by John Glynn | Oct 15, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Porsche Cayenne, Porsche News
Stuttgart recently released its latest list of Porsche approved ‘N-rated’ tyres. The approved list won’t surprise too many people, but the pic below of a Porsche 356 Coupe close to vertical on the Continental ContiDrom banking in testing might raise a smile.
Porsche’s N rating is regularly updated to keep abreast of progress made in tyre development, including tread design and compound changes. Tyre fitter legend has it that, once a tyre is granted an N rating, it cannot be altered without losing approval. The budget brands don’t feature in the Porsche lists, but is that due to money and marketing? Who believes these N-rated lists?
Porsche’s N rated approval lists don’t mention tyre price premiums or brand discounting on tyres supplied with new cars. Instead, the lists are said to come from extensive tests carried out by “Porsche tyre experts” over several weeks. This year, the test team used the aforementioned 356, an impact-bumper 911 2.7 Carrera, a 911 Turbo (930) and a first-gen Porsche 986 Boxster. No mention of front-engined cars or the 964/993 series with 17″ and 18″ wheels, but they do feature on the N rated lists.
The forum jury is well and truly out as to whether Porsche-approved tyres are that much better than non N-rated tyres. I have used both N-rated and unrated tyres on my own classic Porsche cars and been happy with examples from each camp. That said, my 911 is currently on non N-rated tyres that do have a version on the Porsche approved list and they have proved excellent. I am not saying that the N rated list is fallacy, just that there are other tyres out there that seem to work well on older Porsches.
N rated Porsche Tyre Prices
A set of new N-rated tyres for my 911 costs around £400, so it’s not saving a huge amount of money over five years (or however long you expect tyres to last on a car doing 2k miles a year) to pick a set of tyres costing a hundred quid less. Not that I ever buy new tyres for my own cars, and the argument changes if you use your Porsche daily: Ferdinand’s 10 year-old Cayenne S will happily demolish two sets of part-worn Continental tyres in ten thousand miles.
I started my classic Porsche career on Kumho tyres, and have also used Falken, Goodyear Eagle F1, Michelin Pilot Sport Cup and Continental ContiSportContact to name a few I recall. Friends use Bridgestone S-02 (approved), S-03 and Toyo R888 on track cars. I like driving on the Bridgestone S-02s but find the 888s to be very noisy and hard work in heavy rain. I’ve driven too many 911s on Michelin TB5 and TB15 to list: not my favourite tyres but they do look good on wide wheels.
My own preference thus far is for Pilot Sport Cups, but ignore what I am telling you. They are super expensive, will scare you a bit in torrential downpours and won’t last more than 2,000 miles if you’re lucky. That said they look drop-dead gorgeous and the grip is amazing. My last set of Pilot Sport Cup rubber expired about four years ago and I’ve been on ContiSportContact ever since: grip is great, long tyre life (as I don’t go anywhere) and superb in the wet.
N-Rated Tyres on Classic Porsche Cars
ContiSportContact and SportContact 2 are N rated tyres. The SportContact is also an F-rated tyre: Ferdinand recommends them 100% based on the fact that we’ve used SportContacts for more than 5k miles and didn’t die in a blazing inferno due to skidding off-piste. ContiSport Contact 3 is not N rated but they are also great: been using them on my E36 BMW M3 for a couple of years and they are superb, but not N rated and not available in 245/45 16 to fit 9″ Fuchs. Both sets of SportContact rubber replaced GoodYear Eagle F1s, which must be the worst tyres I have ever driven on: Kumhos included.
The Porsche N rated tyre lists include approval for:
- Porsche 356: Pirelli P6000 (would not look great IMO)
- Porsche 924: P6000, Continental ContisportContact and Michelin Pilot Exalto PE2 (I have P6000s on my 924 Turbo)
- Porsche 928: Pirelli P Zero Asimmetrico, ContiSportContact, Michelin Pilot Sport PS2
- Porsche 959: Bridgestone RE71
- Porsche 964: Pirelli P Zero Rosso, Bridgestone S-01, Bridgestone S-02A
- Porsche 986 and 996 add ContiSportContact 2 and Pirelli P Zero Direzionale.
I’d be interested to know who is using non N rated and how they have been doing – add thoughts in the comments. Anyone who believes Porsche cars should only run on N-rated rubber can rest assured that we understand the arguments in favour but are happy to deviate from that advice.
by John Glynn | Sep 27, 2014 | Porsche Cayenne, Project Cars
I drive my Cayenne S as the makers intended, which frequently means doing fairly high speeds while approaching roundabouts, junctions and the rest. You sit high in the Cayenne, but the PCM radio screen position is low in the dash, under the dash vents. So checking the sat nav display on the head unit could be dangerous in the wrong situation.
It’s not a huge issue if you retain PCM, as the display in the centre of the clocks gives arrow indications of directions ahead, and Cayenne models later than my 955 have a beautiful multi-colour sat nav screen to play with. However, PCM does not readily integrate iPod/iPhone music support, or postcode navigation, or Bluetooth for phones, or DAB radio. I wanted all of these, so I upgraded/updated the PCM 2 supplied with my Cayenne as standard and fitted the Kenwood DNX4210DAB instead.
With iPhone control, superb Garmin navigation, DAB+, 3 2v RCA preouts and an interface for the multifunction steering wheel controls, the 4210DAB has proved almost perfect to use. But by switching to an aftermarket unit, I’ve lost my dash direction display, and frequently find myself looking down by the gear lever to check my GPS speed, position and route ahead. I don’t like this on unfamiliar roads, and definitely would not be a fan on foreign motorway journeys, a few of which are already pencilled for next year.
