Tyre wear

[Toddie]

I have Pirelli P Zero Rosso tyres fitted on the rear of my Boxster they are 255/40/17 N5, I was shocked @ the weekend to discover that they are down to 2mm, in 6883 miles. Date of manufacture 1519. They are fairly evenly worn across the tread as well. They were fitted in August 2019 @ the same time as having a 4 wheel geo/alignment done. In stark contrast the front Pirelli N3’s were fitted in March 2018 & have done 10600 miles & have 6mm to 5.5mm fairly evenly across the tread. Which gives an indication of how the car is driven, there have been no track days, & I have never been on a Strines run!
I am going to go back to the tyre retailer who are a Pirelli performance centre & express my concerns, I find it very difficult to understand how they could wear so much in a relatively low mileage. Now I know that Pirelli are not the forum’s favourites, but what are other members thoughts on this?
 

 

 

 

 

[Terryg]

What do you use the car for, day to day stuff or just fast road use? I would get through the Kumho rears in less than 4000 miles but the car was really only for weekend fun use. You say no Strines runs or trackdays but you may be keen on acceleration!

Edited May 2, 2023 by Terryg

[Toddie]

@Terryg the car is used for weekend fun use, but not really trashed, I like my acceleration but not spinning wheels from a standing start, I like it rolling before I give it some beans. Most of the mileage I have SWMBO in the car as well!

[McDonald]

46 minutes ago, Toddie said:

I have Pirelli P Zero Rosso tyres fitted on the rear of my Boxster they are 255/40/17 N5, I was shocked @ the weekend to discover that they are down to 2mm, in 6883 miles. Date of manufacture 1519. They are fairly evenly worn across the tread as well. They were fitted in August 2019 @ the same time as having a 4 wheel geo/alignment done. In stark contrast the front Pirelli N3’s were fitted in March 2018 & have done 10600 miles & have 6mm to 5.5mm fairly evenly across the tread. 

This will definitely make me check my tyres. I've done many more miles since they were fitted. 

[Terryg]

1 hour ago, Toddie said:

@Terryg the car is used for weekend fun use, but not really trashed, I like my acceleration but not spinning wheels from a standing start, I like it rolling before I give it some beans. Most of the mileage I have SWMBO in the car as well!

I think some will find it a low figure, but as I said mine was between 3 and 4k and I wasn't spinning wheels either but most of my cars use was "enthusiastic" and Kumho are grippy but soft. It will improve now I don't keep the company I did and I have Michelins which do seem to have better wear characteristics. It will be interesting to see what others who have had Pirelli say.

BTW you better correct Boxster in the my ride section before one of the pedants spots it (yeah I get the irony in that).

[½cwt]

The Dunlops on the rear of mine have had about the same life but are a bit tapered on the insides indicating a slight geo issue which will be corrected when the new ones are fitted.  Pirellis are not generally regarded as the best for UK roads and are some the most expensive, so maybe save a few pennies if wear rate/cost is a concern.  Getting a tyre with a N rating is not an issue on a vehicle this old where tyre tech and cars designed for the latest N tyres have moved on so far from the 986 over 20 years.

[RBD914 v2]

Tyres are a very strange science....here are two extremes.

On my motorbike, a 1290cc KTM Adventure, with 180 bhp and 106 ft lbs of torque, I get 2,500 miles out of the tyres.

In my Jaguar I-Pace, a 2 ton behemoth with 400 bhp and 500 ft lbs of torque - so far I have got 22,000 miles on all 4 tyres.

Go figure???

[½cwt]

2 hours ago, RBD914 v2 said:

Tyres are a very strange science....here are two extremes.

On my motorbike, a 1290cc KTM Adventure, with 180 bhp and 106 ft lbs of torque, I get 2,500 miles out of the tyres.

In my Jaguar I-Pace, a 2 ton behemoth with 400 bhp and 500 ft lbs of torque - so far I have got 22,000 miles on all 4 tyres.

Go figure???

Look at the comparative contact patch size vs power trans mitted through that patch. And ironically the heavy vehicle has better traction so will less often create higher degrees of slip (I don't mean wild wheel spin as the TC system takes care of that) which is what kills tyres.  The 986 generally doesn't have TC so will more often have a higher slip in traction so wear the tyres quite a lot.

[Terryg]

3 hours ago, RBD914 v2 said:

Tyres are a very strange science....here are two extremes.

On my motorbike, a 1290cc KTM Adventure, with 180 bhp and 106 ft lbs of torque, I get 2,500 miles out of the tyres.

In my Jaguar I-Pace, a 2 ton behemoth with 400 bhp and 500 ft lbs of torque - so far I have got 22,000 miles on all 4 tyres.

Go figure???

The thought of 180bhp on a bike just scares the shyatee out of me, exactly double what my old 900SS had,.

Christ on a bike! (pun intended)

[Toddie]

I have ordered new pair of the same tyres from the original supplier, who will be returning the worn ones to Pirelli as a complaint, we will see what happens. This was the only way to go to try to get some resolution from Pirelli. I will post up here the end result.

[Terryg]

15 hours ago, Toddie said:

I have ordered new pair of the same tyres from the original supplier, who will be returning the worn ones to Pirelli as a complaint, we will see what happens. This was the only way to go to try to get some resolution from Pirelli. I will post up here the end result.

Good luck, look forward to hearing what they say.

[Toddie]

@Terryg interestingly I have looked back into the large file of receipts that came with the car, & the previous set of N3 rear tyres that I replaced did 12162 miles, the N5 tyres that are worn out have done 6883 miles, so there is obviously a big difference in compound or something 🤔 

It will be interesting to see what Pirelli have to say!

[Terryg]

26 minutes ago, Toddie said:

@Terryg interestingly I have looked back into the large file of receipts that came with the car, & the previous set of N3 rear tyres that I replaced did 12162 miles, the N5 tyres that are worn out have done 6883 miles, so there is obviously a big difference in compound or something 🤔 

It will be interesting to see what Pirelli have to say!

Ah yeah that does seem odd.

[½cwt]

Bear in mind nothing since the P Zero N1 was developed between Pirelli and Porsche for the 986, only for later models, which is where the whole 'must have N tyres' argument falls down.....

Unfortunately I can't see you getting much out of Pirelli other than maybe a small goodwill gesture.  It is not unknow for sportscars particularly without TC to do a set of tyres in under 6k miles, even if higher numbers have been seen, at 3k miles you'd have a stronger case.  Perhaps the N5 is a softer compound homologated by Pirelli with Porsche for the 718 than the N3 for the 987/981 was, who knows other than Porsche and Pirelli?.  Tyres are definitely a black art!

[Patt]

from sticker to visible wire in just 75 miles for some Toyo T1Rs  - my worse in the "Maggot" (Evo 6)