Tire opinions needed!

[NotSoSlowSHO]

Im doing some tire shopping for the titanium SHO.

And after talking quite in depth with one of the local tire monkeys (that I really respect, and have dealt with a bit) I have broken it down to two different tires.

Im looking for a touring tire, with moderate tread life. Hopefully something thats grippy enough to keep me happy in the twisties. And I live in California, so no worries about snow or harsh weather (beyond a bit of rain)

BFGoodrich's Traction T/A
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...earch=false&partnum=26VR5TTA&fromCompare1=yes

Bridgestone Potenza G009
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...arch=false&partnum=26HR5G009&fromCompare1=yes

Any thoughts?

 

[sdpatt]

You might want to rethink your choices. You stated that you don't need to equip for snow, but that is what the all-season category is designed for. The all-season tires significantly compromise dry and wet road grip for that little extra bit of traction in the snow.

From your California perspective, you should be looking at the ultra high performance and maybe even the max performance "summer" tires. These categories provide far superior dry road grip and surprisingly, even greater wet road grip than the all-season group. With the frisky driving that the SHO encourages, the all-season tires, with their smaller tread blocks and heavy siping, will squirm and wear much faster than their optimistically high tread wear ratings would lead you to expect.

For the $93 of the 225/55-16 Potenza G009 or the $109 cost of the Goodrich Traction T/A, you could be looking at the superior performace of the same size Yokohama AVS ES100 ($91), the Avon Tech M500 ($95), the newly released Dunlop SP Sport 01 A ($106) or the proven Bridgestone Potenza RE750 ($122). There are other choices and you have already learned to use the information available through TireRack's site.

I have run two sets of the RE750 predecessor, the RE730, and have enjoyed the excellent dry and wet road grip for around 30,000 very enthusiastic miles per set. That includes some track usage and some "brisk motoring seesions" that we in the Texas club refer to as "Runs." I would have chosen the RE750 for my next set had the Goodyear F1 GS-D3 not been offered through TireRack for an even lower cost.

I had a set of the ES100s on my wife's 2000 Maxima SE and found them to stick well but wear quickly due to the poor fit of the 235/45-17 size on the 7" wide wheel. I replaced those tires after only 18,000 miles with the Avon Tech M500 and have been very impressed with the construction, appearance and performance of the tires. The directional stability, transient response, lateral grip were both enhanced along with the braking capability and reduced noise. I have not yet found a reduction in any performance versus the ES100s with the M500s on the comparitively softly suspended Maxima SE (when referenced against my Eibach/Tokico/TPR equipped SHO).

Touring tires are not for SHOs. Those are basically just "good passenger car tires" in my book.

 

[NotSoSlowSHO]

Thanks for the response Scott. Im aware that the "all season" rating, even within the "ultra high performance all season" category puts a bit of snow traction capability before all out performance.

Ill look into the tires youve commented on. Although it is tough to bite the bullet on tires that cost more than $100 a peice when I know that they are only going to last 30k. Im still adjusting from my families long line of truck ownership where every set of tires are expected to last 75k +

Also, retaining the 15" backetweave wheels severely limits selection. I dont see myself ditching the 'weaves anytime soon simply because the lightweight wheels that I REALLY want cost more than my SHO is worth

Ah, for SHO

 

[K-Dawg]

Tirerack's numbers for the Traction T/As aren't too bad in comparison to the other similar tires.

Look at this tire in the 225/60/15 size; it should be better than the Traction T/A:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...arch=false&partnum=26VR5GFSP&fromCompare1=yes

 

[platoribs]

FWIW I've been getting great service from some FULDA Extreemo's I bought over a year ago, while they carry a tread wear rating of only 180 they are holding up much better that other tires I've owned with treat rate of 320.

 

[OSU 4 SHO]

BFGoodrich G-Force T/A KDWS are great all season tires. Also KDW is a three season that is supposed to be good. Dont go cheap on tires, get good ones and you will be rewarded with superior performance.

 

[AutoSHO]

BFGoodrich G-Force T/A KDWS are great all season tires.

I second that. I got better than 30k out of the set on my Red SHO, and they were extremely grippy. I loved them and will buy another set - well worth the extra cash.

Oh, and ditch the 'weaves. You're never going to get good steering response and grip from a 60 or 65 series tire, especially on a 6" wide wheel. A 16x7.5 or 16x8 shod with 225/55 tires will give you a tremendous increase in steering response and accuracy as well as grip due to the flatter contact patch. The fact that ford actually sold a "performance" car with 6" wide wheels on it is ridiculous to me. They are simply inadequate.

 

[greenbeanmtx]

Dont get the yokohama es100s........ They look and feel great but ive got a set on mine and ill be lucky to get 10k miles out of them. I rotate every 1k miles front to back, my alignment is perfect and no i dont peel out any. Ive put about 5 to 6k on them and over half the tread is already gone...... Ive only used them on an autocross 2 times and that was when they were new and i was very easy on them. The rubber is waaay too soft.... I like their look, love how quiet and smooth they are, but ill never spend another close to 500 bucks on a set of tires that i cant even get a year out of. Plus although they recommend them for great sidewall rigidity, i found that mine have tremendous sidewall flex although im sure the slicers dont help that equation. If you dont expect to use them over a year then go for it, but i plan to keep this car until i drive it into the ground and the thought of me spending another 500 bucks for tires next year is depressing. Good luck with finding a tire, let us know what you choose....... ill need to know cuz ill be getting another set this time next year

 

[trueSHO]

I've got Kumho Ecsta KH11's on my 93 (225/50/17). They were cheaper than almost everything on tire rack and they are for 17" wheels, so if you are looking for stock size rims, they should be quite a bit cheaper. They are quite sticky, I usually don't even have any tire spin with nitrous (sure if I wanted to, I definately could). I've put about 5K on the tires and they don't show any noticeable wear. They also look pretty nice. Check em out if they got em for the smaller wheel diameter.

 

[Doug Waschenko]

I wish I could get 20,000 miles out of mytires. HP tires have pretty soft compounds and I only expect 15-20,000. My Dunlops just gave me 12,000. Of course I replace them when they hit the wear strips which on many tires is still 3/32. Those tires wouldn't go up the hill with frost on the road.
They would stop the car if I opened the door and dragged my feet though.
I had a set of Kuhmo's. They never wore out. They needed to be replaced because they weren't sticky at all. They were like doing water burnouts, but it was on dry pavement. I think that killed clutch number four.