Posted June 24, 2019 in Summer Tires
There are a lot of decisions to make when you are building and maintaining your Porsche®. Some of those decisions might have been easy because you have been considering them for months or years, but other decisions—some that might not have even occurred to you—can require a surprising amount of consideration.
One decision that many Porsche® owners don’t think about until they are face-to-face with the problem is the type of tires that they are going to be putting on their vehicles.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone; most car owners drive into their nearest tire shop and rely on the salesperson to tell us what the best deals or options are for our vehicles.
But deciding on the type of tire to use is one of the biggest decisions you can make as a Porsche® owner.
After all, your car can only move as fast as your tires allow, so instead of going for the standard all-weather tires that you pick up every 25,000 miles or so, you might want to consider summer tires.
Unlike all-season tires, which are designed to handle weather like rain, sleet, or snow, summer tires are engineered specifically to provide optimal performance in warm conditions like we have here in Southern California.
What Is the Difference Between All-season and Summer Tires?
The difference between these two types of tires is primarily in the design and pattern of the tread.
Slick tires, like the ones you see on high-performance race vehicles from 911 Design, are ideal for providing the maximum amount of traction because they create the most rubber-to-road surface area.
While these are great for vehicles that are on the race track, they are not ideal for any other type of vehicle since they do not handle other road conditions (gravel, rain, sleet, snow, etc.) well by any stretch of the imagination.
This is why the tires that we are most familiar with have intricate tread patterns; the design in the rubber actually helps the vehicle to grab hold of the road in these types of conditions.
All-season tires are designed to compromise between a decrease in efficiency in the summer heat and an increase in traction in the winter.
They are essentially the swiss-army knife of tires, produced for drivers who expect to be driving in a variety of road conditions throughout the year.
Summer tires, on the other hand, are designed solely for warm conditions. This doesn’t mean that they can’t deal with rain—their tread pattern highly considers rain performance.
All this means is that summer tires are designed to deal with temperatures above freezing, whether that mean hot city roads or wet, slippery highways.
How Do Summer Tires Help My Vehicle?
Having tires that are built specifically for warm temperatures means you will be maximizing the performance of your Porsche®.
Better traction means better acceleration when you step on the gas, and increased traction on warm roads means that your car will handle better around sharp corners and respond more efficiently to your braking system.
Porsche® has particular specifications for their cars that several manufacturers use when building tires. These tires have an “N” rating. At 911 Design we recommend the “N” rated tires if they are available for your model car.
If you find yourself slipping around tricky corners or losing traction when you go to accelerate, it is possible that you are experiencing the limitations of your tires, rather than a problem with your vehicle.
How Can I Maximize Summer Performance in a Cold Area?
If you are someone who lives in a cold climate and is expecting sub-freezing temperatures, you can still do a seasonal tire rotation to boost your performance during the warm months.
Similar to purchasing and storing snow tires for the winter, summer tires can be used during any other part of the year that will not sink below freezing point.
If you are interested in getting more information about how summer tires can improve the performance of your Porsche®, give us a call at (909) 982-9111 or visit our contact page to get started.
911 Design is an independent automotive specialty shop that repairs and restores Porsche® automobiles and is not affiliated with Porsche® Cars North America.