Is it safe (or better) to use the Pilot Sport 4s N0(Porsche) version on a M3P?

[Apprunner]

The all-season 4 seems louder than the PS4S with acoustic foam to me. I ran through 2 sets of PS4S Tesla tires and now run the PS all season 4. I have a 2019 so the car was never all that quiet so doesn't bother me...also, the all-seasons seem almost the same as the PS4S for the most part. Probably have to really flog the car to notice the PS4S grip advantage. I switched to PS All-seasons as I was only getting about 11-12k miles for a set...too much fun

 

[AMirza]

I am quite tempted now to keep my all season if there is no noise reduction advantage moving from All Seasons to the PS4S.

Plus you get a lot more mileage out of the all seasons as they are rated for 45k instead of the 30k on the PS4S

When I look at the thread patern side by side on both my cars, there is surely a difference. Now is that difference going to make an impact to lowering noise levels is a question....

I think I should get my wheels road force balanced to see if there is any further reduction in noise levels keeping the Allseasons. The increased noise levels or the humming in the all seasons is noticeable when you are in the 70- 80 miles an hour zone.

 

[tomsla]

Because no 911 uses OEM 235/35R20 tires. Those are tires for a Boxster / Cayman. So 911 weight distribution is meaningless, and I'm not quite sure why you keep bringing it up. Notice the OP never said 911 at any point. Just Porsche OEM, and Porsche makes a LOT of different cars, including ones with engines in the front.

Even with that, I'd love to know why you would think that Porsche would spec XL, 92 load index tires on the front of a 911 if they are such specially designed tires exactly for the special weight distribution of that car, which comes nowhere near to needing XL or 92 on the front axle.

The hilarious thing about this is that Porsche cares so little about the 911's tires that they have at least 3 suppliers and randomly put them on, much to the annoyance of owners:

What tires did your 992 come with? - Rennlist - Porsche Discussion Forums

992 - What tires did your 992 come with? - Sounds like we really don't know what tires our 992's come with until it shows up. I'm told tat my build may have Goodyears, Pirellis, or Michelins. I have never purchased a car that didn't come with the tires that were spec'd on the website.My car...

rennlist.com

You can also read this stuff from Porsche, where they expound on how much work they do on tires, never once mentioning the special needs of a rear engined car:

An elementary part of the driving experience. - Porsche USA

The best Porsche-approved tires for your Porsche wheels? Discover the difference N-marked tires can make.

www.porsche.com

(Where they also hilariously tell you how much they work with Michelin to get you the perfect tire before delivering you a car with Goodyears on it)


Cool. Here's the Model 3 manual on tires. Note it doesn't mention XL, load rating, brand, or T0 tires at all. Just a size, which the N0 tires absolutely meet:

View attachment 915515

Thanks for the other links and info!

Not sure why Porsche would spec XL, 92 load index tires on the front of a 911! That goes against what I know about putting performance tires on cars. Typically lighter weight is used in performance applications.
But when there is need for reinforced structure, XL is typically used.

More info:
When it comes to passenger tires, there are two types of load capacities to consider: Standard Load (SL) and Extra Load (XL). (Technically, there’s also Light Load but they’re highly uncommon and pretty specific, so we won’t get into it).

This designation has nothing to do with their load index, which determines the maximum weight a tire can carry, but rather notes whether or not the tire is manufactured with a reinforced structure.
source: Standard Load (SL) vs Extra Load (XL) Tires

 

[AMirza]

Okay....I am back to report changes to the setup and my experiences.
Now....after a long back and forth with Costco to honor the tire swap (since I had far exceeded the 1 month return period) I was able to get from the Michelin-Pilot Sport All season 4 to the Michelin-Pilot Sport 4S (Summer tire ) on my Tesla P100DL with a custom 20 inch wheel tire setup.

I am running 245/40/20 on the front 275/35/20 on the rear's so these are staggered tires.

Now ....while I was hesitant with all the information, I gathered from sources (Consumer Survey Stat posted in a prior response) as well as from other sources, I still decided to take a chance and see how things go with the swap from all seasons to summer.

So after much persuasion.....Costco installed the tires

Once the tires were installed, I began driving back home not knowing what to expect ......here are my observations.
1. On the side streets (10-35mph) - The Michelin-Pilot Sport 4S is a slightly quieter than its all-season counterpart
2. On the freeway, I tried to get the car to maintain multiple different speeds as I listened for road noise

1. I drove the car at multiple different speeds including clocking low 3 digits....I couldn't believe my ears but the car seemed a lot quieter.
2. My main concern was at a speed band between 67 mph and 76 mph, where I would hear a loud and annoying humming sound from the Michelin-Pilot Sport All season 4. I got the car to maintain that band multiple times but could only very vaguely hear a mild hum at that band when driving on the Michelin-Pilot Sport 4S
3. Then I got back home and told the wife that we need to go to Costco to get her opinion about a patio set. So put her in the front passenger seat....a/c turned off, music turned off as I drove and not even a half mile on the freeway and she said, this car is sounding a lot quieter, and she tells me that the tires have been broken in now and I shouldn't worry about the road noise anymore (lol). I knew that very second that I am not imagining anything, and I told her I just got the lousy loud tires changed out to more quiet ones.

Now....I don't know where tire rack came up with a similar noise rating for the two tires but they are INCORRECT. If they did the test on a BMW, I can imagine that they might hear no difference as the car is very well insulated to begin with....noise or no noise you would hear no change with a gas engine and a tuned exhaust .....or probably other factors accounted for them not hearing any difference....

I am so much happier driving a quiet car again.
PS: The well experienced technician at Costco also argued with me telling me that I will get nowhere with swapping the all season for the 4S summer since they looked identical for the most part but I had my plans set (And yes, they seem identical but there is a slight difference in thread pattern and even more differences in handling, ride comfort, noise levels). I am happy things worked out after I wasted time researching and more so spending half a day over at Costco trying to get them to put on the Michelin-Pilot Sport 4S

One more thing....the summer tires feel a little softer on bumps, which I love about them, when compared to their all-season counterparts.

ALSO -- Dont ask me about stuff like RANGE and energy effeciency....I wasnt watching for those at all.