New Cayman S owner-running 19 Bridgestone Potenza RE 050A rubber
appears to be picking up tons of road noise that I had not experienced with Contis on my Boxster S
Does anyone have an opinion on whether it's just the closed cabin, or the manufacturer itself-have heard the Michelin Pilot Sport 2's are stickier and generate less road noise
thanks
Venture Guy

I don't know what your experience was with the Contis on your Boxster, but I am looking at needing new rears at 8k on my 19"s. Some may laugh and say I was lucky to get 8 out of the pair, but I had hoped for at least 10-12. I don't track or auto-x; I do drive hard on ocassion. I will replace them with Contis as the fronts are at abut 1/2. When all 4 are due, I think I will switch to PS2s. They just seem to be better all-around as rated on Tirerack.com.

I do find the Contis to have an acceptable noise level.

Fadiboy
very helpful and thanks so much-was thinking of making the PS2s my replacement tire when these wear out
I noticed the factory PSI setting is 32 PSI on the fronts, 37 on the back
is that what you are driving or are you using a different pressure configuration
thanks again
venture guy

I can't vouch for the RE050As on a Cayman, but I had them on my G35 Coupe. They didn't seem to bad at first and were never horrible, but as the tires wore they seemed to get noisy. I did autocross a couple of tuimes with them on the G35 and were never very impressed with them and planned to switch to something different once they wore out. The N spec compound Porsche uses may be different.

Conti's are kinda known for being quiet aren't they?

I have the Bridgestones on my 2007 Cayman S and don't find them particularly noisy although there are certain pavements that they are very noisy on (I270 near Rockville MD for example). But then the car itself is not designed for quiet touring. I find them no worse than the Firestone SZ50Es I had on my Corvette.

These types of tires that are designed for performance rather than touring tend to be noisier.

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Robert