Porsche Has Developed Retro Rubber With Modern Technology

Incredibly - according to the guys over at Stuttgart - 70 per cent of all Porsche models ever built are still in drivable condition today. This tells us that one, old Porsches are incredibly reliable, and two, their owners are absolutely meticulous; the kind of guys who get excited when they hear the words ‘period correct’.

For these owners, every detail counts, which makes choosing the right rubber a challenging task. I mean, you can’t just slap a set of Pirelli P Zero Trofeo Rs on a classic 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS. It just wouldn’t look right. But conversely, you wouldn’t want to drive your pride and joy on 40-year-old tyres. Thankfully, Porsche has solved this first-world problem.

In collaboration with Pirelli, Porsche has developed a new range of tyres which ‘combine the look of the originals with the driving properties of modern tyres’. It’s achieved this by using the same profile patterns, tyre dimensions and cross-section ratios from the vintage rubber, but made the material composition more or less the same as Pirelli’s modern day performance rubber.

Rallying legend Walter Röhrl helped develop the new rubber giving valuable tips on the driving properties of tyres. No small feat, as Pirelli has designed 32 new tyres for classic Porsche models produced from 1959 through 2005. This includes the 356, Boxster and 911 (G model, 964, 993 and 996) as well as the transaxle model series 924, 928, 944 and 968

All classic tyres developed by Porsche bear an ‘official quality seal’, which can be found on the sidewall of all approved tyres in the form of a letter ’N’. This seal is added exclusively to specific tyre models that performed very well in testing.

If you’re a classic Porsche owner, you’ll be pleased to know that these tyres can now be ordered from any Porsche Classic Centre. And if you’re looking to buy second hand rubber (not that we recommend it), make sure to check for that official N designation.