I am in the market for a new set of tires. I know this question had been asked many times, and I did use the search button for different opinions. So far, my top two choices are:

1. Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta. I have heard they are great tires, some people even go as far as saying they are better than the SP2's. I know SP2's are the golden standard here, so im not trying to pick a fight . I dont know if I like how the tires look, but if they are good, I couldn't care less. I have a hard time finding any reviews of these tires with 997 owners, can someone who owned these tires share their experience?

2. Hankook V-12. I have these tires on the E46 M3 right now and I LOVE them. They are great for everyday driving, quite, grippy, very composed. I buddies back in San Diego do track days on them and swears by them. But on the 997, people seems to have very polar opinions. Some people say they are great, others say its the worst they have done to their 997. Once again, can someone who owned these tires share their experience?

My car is a 2006 Carrera 997, I do about 90% street and maybe 10% track.

Please comment ONLY if you have owned these tires, I am on a budget and I would like to know what my options are THANKS!!

 

Anyone who are running Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta's on the 997?

 

I don't know if this will help you or not but I did have the Vreds on my Mercedes CL. They were a bargain price and they performed very well. I did have an issue with one tire and for some reason it just wouldn't balance properly. I thought maybe it was the wheel and played around with it before finally replacing it. My shop said that it could've had an unseen blemish that was causing the severe "pulling" to the car when mounted and balanced. I never had any trouble with the next 2 sets. Total sets 3, total miles 58,000+. I sold the car with a brand new set so I averaged about 25000 miles per set. The CL is a very heavy car and the tire life was still exceptional. And they looked really good on the wheel. I hope I helped a little.

 

Awesome, thanks! My plan is to go with the Verds. They are about $950 a set for me, vs $1400 for the Mich SS's.

 

I had Vreds on my 3 series BMW and my Maserati and loved them. Great in the rain, quiet and grippy on dry roads. Beautiful, unusual looking tread pattern.

Unfortunately, they don't make them wide enough for my 4S. Or I'd have gotten a set of them rather than my new PS2's.

 

The Verds have been on my 05 997 base for around 2 weeks, and 400 miles. So far I LOVE them! Just as grippy as the SP2's I had before, a tad bit quieter, I haven't tested them in the rain yet. Best of all, It cost just over $1000 for a set of four mounted and balanced

I have a track day on March 16th, more updates will be coming shortly after

 

For the $$ the Hankooks are great.

 

I had the Vred's on my M3. It was great for the rain in Seattle due to their excellent wet traction. As said previously, they don't make a 305/30R19 for my 4S which is a total bummer. I'll be sticking with a set of Pilot Super Sport for the up-coming season.

 

I have Hankook v12 and I think they are better than the contis that was on the car. They are quieter and have lots of grip in the corners. The price from Tire Rack is very good. I found that on my 08C2S I could not run tire pressures below about 34psi front & 42 psi rear. At lower pressures the tires feel loose in the corners. I don't know why. Maybe the tire walls are rolling at the lower pressure?

 

I just ordered a set of Hankook's today. Will have them installed next week. The reviews on TireRack.com were positive.

 

A slightly tangential question, but since I need new tires for my C2S something I've been pondering:

- Who do you trust to change your tires? Do you go to a P dealer, or do you trust a tire shop to not screw up your car and/or rims?

 

The Vredestein don't benefit from a throughout distribution so getting these can be hard, but having run these as a street tire I can say they compare very well to the PS2s. The sidewalls are slightly stiffer than the Hankooks as well.

I would pick these over the Hankooks!

 

Don't laugh too hard at me. Because of where I live, I have no great available options like Discount Tire, etc. I take my rims off myself and take them to Wal Mart and have them rotated and balanced for $5/tire. They haven't screwed anything on the rims up yet as they always ask, "what are these on?" I tell them and they treat them like gold. Just a set of Sport Designs from an 05S, but more expensive than anything else they see. My rims aren't perfect (a couple of scratches), so I worry a little less than most others, probably. My opinion is if you worry about every little scratch on a wheel or chip on the front bumper, you'll drive yourself crazy and not enjoy the car. Just me. Good luck.