996Outpost.com

JayG wrote: ↑Sun Nov 08, 2020 4:34 pm Don't flame me, I needed new shoes for my Targa and didn't want to spend big $$

After looking at the normal choices, Conti's, Michelin AS3, etc, I went with Nankang NS-25 All Season UHP. My Targa has 19's.
I ended up buying all 4 for roughly $400! The other tires would have been around $1100.
I had a local small shop mount and balance, adding another $80. So I was in for $480.

I don't track or AX this car, so decent All Season tires were what I wanted and with my pending move to Austin and winter coming, summer tires were not the way to go.

Frankly, I have been pleasantly surprised with them. We just had 2 rainy days, and they performed really well on wet roads.
If you are looking for a lower cost, but decent performing tire, definitely consider these. BTW, from what I can tell, they are not made in China, but Taiwan. I did a bit of research, and they have gotten pretty good reviews

FRUNKenstein wrote: ↑Mon Nov 09, 2020 6:26 am The price differential between the middle and upper classes is often very significant - sometimes double. But if you surf around and look at professional reviews and performance ratings, you’ll notice a lot of overlap between that middle group and the expensive group. I suspect that there is some minor performance edge to the expensive group, but given my driving skills and typical usage, I doubt I’d ever be able to exploit it. I suspect the same to be true for most other drivers. I think it is a lot like buying golf clubs - the weak link the the performance chain isn’t the equipment.

gnat wrote: ↑Mon Nov 09, 2020 6:59 am

FRUNKenstein wrote: ↑Mon Nov 09, 2020 6:26 am The price differential between the middle and upper classes is often very significant - sometimes double. But if you surf around and look at professional reviews and performance ratings, you’ll notice a lot of overlap between that middle group and the expensive group. I suspect that there is some minor performance edge to the expensive group, but given my driving skills and typical usage, I doubt I’d ever be able to exploit it. I suspect the same to be true for most other drivers. I think it is a lot like buying golf clubs - the weak link the the performance chain isn’t the equipment.

True. We don't buy PS2s for ours because we think there is some great technical advantage that will put us over the 9/10ths hump. We buy them because we've had a crappy set of tires (ContiSports) on the car in the past and have always been happy with the ride and wear of the PS2s. If we were still burning through a set or two every year like the early days (when the PS2s and ContiCrap were really the only options) I would probably have a different opinion, but at a new set every 3-6 years the price differential is less than the risk of having tires that we hate for the next 3-6 years.

FRUNKenstein wrote: ↑Mon Nov 09, 2020 6:27 am Now, for the real question, what’s up with the move to Austin? As in Texas?

32wildbilly wrote: ↑Mon Nov 09, 2020 7:28 am While I've only had one set on my car since I bought it I am not qualified to comment. However, my main consideration is always the noise factor. I hate driving a nice car when the tires makes it sound like I'm sitting in the cabin of a John Deere tractor.

gnat wrote: ↑Mon Nov 09, 2020 6:59 am
True. We don't buy PS2s for ours because we think there is some great technical advantage that will put us over the 9/10ths hump. We buy them because we've had a crappy set of tires (ContiSports) on the car in the past and have always been happy with the ride and wear of the PS2s. If we were still burning through a set or two every year like the early days (when the PS2s and ContiCrap were really the only options) I would probably have a different opinion, but at a new set every 3-6 years the price differential is less than the risk of having tires that we hate for the next 3-6 years.

FRUNKenstein wrote: ↑Mon Nov 09, 2020 6:26 am

JayG wrote: ↑Sun Nov 08, 2020 4:34 pm Don't flame me, I needed new shoes for my Targa and didn't want to spend big $$

After looking at the normal choices, Conti's, Michelin AS3, etc, I went with Nankang NS-25 All Season UHP. My Targa has 19's.
I ended up buying all 4 for roughly $400! The other tires would have been around $1100.
I had a local small shop mount and balance, adding another $80. So I was in for $480.

I don't track or AX this car, so decent All Season tires were what I wanted and with my pending move to Austin and winter coming, summer tires were not the way to go.

Frankly, I have been pleasantly surprised with them. We just had 2 rainy days, and they performed really well on wet roads.
If you are looking for a lower cost, but decent performing tire, definitely consider these. BTW, from what I can tell, they are not made in China, but Taiwan. I did a bit of research, and they have gotten pretty good reviews

Although I just bought a set of Michelin all seasons for my 996tt, I am a fan of the mid-price tire segment. When you do a search on Discounttire.com or tirerack.com, you generally see 3 groups - the cheapo, no-name tire, the expensive (mainly Michelin’s with some others sprinkled in), then that middle class that Nankang falls into (along with Hankook, Kumho and Sumitomo).

The price differential between the middle and upper classes is often very significant - sometimes double. But if you surf around and look at professional reviews and performance ratings, you’ll notice a lot of overlap between that middle group and the expensive group. I suspect that there is some minor performance edge to the expensive group, but given my driving skills and typical usage, I doubt I’d ever be able to exploit it. I suspect the same to be true for most other drivers. I think it is a lot like buying golf clubs - the weak link in the performance chain isn’t the equipment.