I'm in the process of ordering some new tires and see that I can choose between N2, N3, XL and no designation. I know that the N refers to Porsche factory designed or something and XL means heavy. But is there any advantage / disadvantage of getting a N3 or a N2.

Somebody please break this code for my simple mind

Thanks.

PS. I'm getting the PS2's.

 

'Nx' (x = 0, 1, 2,...) is used to designate tires built specifically to Porsche
specs, determined by extensive testing. In order to make sure you use the right tire, Porsche and the tire makers agreed on this extra designation.

The letter 'N' was chosen arbitrarily (it just stands for 'Nummer' or
'Number'). The numerals 0, 1, 2, etc. are used to designate updates within
one series of tires. Every time they change something in the
construction, the value is increased by 1. N2 is therefore the third
modification series.

An N-spec tire will have the same outward appearance (tread
pattern, dimensions) as a 'regular' tire, but the rubber compound and
carcass construction will be different.

Porsche puts a lot of effort into testing tires and getting the tire
makers to produce tires to their specs. They might be harder to find
(depending on your location), wear faster and possibly cost more, but
they meet the stringent requirements for Porsche.

 

Good explanation!

 

So I guess I want to get the highest N number then? Is this a fair assumption? Can I also mix an N2 on the front and an N3 on the back?

 

You can, but it's a grey area. Do the tires look the same? Most of the time. Are they made the same? No, that's why the designation is different. Could you tell the difference if you mismatched? Maybe, if you knew tire construction and were very attuned to how the tires handled one from the next. Of course Porsche won't recommend that you mix and match them and neither do we. But to be completely honest, 9 out of 10 of you would not be able to tell the difference between how two different N-spec designations handle one from another if you were to drive them both back to back. Some are completely different (ie. S0-2 N2, and S-02A N3 and Pilot Sport and Pilot Sport Rib), and some are very subtle and look the same (Sport Contact 2 N2 and Sport Contact 2 XL).

XL means that the tire is built with either extra layers of body and/or sidewall plies and usually result in a tire that has better steering response and load capacity. Many N-spec tires are also XL rated to confuse you a little more.

The bottom line? On a 911, any variant, you should never mix and match the brands front to rear, and you should keep the designations the same if possible. Thie car is much more attuned to the performance of its tires than most. We have a writeup on it at http://www.tirerack.com/about/techcenter/.jsp

Give me a call to order, Gunther since the board is without sponsor links right now.