2 years with 13,000 miles on them and its time for some new tires.

Any recommendations for the southern california weather?

 

what weather is in so cal? oh you mean sun pretty much year round...not very demanding weather for tires imho. You could go with just about anything. I personally think that for the money and performance the Potenza RE050a Porsche N0 spec is where its at. The PS2 and esp the Pirelli rosso are overpriced.

 

Michelin Pilot Sport!!!!!!!!!!

 

PS2"s are the best tire period.. They cost more but they handle the best and you don't have to listen to the road noise. Very comfortable tire.

 

I have a set of Yokohama Advan Sports on my Audi, I have used these on the track and as DD. I have been so impressed with them that I will give them a try on my 997S when they PZero's are worn out.

I thought that they were exceptional in the wet weather, we get a little bit of that in Vancouver!

 

I bet there is less than a 5% difference in grip and that between the PS2 and RE050a you would be hard pressed to tell a difference in the 997.

 

I think the Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta is awesome.

 

I would definitely recommend the PS2's - the only downfall is the price - otherwise, they are outstanding. You've got to push the car extremely hard to get these things to lose grip. Just picked my second set of rears after 10k on the originals..

My brother-in-law has the RE050's on his Cayman S, the second car he's bought that came outfitted with them. Ok grip, but when he takes my car out with the PS2's, he says there is no comparison...

 

PS2. I just put a set on about 2 weeks ago. Finally available again in Carrera Sport OEM sizes. I purchased and had mine installed at Wheel Enhancement in Culver City. I was happy with both the price and the care they took on the installation.

Bridgestone is a good tire also but I believe about 5 pounds heavier per rear tire. For my uses this made the Bridgestone not an option.

 

the fronts weigh 2 lbs more than the ps2 and the rear weigh 4 lbs more. This is not substantial for the avg driver. I am sure a lot of people on here myself included would benefit from shedding 12 lbs from their weight lol. I drive my car pretty hard and the RE050A do not lose grip. I think they would only lose grip if I do something stupid with the car and I think the same could be said of the PS2. I do not think the PS2 is a $200 better tire (ps2 rear is $475ish RE050 is $285ish). Maybe $50 better but not $200 per just my 0.02

 

Jay, the tires may equal only 12lbs when on a scale, but when calculating unsprung weight 1lb is equal to 7lbs, so running the PS2's is the same as dropping 84lbs from your car/driver.

 

NorthVan -- Well, that scares me. I pick up my 997S with new Techart Formula II's and wider 20" Toyo TR1s tomorrow. Inasmuch as there's about 4-6 lbs. difference between my OEM lobster forks and the Techart's, and the 20" tires may weigh a couple of pounds more than the 19"s, your math makes me think that I'm losing 20 horsepower. Jeez.

 

I have never heard 1 lb being equal to 7 lbs of rotational mass. From what I remember I read that rotational mass is roughly double. Do you have an equation or literature that supports this claim? Also, to me running the RE050 is not a big deal as my HRE comp series wheels more than cover for the weight compared to the stock wheels.

 

http://www.dragstuff.com/techarticle...reduction.html

Hard to find the item, but you can use your browser search and type "unsprung"

Doing a google search will give you a lot of talk on forums about it. While researching track wheels for my car I was told 7 pounds was the number by a few different people.

 

20" wheels are heavy, Techart Wheels are very heavy. Lobster Fork wheels are the lightest 19" Wheel that Porsche makes for the 997. However when it comes to looks, the Techarts are awesome. I guess you will need to do more mods to your car to get the performance numbers back up, I think this is how we all get sick from the Mod Bug!