Subject: Tires, traction, and Cold
From: "Roger Woodbury" <rmwoodbury@acadia.net>
Date: Wed, 1 Dec 1999 06:51:51 -0500
X-Message-Number: 4

Ed:  Every fall, I make the same pronouncement about tires on the 928.  Up
here along the coast of Maine, where my 928 is on the road all the time,  we
have an wonderful, and unpredictable mix of winter weather.

Basically, though, after the seven and a half days of summer, we have cool
and cooler weather until we enjoy the other three seasons:  winter, deep
winter and next winter.

I would NEVER consider putting anything other than true, "all season" tires
on my car.  The reason is that once the temperature gets consistently below
fifty degrees or so, the higher performance tires will get hard as rocks and
make the car behave like a pig on skates.

So, in terms of real world driving,  I just don't consider a really exotic
tire.  My favorites right now, are the Dunlop 4000SP, which is a "Z" rated,
all season tire.  Another neat thing is that it is quite quiet, very
inexpensive and lasts a loooong time even on the 928.

I have been caught in some rather nasty snow/sleet/ice interludes, that were
not forecast at all, and found the car to be more than manageable as long as
I didn't get really goofy with the right foot.

Roger




From: Ed Ruiz [eds928s@erols.com]
Sent: Wednesday, January 19, 2000 6:46 AM
To: 928
Subject: [928] Re: Tire Reccomendations Please

Dear John:
You said, "Poor weather handling and not Z rating is more important (though 
I'd like to have both if possible). I figure there has got to be something 
out there in a 225/50 R16 that will do the trick at @$150.00 per tire 
installed. I'll spend the big bucks on the performance set later. Any 
suggestions please?"

I have Pirelli Super Sport P-7000 ZR4s. Like you, I also drove in the Metro 
DC area Yesterday, but unlike you, the tires were firmly planted to the 
road. I didn't even get a wheel-spin as I drove up my driveway (which 
climbs over a meter in about 10 meters (that's about a 10% grade). The 
price for them was $120 last August. Add another $20 for mounting and 
balancing, and they were still below $150 per tire installed.

I like their dry as well as the wet traction, and they are fairly quite 
too. I hope they last, but if not, I'll just get another set, when the time 
comes.

Merry motoring. ~Ed~





From: Ed Ruiz [eds928gt@yahoo.com]
Sent: Wednesday, September 06, 2000 8:00 PM
To: 928
Subject: [928] Re: winter tire recommendation

Dear Dan:
I drive my GT nearly everyday, regardless of weather.  Fortunately, here in 
northern VA we don't get too much snow, but we do get it now and again.  On 
my street wheels I always use All-Season tires.  I've tried several brands 
over the years.  Currently, I'm using Pirelli P7000 Super Sport M+S.  Last 
year, they provided the traction I needed to get through 4" of powder.  
Anything over 4" and the spoiler becomes a plow.  YMMV.

I'm sure there are other good snow tires, but I wanted tires for all other 
weather conditions too.  If you just want "Snow" tires, I hear very good 
things about "Blizzarks".

~ Merry motoring ~



From: Roger M. Woodbury [rmwoodbury@acadia.net]
Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2000 8:35 AM
To: 928
Subject: [928] winter tires

I think that you will easily be able to drive your shark year round in
Westchester.  There may be a few days when there is simply too much snow,
but other than something with real road clearance and 4wd, little will move
on those days.

I live in downeast Maine, and I drove my 928S4 year round, altthough in
deepest winter, it sat, simply because there was too much ice to move it out
of my yard.

Anyway, I ONLY put Dunlop 4000SP tires on the car.  They were all season, Z
rated tires, that delivered 20,000 miles to there rears, and could have
lasted nearly 30 on the fronts.  The reason that I used those, instead of a
more exotic tire for summer driving, was that so much of the evening
temperatures here year round can slip down into...oh, even the upper
forties, that I wanted the added stickiness that an "all season" tire gives.

They were very quiet, rode and handled extremely well, and the best part:
they were cheaper than anything else that was at all comparable at the time.
I had two sets that I went through on the 928 before selling it.

I suggest these to you, as a pure winter tire will be noisier and I doubt
that you will need the real winter tire traction in Westchester.  The few
times that I actually had the 928 out in snow, snow, it did fine, provided I
was careful with the throttle.

Roger