I need a new set of tires for my 997S and my local tire stores nor Tire Rack or any other internet dealer other than my local Prosche dealer can get 235/35/19 Porsche N spec tires. tire rack has them in stock but is not allowed to sell them to the public and can only sell them directly to Porsche dealers! After being very persistant and calling tire stores all over the USA, calling tire manfucatures direct and PCNA I have learned the following:

Porsche has worked a deal with the N spec tire suppliers to lock up any tire store or dealer from selling tires to consumers unless we buy direct from the Porsche dealer! There is a lock on these tires right now in contract until at least September 7th and then Porsche will tell the tire manufactures if they can announce if tire dealers can sell direct to consumers.

I'd like to know how the heck this is legal?

I know this would NEVER work in my industry and as I understand it a company can not legally tell is dealr net work what they can sell for on a face to face basis and can not only tell it's dealer network what the MAP (min advertised price) should be.

Damn, I am pissed!!!!!

 

that is some crazy jacked up $hit..

 

i have one brand new, never mounted ps2 in that size i can sell you if it helps..it was a spare for my car but i sold it and still have the tire.

 

Thanks but I need a whole set. I am switch to the Bridgestone RE050A for my street tires. Michelin PS2's are way too much $$$ for just street tires when the Bridgestones are so much less and still Porsche approved.

 

i am pretty sure you can buy a take-off set of brand new wheels and tires for cheaper than paying the dealer for a set of brand new tires + mount/balance.

 

1 month ago I put my name in at all the local Porsche dealers (3 of them) and have call to check up and none have any take off wheels or tires.

I did get a reply from Suncoast Porsche and they will match the Tire Rack price but there shipping and mount balance is more. Shipping $15 per tire mount balance $35 per tire. I said get them by friday so my fingers are crossed. Suncoast Porsche actually called me back and so far have been great. Hopefully this continues.

 

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...ad.php?t=94922

what about those.
also, there are always a few on ebay, all brand new tires, narrow or wide body.
anywhere from 1500 for lobsterforks up to 3000 for turbos.
there is that shop in florida that has tons of takeoff sets.

 

live in So Cal and was able to order them and have them installed the next day through Americas Tires with no problem what so ever.

 

hmm thats a common M3 front tire size for oem 19s. What makes N spec different than a regular ps2 in that size?

 

someone should put a stop to this conspiracy!!!

 

Regarding N Spec tires:

"Porsche designs and manufacturers some of the highest performance cars in the world (with the exception of the butt-ugly Cayenne). All this design and performance is worth nothing if you put cheap Korean tyres on your Porsche though, and because of that prospect, Porsche introduced the N rating or N specification system. In order for a manufacturer to be an OE (original equipment) supplier of tyres for Porsches, they must work with the Porsche engineers at the development and testing stage. They concentrate on supreme dry-weather handling but they also spend a considerable amount of time working on wet-weather handling. Porsches are typically very tail-heavy because of the position of the engine relative to the rear wheels, and with traction control off, it's extremely easy to spin one in the wet. Because of this, Porsche specify a set of wet-grip properties which is way above and beyond the requirements of any other car manufacturer.
OE tyres for Porsches must successfully pass lab tests to prove that they would be capable of adequately supporting a Porsche at top speed on a German Autobahn. Once the lab tests are done, they must go on to track and race tests where prototypes are evaluated by Porsche engineers for their high-speed durability, uniformity and serviceability. If they pass all the tests, Porsche give the manufacturer the go-ahead to put the tyres into production and then they can proudly claim they are an N-rated Porsche OEM.
The N-ratings go from 0 (zero) to 4, marked as N-0, N-1 etc. This N-rating, stamped into a tyre sidewall, clearly identifies these tyres as having gone through all the nauseating R&D and testing required by Porsche as described above. The number designates the revision of the design. So for a totally new design, the first approved version of it will be N-0. When the design is improved in some way, it will be re-rated as an N-1. If the design changes completely so as to become a totally new tyre, it will be re-rated at N-0.
If you've got a Porsche, then you ought to be aware that as well as using N-rated tyres, you ought to use matching tyres all around because many Porsches have different sizes tyres front and rear. So for example if you have a Porsche with N-3 rated tyres and the rear ones need replacing but the model has been discontinued, you should not get N-0's and put them on the back leaving the old N-3's on the front. You should replace all of them with the newer-designed re-rated N-0 tyres. But then you own a Porsche so you can certainly afford four new tyres....
One final point. You may go into a tire warehouse and find two tyres with all identical markings, sizes and speed ratings, but one set has an N-rating. Despite everything else being the same, the non-N-rated tyres have not been certified for use on a Porsche. You can buy them, and you can put them on your car, but if you stuff it into the armco at 150mph, Porsche will just look at you and with a very teutonic expression ask why you didn't use N-rated tyres."

Lifted from: http://www.chris-longhurst.com/carbi...yre_bible.html

 

The limited supply of OE product that we have in our distribution channel was supplied to us by the original equipment tire manufacturers on PCNA’s behalf to ensure that Porsche dealers can support their customers directly. When OE supply issues are resolved and manufacturers can fill our requested orders for all market demand, we immediately open the products back up as soon as possible. At this time, the tire in question can be purchased at your local Porsche dealer.

If anyone has further questions please contact me directly. It is our intent to stop the spread of misinformation on this subject.

 

No spread on mis-info as I got the info from Tire Rack and later confirmed by Porsche. Damon I know you personally have no control over this either.

Because of this hold on product at Tire Rack and every other tire reseller I had to go to a authorized Porsche dealer to buy my tires. I could not get them anywhere else even though they are at the Tire Rack warehouse in stock.

Tire Rack advertises the tire in question for sale @ $232. All the many Porsche dealers I called marked this tire up from anywhere around $270-$320 BECAUSE they know they have a monopoly and there is no where else a consumer can go to get this sizes of tire!!!!!!

Luckly and my fingers are crossed I found a Porsche dealer willing to help me out and sell me the tires I need for the same price Tire Rack advertises them for. Although the shipping is more than tire rack charges per tire and mounting is more I did end up with an OK deal.

I am pretty much upset with these type of UNFAIR and ILLEGAL fair trade business practices!

 

Wow, this doesn't make any sense. Is this Porsche vehicles exclusive?
What if someone with an Audi or Ferrari wanted that size tire? Would they have to go to their dealer to have the tires ordered from Porsche?
Sound like an infraction of the fair-trade/anti-trust law

 

The way Tire Rack explained it to me when I had a flat tire is that there were low supplies of the tire. When that happens Porsche asks Tire Rack to get the approval from Porsche before selling a tire. The reason was to prevent dealerships from buying their own to stockpile a local supply and thus make the shortage even worse.

I have no knowledge as to the validity of this. I'm just repeating what I was told.