Too many flat tires with 21” Pirellis

[mjpecklers70]

Good Evening All.

I have a 2021 Panamera 4S that I love. Unfortunately, due to the low profile 21” Pirelli’s I have had several flats (as have many others). Talked to the Tire Rack guys yesterday, and they suggested going to a 19”
rim with Michelins. This is a repeated problem I have had with Audi, Maseratis and others cars. Any thoughts?

[Norville]

Good Evening All.

I have a 2021 Panamera 4S that I love. Unfortunately, due to the low profile 21” Pirelli’s I have had several flats (as have many others). Talked to the Tire Rack guys yesterday, and they suggested going to a 19”
rim with Michelins. This is a repeated problem I have had with Audi, Maseratis and others cars. Any thoughts?

The currently cool large, low profile tires are prone to this on anything but perfect pavement.

More sidewall will definitely give you additional flat protection and a softer ride. This is assumes that your flats are from potholes, etc and not punctures from nails, screws and the like. Diligently keeping your tire pressure at the max recommended in the manual will help too, at the expense of ride quality.

[mjpecklers70]

Thank you.

[penhosky]

I have 18” wheels and I alternate all weather in the winter with summer sports in the summer. I bought my 4S new in 2010, and have gone through 7 sets of tires. I keep track of mileage, Pirellis weren’t the best; from Continentals and Kumhos, I’m able to get close to 20k per set. I’ve never encountered the “ flat” spot. I used Porsche approved winter tires in the past but the tread pattern isn’t very good with warm temperatures so the transition weather was always problematic. Since I switched to all weather, I get more flexibility without significant change in winter/ snow performance. My Panamera 4S is pretty much a daily driver since I got it.

[blueline]

@penhosky

Daily driver? I'd say so with 240k plus miles on your Panamara which is awesome!!

Good feedback on the tires. I run two sets of wheels/tires (winter and summer) on all the Porsches to give year-round driving flexibility and options. All winter sets are good so far but not enough miles to determine wear. Miles driven are minuscule compered to what you drive with your Panamera.

Current winter set-ups are Michelin Alpin 5 SUV N-spec for the Cayenne, Goodyear M+S Ultra Grip Performance N-spec for the Turbo S, and for the GT4 Pilot All-Season 4.

[mjpecklers70]

Thank you very much for the information. I had planned to go to 19” rims but 18’s would give me even more sidewalls.

[Arne2]

Over many years as a driver, and as a tire salesman, it has been my experience that Pirellis in general are more fragile than other tires, definitely easier to get serious sidewall damage. And the lower the profile, the worse they are. Smaller diameter wheels will lessen this a lot. But if you haven't tried a different brand of tire on the 21" wheels yet, you may find that your failures will decrease once you leave Pirelli.

[blueline]

To echo Arne, I concur about the Pirellis. I didn't say anything about them on this thread due to not knowing much about the specifics he just described which seem to be directly applicable to your situation. However, my experience with Pirelli has been excessive wear (very short life) and less than desirable driving and handling characteristics when compared to others such as Michelin, Goodyear (German-made N-spec, anyway), Continental, and a few others.

[TRACKNUT]

My 2018 Pan 4 Sports Turismo came with 21" rims and all season Pirelli's. This car came from Ohio and once I got it shipped out here to California in it's 1st year I've experienced 3 out of the 4 tires with sidewall damage. Two from our great California pot holes and one from hitting a curb while trying to park it. Had a hell of a time trying to find a replacement tire in Michelin for their all season radial for the rear tires and finally had to go with a set of High Performancesummer Michelins. Soon after they were installed I noticed a slight tremble while driving mainly in the seat of my pants and no steering wheel vibration at all. Costco pull the wheels off and checked the balance again for free and we noticed the right front and rear rims had a slight deformation in the inner rim area on both rims. Now I have a new set of tires and have to get 3 out of the 4 rims fixed from damage. Nothing severe except to my wallet. When these Michelin's wear out, it will be time for 4 new set of 20" rims with Michelin all season tires on them. For street use, I honestly cannot see any major benefit for going any larger than 20" on tires or rims. And now Porsche is considering 22" tires for some of their faster models. ??? And by the way, have any of you really noticed how WIDE the rear wheel rim of a 21" tire is on this car? COSTCO's tire machine could barely handle it and they deal with off-road truck tires and RV's.