Cayman Tires and Wheels

[David Newton]

Whenever someone stops me and asks about my Cayman, the discussion always seems to go to tires and wheels. This is the place to talk about all things related to what keeps your Cayman on the road.

[David Newton]

I'm hoping all of you Cayman owners can help me with a delema: My Cayman is a year-round driver and my rear Michelin Pilots have to be replaced with only 18,500 miles on them (and I'm really not that agressive).

Can anyone share experieces with All Season tires? I know I can buy a set of snow tires and swap them for the winter season, but I'd rather not make that investment. My local CJ's tells me that Michelin makes all seasn Pilots (AS) for the rear but not the front. I'm not so much concerned with brand (well, to a degree), but I really like the idea of an all season tire that might not perform at the level of my summer tires, but would do much better in the snow (these stink as you would imagine).

Here's my setup now: Front - 205/55 ZR17 91Y, rear - 235/50 ZR17 96Y

I have little tread left and the last thing I want to do is stick a set of summer tires on right before someone tells me where I can get a set of four all season performance tires. Thanks in advance for all your comments and I'll let y'all know what I end up doing!

[michael lang]

David, there is a particular tire that alot of my Mercedes clients have been extremely happy with as a year round tire. The Michelin A/S Plus. I have put these tires on both AMG and non-AMG cars and I have yet to get a single complaint. The tread design is just aggressive enough to handle the sport duties and has just the right pattern for water dispersement in winter driving. Best of luck to you, I hope this has helped.

[David Newton]

The Michelin A/S Plus is exactly what I want, but not available in my front size =(
I'm nervous about changing the profile.

[Larry Herman]

Well you should be afraid to change it.  Don't you realize that Porsche has the car engineered down to the gnats eyebrows?  I'm surprized that you would even think about any tire other than OEM.

Seriously, if you went to 205/50 fronts and 235/45 rears, you would lose .8" in overall diameter, but that should make minimal difference (more so in looks than anything else) and you are keepin the rolling idameters close, so no ABS problems to worry about.  If those are the tires you want, go for them.

[David Newton]

Thanks Larry... very helpful!

[David Newton]

Well, this Saturday I give in... putting the stock rear summer tires on, and I'll worry about winter when I hit the next patch of black ice. Seems there are no real options; at least not ones that would leave the profile alone.

If anyone has a set of stock 17" wheels I can slap some snow tires on, I'd appreciate it.

[Ccns23]

If you want to go the cheap route, i.e. <$1000, you can put on a set of Hankook Ventus V12's all around for about $800 at Creamery Tire. I had them on my previous Cayman and found they were excellent for the price. Not as grippy as the Pilots, but at half the cost, they were a fair compromise for a daily driver.

Summer tires + Cayman in the wonderful PA weather is not a good combo. Check Tire Rack for tire/wheel combos. Yes, it can be a pricey investment, but considering what the repair costs could be if you don't get a dedicated winter tire set up (or have a second car with AWD as backup) it's a much smaller price to pay.

Where are you in Pottstown? I'm 10min away in Limerick and would love to check out your Croc sometime!

[David Newton]

Actually more like Pughtown, south of Pottstown.
Are you saying that the Hankook Ventus V12's are the same size and for 17" wheels? That was my real problem... I didn't want to go out and purchase wheels.
I just dropped $500 on the rear summer tires! =(
Tire Rack would have been an option if I wanted to buy wheels. Now I'm looking for stock wheels to mount snow tires on.

What are you driving now?

[Ccns23]

I suppose I was a bit confused by your post and offered confusing advice. If you want to put a new set of summer tires on your car, Hankook Ventus V12's might be a viable option on the cheap. I purchased a set of them for my previous Cayman, but I also had the 18" CS wheels, not the base 17"s. However, I'm pretty sure Hankook makes them in the 17" sized you currently use.

All season tires on a Cayman will improve things a bit, but for the winters we've been getting here lately I would highly recommend a dedicated winter tire (Blizzak's or otherwise). But remember even with dedicated tires/wheels, if the snow is about 8" or more forget it due to clearance issues. That and the abysmal job that PennDot usually does in clearing the roads out here.

I traded in my 07' base Cayman for a new Cayman S. Could not turn down the offer given by the dealership and Porsche at the time. Racking up miles though, have over 6k in the span of about 3 months. Yep, it's a daily!