A Porsche N spec approved tire is one that has passed a series of difficult and diverse test designed by Porsche engineers to ensure maximum performance and safety under a wide range of driving conditions. To qualify for this approval and “to be an Original Equipment tire provider on a Porsche vehicle or be approved by Porsche for the replacement market requires the joint product development efforts of the tire engineers working alongside the Porsche vehicle engineers.†In some instances specific tires will only be approved for specific Porsche applications or models.
Once a tire has been approved by Porsche it is branded with the N spec approval. The N-specification brandings include: N-0 (N-zero), N-1, N-2, N-3 or N-4. These markings on a tire's sidewall clearly identify them as approved by Porsche for their vehicles. The N-0 marking is assigned to the first approved version of a tire design. As that design is refined externally or internally, the later significant evolutions will result in a new generation of the tire to be branded with N-1, N-2, N-3, etc., in succession. When a completely new tire design is approved, it receives the N-0 branding and the succession begins again.