You've got mail! *NM*

Hi all, I have the Continental Sport Contact N 2 on the front and rear of my '01 S. The fronts are fine but the rears need to be replaced, and I am told that the 2 is discontinued. Does anyone know if I will suffer any adverse consequences if I put the Sport Contact 3 on the rears and keep the 2s on the front? Thank you.

1. For a while (say 500 miles) your rears will be slick until they wear in.
2. Your tread depth will be slightly different but then that is true for most Boxster owners who replace their rears even if they use the same tire.
3. For around town and on the road normal use the difference between 4 new tires and just replacing the rears (as long as it is the same tire on the axle) with a similar tread design tire is not great. (However no lawyer would approve that last statement and you do it at your risk)
4. An alternative is 4 tires of lower cost. Many here use em.

IMHO

Quote
danz76
Hi all, I have the Continental Sport Contact N 2 on the front and rear of my '01 S. The fronts are fine but the rears need to be replaced, and I am told that the 2 is discontinued. Does anyone know if I will suffer any adverse consequences if I put the Sport Contact 3 on the rears and keep the 2s on the front? Thank you.

story) mixing different N number tires front and rear was verbotten. However, I since found my impression was based on imcomplete information.

My WAG (but check the owners manual) is the car will be ok as long as the replacement tires are of the same brand, type, etc. as the front tires. IOWs, the new rear tires and the old front tires differ only in the tread depth and N numbers.

I have many many times replaced just the rear tires on my Boxster leaving the fronts untouched and I have not noticed any negatives from this. However, I do not believe I've ever replaced the rear tires with N number tires that did not agree with the N number of the front tires so you are as far as I am concerned on uncharted waters.

Personally, unless it was forbidden by the owners manual I'd do it. However, this would be my decision and made with the knowledge that if the combination proved to be a problem to replace the front tires with tires that matched the rear tires and chalk the cost up to experience.

Sincerely,

MarcW.

And model mixing is an iffy proposition. My last set of tires were Pilot Sports (not the PS2) at front with probably the last pair of Mxx3s in the world at back. The Mxx3 is better in the wet*, but squirmier.

*Heck, somehow they got me through a spring snowstorm in the mountains of Wyoming and Utah. No PSM either.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/23/2011 03:22PM by Laz. (view changes)

I should have been clearer.

The Sport Contact 2 with the N2 designation is discontinued.

I was wondering if I would suffer adverse consquences (other than differing tread depth) by putiing the Sport Contact 3 model on the rear, while keep the Sport Contact 2 in the front.

the owners manual specifically forbid it and unless the service manager/tech at the dealership advised against it, I'd 'risk' mixing N-numbers front and back. In fact, I might 'risk' it regardless of what the manual or SM or the techs said.

But in making this decision to mix N-number tires I'd also take the responsibility should the mixing not work out well, should the car's behavior change for the worse from the mis-matched N-number tires and become intolerable, that I'd bear the cost of addressing this without complaint.

Sincerely,

MarcW.

So in the end I took all of your wise advice and put on 4 new Hankook Ventus V12 Evo tires, and boy am I pleased. I just came in from a pretty mean rainstorm, and the tires handled great, even though they have not been broken in yet.

By the way, for those of you who I've met through the board, I'm sorry to tell you that my wife and I moved to Miami Beach about two weeks ago. I'll miss you guys!

Looking forward to meeting the folks down here in South Florida!

... to South Florida.
Glad you have some good wet-weather rubber.
We're going to have afternoon thunderstorms every day for the next few months.
Hope we can meet one day soon.
Happy Boxstering,
Pedro

Pedro Bonilla
1998 Boxster 986 - 311,000+ miles: [www.PedrosGarage.com]
PCA National Club Racing Scrutineer - PCA National HPDE Instructor - PCA Technical Committee (Boxster/Cayman)

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Racecar spelled backwards is Racecar

"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting" ... Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney in "LeMans"

"If you wait, all that happens is that you get older"... Mario Andretti

"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose" ... Ayrton Senna

Thank you Pedro! I loook forward to meeting you. I think we are aonly about 30-40 minutes from each other.
Do you know a good shop that can install a new top for me? I want to upgrade to a glass window top. If you want to discuss off-line, please e-mail me at danz76@yahoo.com Thanks, Dan

Pedro Bonilla
1998 Boxster 986 - 311,000+ miles: [www.PedrosGarage.com]
PCA National Club Racing Scrutineer - PCA National HPDE Instructor - PCA Technical Committee (Boxster/Cayman)

---

Racecar spelled backwards is Racecar

"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting" ... Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney in "LeMans"

"If you wait, all that happens is that you get older"... Mario Andretti

"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose" ... Ayrton Senna