Barum so I'm not really sold.
Federal Formosa FD2 (V rated)
Kumho KH17 Solus (V rated)

Any thoughts on these.

Is an H rated tyre easily sufficient?

It seems you can still acquire Falken ZE912s in 215/60. That would personally be my choice.

Otherwise it would in the following order:

Kumho KH17s (I found these good on one car where the previous car of the same model but in better condition did not handle as well. Both however were Volvo 740s...).
Barums .

OTOH just to confuse you more I had great results on PreiumContacts years ago and my Clio on Sport Contacts up front is very good. I wish I could say the same about the rear in the wet which is on Toyo T1Rs.

Thanks for the advice. Falkens are another interesting choice. I don't drive the car that much so the tyres are likely to age before they wear out.

Falkens are H rated again but I'm beginning to think this is ok despite the porsche indicated rating being V.

I'll see what other recommendations are then bore the bullet.

What's your insurance company's opinion of not fitting an appropriately rated tyre? You wouldn't want them to wriggle out of a potential future claim?

With the speed limit at a max of 70 any tyre should do

Hmm.

Those are "type approval" regulations for new vehicles, it doesn't have anything to do with "use". The MoT test does not specify a check of tyre speed ratings for cars (class 4 vehicles), load index and speed rating being applicable to Class 5 & 7 only.

Our "friends" the insurance industry, however, might justifiably argue that fitting tyres at a speed rating which differs from that mandated by the vehicle manufacturer is a deviation from "standard" and hence a "modification". As insurance companies require you to declare modifications, they may well refuse to pay out if a car has been modified and not declared as such. I had one insurance company argue that fitting winter tyres was a notifiable modification until I pointed them to the relevant page in the car's manual.

The other thing that springs to mind is that the tyre performance to get a V rating now must be different to that in 1985.

It begs the question would a modern day V rated tyre be specified for a 944 Lux today.

No, not really. The test has been pretty much the same. Basically, the tyre is run under load against a roller for about an hour at speeds up to the designed speed and if it doesn't fall apart, it passes. It isn't a particular thorough or realistic test.

The labelling style changed a couple of times.

Would a "V" rated tyre be specified as standard for a 944 Lux if it was newly marketed today? Yes. The Type Approval legislation posted by Jim earlier would require it.

The thing that gets me is H tyres are rated to 130 mph and the Factory specified top speed of the 944 Lux is 130 mph!

V tyres are rated to 149 mph.

I can fully understand the need for V rated tyres on the 944S, S2 and Turbos but for a Lux it would seem unreasonable.

At this age the car would probably disintegrate long before a V tyre did!!

Hmm, the manual actually says a top speed of 137 mph.

Oh well, V rated looks like the way to go.

From memory, the S2 was specified on "ZR" tyres = 150mph+ even though top speed was 149mph so I guess Porsche were allowing a little wriggle room. That would be "W" in today's marking sysystem.