Pondering Tire Sizes???

[Ian Macoomb]

Ron, you went with the Azenis?

The way that I see it is, if you want more traction get a better tire not a bigger tire. But is there really a point unless you track your car?

 

[stephen newberg]

The way that I see it is, if you want more traction get a better tire not a bigger tire. But is there really a point unless you track your car?

I certainly agree that is the way I would go for better traction, but I also think there is lots of point besides taking the car to the track. Almost all of my 'enjoyment' driving is taking the car out on winding back roads and running them hard. Better traction is what makes this a joy, and, as a result, most of the modifications I have made have been oriented to improving the handling.

By the way, now with a fair number of miles on the Yokohama Advan S.4s, I would not buy them again and will likely be heading back to Bridgestones for my next tire set. The Advans are not a bad tire, but they are not as good as a number of Bridgestone and Michelin models I have run, and not really any less expensive either, so nothing to push toward getting them again. A bit of a disappointment after their good general reputation.

pax, smn

 

[RonPorter]

Ron, you went with the Azenis?

Yep. Same price as the RS2s, so I thought I would give them a try this time around.

 

[Funmart6]

I have been running BFG Traction T/A V-rated tires, have put over 50,000 miles on them in five and a half years. They are pretty well shot now and it is time for a new set of tires. Being that I work for BFG at this moment, I will probably go with a BFG tire because of the discount that I get. I have been looking at some G Force, or maybe go back with the Traction T/A again.

 

[RonPorter]

I have been running BFG Traction T/A V-rated tires, have put over 50,000 miles on them in five and a half years. They are pretty well shot now and it is time for a new set of tires. Being that I work for BFG at this moment, I will probably go with a BFG tire because of the discount that I get. I have been looking at some G Force, or maybe go back with the Traction T/A again.

It's always a difficult question, as there are many factors involved in tire selection.

That said, if high mileage is a prime consideration, you have to sacrifice performance, which may or may not be OK, depending on how you drive.

For those who wany performance, and live in colder climates, IMHO the only way is to run summer tires and then have a 2nd set for the winter.

Without knowing much about your circumstances, I would recommend one of the G-Force line. The Traction T/A tire you had is a mom-mobile tire. If it worked for you, that's OK, but you would get better performance with a better tire, which will not mean 50K of life. Even if you don't do hard cornering, a softer higher-performance tire will also give you better braking on the street.

FWIW, my previous set of Hankook RS2s lasted 8K miles. And 6K of those miles were just driving to/from Seattle for last year's Convention. They had three track days, two on rather rough tracks (Grattan and Pacific Raceways). And I was very happy with them. Now, the RS2s (and my current Falken Azenis 615s) are VERY generously rated at 200 treadware to qualify for SCCA street tires, but they aren't even close. They suit my needs, and I have a set of Hankook Icebears for the winter.

Mine is an extreme example, but there are good performance tires available that will give 30K miles of wear and still give decent performance. Which is why you own a SHO, correct?

 

[stephen newberg]

It's always a difficult question, as there are many factors involved in tire selection.

For those who wany performance, and live in colder climates, IMHO the only way is to run summer tires and then have a 2nd set for the winter.

Mine is an extreme example, but there are good performance tires available that will give 30K miles of wear and still give decent performance. Which is why you own a SHO, correct?

Agree with all of that. When in Nova Scotia I always ran different summer and winter tires. Out here on Vancouver Island I am wavering, as winter is very mild and for the bad days I can just take the 4wd truck, now that we are retired and it does not have to be reserved to get Jeannie to work. I am now out of winter tires, having used the last up this last winter, and not sure now if I should buy another set for my second set of wheels or it is time to go to some reasonably aggressive all season that balances mainly toward summer use, when the current summer tires wear out.