So I’ve sold the Kenwood 4210 and replaced it with a Kenwood DDX4025DAB: has all the same features as the 4210 including DVD player and so on but without the navigation. The screen is not quite as nice, but the sound is great. I am looking at ways to integrate my separate Garmin 2595LM navigation unit into the dashtop or add one of the latest head-up displays for smartphone GPS navigation into the Cayenne.
I’ve recently picked up an iPhone 6 Plus 128GB, so it could be that this with the Garmin iPhone app and a head-up link is the way forward for my in-car navigation. Would be interested to hear from anyone using head-up displays in their car. It looks to me like the 955 Cayenne dash will not allow head-up directly in front of the driver due to the screen angle and depth of the dash binnacle, but I am going to see what I can get my hands on to try out. It’s pretty easy to get used Cayenne dashboard parts on eBay to cut up for trial fit.
by John Glynn | Jul 9, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Modified Porsche Hot Rods, Project Cars
Love these new Porsche 911 anti-roll bars (sway bars) from our friends at EB Motorsport. Sold in matched pairs for front and rear, the front ARB runs through the body, while the rear is suspended across the chassis using the original mounts.
“The EB Motorsport anti-roll bar set has been developed on our own cars in racing,” says EB’s Mark Bates. “Front and rear bars are available in various sizes: 22mm is the most popular size for 3.0 RS and RSRs like our race cars. We use hollow bars as we prefer the characteristics. The ARB stiffness is fully adjustable.
“The EB Motorsport anti-roll bars feature elegantly simple engineering. The bushed mounting system on both front and rear installations is less likely to distort in extreme conditions. Consequently, it resists “grounding out” as many other ARB types are prone to when under high load, such as at the bottom of Paddock Hill, at Brands Hatch.
The original design of this product is multi-piece aluminium, TIG welded. The bushes used by these EB Motorsport Porsche 911 anti-roll bars are a modern polymer equivalent to the original Delrin Acetal resin. Drop links are beautifully machined from aluminium and anodised. Cross drilled moment arms allow for easy adjustment. All connections feature rose joints with machined spacers, to allow free movement.
Some friends of mine use the Smart Racing rear ARB on their classic Porsche 911 for track days, and I have definitely seen those ground out at Paddock. In fact, I have even seen the rear tyre rub against the inside of the wheelarch through that compression zone and burn the paint off the outside of the arch on a 3.2 Carrera. It’s a pretty intense Porsche workout around Brands Hatch! Impressive if EB has found a way around the issue.
The EB Motorsport anti-roll bar kits retail at £1215 ex-works. They are suitable for most early cars, and all 911s up to 1989 with some modification to front fitment: impact bumper 911s are not through-the-body as standard. Contact EB Motorsport via their website to find out more.
by John Glynn | Apr 28, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Porsche News
Now Ted the Jack Russell Terrier is here, I’m probably going to run a split dog guard in the Cayenne and maybe get a roof box for the odd time the whole family takes off in it. Seems the standard Cayenne roof bars are too wide for most aftermarket boxes: need to try and find a Porsche one.
Looking at Cayenne roof box pictures on Rennlist (mostly a deterrent to my idea), I found these pics of Andy Roe’s paint-to-sample 1991 964 C2 Coupe with a Thule roof box fitted. Seemed pretty handy so I dropped him a line.
“At 320 litres, this is more than enough space for what I need,” says Andy, a Briton now living in Bologna, Italy who tours with his family in the Porsche. “There’s enough space for 4 or 5 reasonably-sized bags. I keep the heavier bags in the car.”
People will no doubt ask about the change in noise and efficiency. “No real change in wind noise at 65mph,” Andy explains. “Fuel economy did suffer slightly: maybe 5-10% difference. Some change in the way the car accelerates and how hard you need to brake when fully loaded, but nothing major. I recommend this to anyone trying to make their 964/993/911 more practical.”
No doubt there will be a few haters, but I bet Andy clocks up more miles fully loaded than most of them. This to me seems a great way to use a 911 more often and avoid the dreaded 320 Touring. It’s not going to damage the car and keeps the car in regular use for more than weekend meets.
by John Glynn | Nov 5, 2013 | Classic Porsche Blog, Project Cars
An interesting conversation tonight about WEVO’s 915 GateShift kit versus the classic WEVO shifter.
After years of using a WEVO shifter in my own 911, I recommend the beautifully engineered WEVO shifter as the number one upgrade on any impact-bumper Porsche 911 running a 915 transmission (seen below on a Tuthill rally build). Surprisingly, the man who invented, designed and manufactures both products says different.
“At Windrush, we say the best upgrade for the 915 is the internal gate of the WEVO GateShift kit”, says Hayden Burvill. “The internal architecture of the 915 is such that extra control of the shift rail mechanism can greatly reduce the risk of a potential missed shift.
“Chassis twist, drivers hanging on the shift lever and the unmanaged freedom of the internals of the 915 mean that you can mis-select gears without feeling any real tactile warning. The GateShift kit (below) installs a “spoiler” between the gear planes, creating an obstruction that will warn you that the gear you are heading for is not here! You stay in neutral, not selecting a potentially destructive ratio.
“The driver with a steady hand and smooth shifting style will hardly notice it is there. It’s dormant: only coming into effect when you inadvertently cut the corners of the shift pattern.
“For those who have driven with the GateShift kit, I believe very few would ever build another 915 without one. We drove ours for a long time with a completely stock shifter, only the stock coupler had new round hole aftermarket bushes. It was wonderful, we have since added a WEVO 915 Classic Shifter (base detail below), mostly for the reduced lever travel.”
Quite the revelation. Turns out you can also fit WEVO’s GateShift without removing the transmission. You learn something new every day! Despite Hayden’s wisdom, I still place my shifter at the top of the upgrade list, and have never felt the need for a GateShift. But, were money no object, I would have the WEVO lot!
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