The Story Behind Replacing the Taycan’s Tires

Our Taycan 4S Cross Turismo. When it was delivered at the end of January this year, only the front tires were replaced with new ones. The mileage at delivery was 8,030 km. About nine months have passed since then, and the current mileage has reached 18,000 km. I don’t really remember driving that much, so where did all those kilometers come from… (laughs).

The tires were just barely holding on with tread depth, but recently, after a round trip to Tokyo in the Taycan, some damage was found on one of them.

The damaged part was on the left front tire here.

At the Porsche Center (PC) we visited in Tokyo, they confirmed it was better to replace the tire. However, since “there is no air leakage at this point” and “Porsche-approved tires for the Taycan aren’t immediately available (which makes sense),” they advised us to drive carefully back home and have the tires replaced as soon as possible.

So, right after returning to Osaka, we started looking for tires and planned to get them replaced.

By the way, about three months after delivery, while driving on the highway, I suddenly thought, “Huh? Was there this much road noise before? It felt quieter when we first got the car…” I asked my husband, and he said, “Well, as the tire tread wears down, the ride gets a bit rougher and road noise increases.”

I realized then how much the condition of the tires affects ride comfort and quietness. Since the Taycan is originally very quiet and smooth-riding, the difference in tires really shows up noticeably.

Searching for Porsche-Approved Tires for the Taycan

So, we immediately started looking for Porsche-approved tires.

The rear tires still seemed to have some tread left, but we decided to replace all four tires at once while we had the chance. We began searching for four approved tires (front and rear).

That said, I often make mistakes when choosing products online and end up thinking “Oh no!” later, so this time I left it to my husband.

Just recently, we ordered a MacBook Air and realized the color was wrong, so we had to cancel and reorder. It seems like something like this happens every day (laughs).

Back to the tires: I was hoping to get Michelin tires this time, but currently, there are no Michelin Porsche-approved tires for the Taycan. The choices are only Goodyear or Pirelli. By the way, the original tires were Pirelli.

Original tires

In the end, we decided to go with Pirelli’s approved tires again (for the Taycan, the NF model).

Ordering tires online turned out to be cheaper than expected. We chose the NF0 Pirelli P ZERO (PZ4) SPORT ELECT.

Front tires

However, replacing all four tires would cost about 300,000 yen.

Tires are expensive…

But if we had the dealer replace them, the cost would be nearly double. At my current status, having the dealer replace tires is absolutely impossible (lol).

Next, we looked for a shop to do the tire replacement. The Nishinomiya Base, where my husband usually goes, doesn’t handle 21-inch tire replacements, so we decided to ask “Tire-Kokan.com,” a tire shop frequented by my husband’s car friend TAKURO.

Tire-Kokan.com allows you to send the tires to the shop in advance and have the replacement done there. However, my husband advised me, “They might be able to sell tires cheaper too, so you can skip ordering online and just ask them first.”

So, I sent the tire info to the shop and asked. They actually offered a price even a bit lower than the online price.

So, without hesitation, we decided to order the tires through them.

How Did the Taycan Tire Replacement Turn Out?

Finally, the day of the tire replacement arrived.

This shop has a waiting area, and the work was said to take about an hour. Since it was a special occasion, I asked if I could watch the replacement process.

Looking at the tread on the removed tires, they were more worn than I had imagined. I thought the rear tires were still okay, but seeing them like this showed they were quite worn. The shop owner said, “You really can’t tell unless you see it with your own eyes.”

Still, looking at them again, Porsche tires are really wide. The presence is amazing.

I fully understand these tires are overkill for my usual city driving. But seeing firsthand that these tires are one of the key parts supporting Porsche’s high-performance driving was a valuable experience.

Brand new Taycan tires

And just one hour later, the replacement was done in no time. The total cost including tires and labor was 290,000 yen. I’m glad it was a reasonable price…!

After getting in the car, I was excited, wondering, “How will the ride comfort and driving feel change?” And just two seconds after starting to drive,

It was incredibly smooth! And incredibly quiet!!!

I was amazed at how much difference just the tires made.

By the way, this feeling was different from when the tire pressure was fully adjusted right before going to Tokyo, and I was so surprised I even emailed my husband.

I’m usually the type who doesn’t notice tire differences much, but even I could clearly tell the difference, so it must be a significant change.

That afternoon, my husband took the Taycan out for a drive on the Royu Driveway, and when he came back, he said,

“It’s totally different! Even the handling feels different! This is the first time I’ve felt such a big difference from tires!”

Tires are important.
I thought I knew that, but this tire replacement really made me realize their importance all over again.

The next time I’ll need to replace the front tires will probably be next year… better start saving up! (lol)