I think 30K is more than I have gotten in the past out of most summer tires, though. I think a decent all season might give you that, which is another reason to give them strong consideration now, but the various summer tires I have had tend to be about 2/3rd done at around 20k, and once to that level, I normally replace them rather than try to ride longer on that last 1/3 of the tread.

pax, smn

 

[RonPorter]

Agree with all of that. When in Nova Scotia I always ran different summer and winter tires. Out here on Vancouver Island I am wavering, as winter is very mild and for the bad days I can just take the 4wd truck, now that we are retired and it does not have to be reserved to get Jeannie to work. I am now out of winter tires, having used the last up this last winter, and not sure now if I should buy another set for my second set of wheels or it is time to go to some reasonably aggressive all season that balances mainly toward summer use, when the current summer tires wear out.

I think 30K is more than I have gotten in the past out of most summer tires, though. I think a decent all season might give you that, which is another reason to give them strong consideration now, but the various summer tires I have had tend to be about 2/3rd done at around 20k, and once to that level, I normally replace them rather than try to ride longer on that last 1/3 of the tread.

pax, smn

I think that's reasonable. If I got 25K out of a set of tires on the SHO, that was more than acceptable to me. Once I started doing track events 15-20K was the norm.

This isn't directed at you, Stephen, but to others. Winter tires are not just for snow. Good summer tires are useless below about 40F. Winter tires function well below 40F in the wet or the dry. And in snow. Frankly, I don't have to worry much about snow. If it snows, I only have to drive about a 1/4-mile in snow to get to a state highway, which is salted first and will be wet & slushy. I suspect that this is the case for many of us in the snow belt.

 

[stephen newberg]

I bought the SHO mainly because I needed a car to carry around a 4 kids curling team and hopefully not be so dull it would drive me nuts after always before having sports coupes of one sort or another. The Gen III SHO fit the bill really well, and the first winter I got snow tires. Had not had them in a really long time on any car, but with 4 passengers and out a lot on snowed in roads for all winter, it just seemed the right thing to do. I was amazed by the difference. Snow tires have come a really long way since I first had them in the '70s. They are remarkable now, and though they obviously do sacrifice in other areas, they are much better on dry pavement than I expected also. In a cold or snowy area where I had to drive any serious amount, I would not be without them any more.

pax, smn

 

[peglegtom]

That's why they now call them "Winter" Tires!

I bought the SHO mainly because I needed a car to carry around a 4 kids curling team and hopefully not be so dull it would drive me nuts after always before having sports coupes of one sort or another. The Gen III SHO fit the bill really well, and the first winter I got snow tires. Had not had them in a really long time on any car, but with 4 passengers and out a lot on snowed in roads for all winter, it just seemed the right thing to do. I was amazed by the difference. Snow tires have come a really long way since I first had them in the '70s. They are remarkable now, and though they obviously do sacrifice in other areas, they are much better on dry pavement than I expected also. In a cold or snowy area where I had to drive any serious amount, I would not be without them any more.

pax, smn

Not "snow" tires. They had big clunky treads like off road tires for SUV's.

I've always had summer and winter tires for my SHO. Used to be BFG summer tires (can't remember the type, but they came with the car when I purchased it in 2001) and Blizzak winter tires. Now have Dunlop Direzza's for the summer and Pirelli Sottozero's for the winter. All stock 225/55-16 size. The Pirelli's are much better than the Bizzak's on dry pavement in the winter, but not as good in the snow. The Dunlop's are about the same as the BFG's in the summer. I purchased them because they were relatively inexpensive and had decent ratings on the Tire Rack website. But I have Michelin PS2's on my Alfa, and they are much better summer tires (although they may not last as long). But for the miles I put on the car, they will last long enough, and longer lasting tires would probably just rot out anyway. Besides, like others have said, didn't you buy the car for its performance?

I would say purchase the best tires you can afford, staying at a stock or slightly larger size, rather than lower performance tires in a wider size. Increasing the diameter and decreasing the aspect ratio to keep the same diameter is also a big improvement.