Tire Recommendation ... Please!

[Marccus]

I know, I know ... this probably isn't the right place to post this question. I don't have a lot of time to surf as I'm umemployed at the moment and desperately looking for a job. cry

So forgive the transgression ...

My 1989 has stock wheels and my tires are bald, balder, and baldest. I've always run with Goodyears, Eagle GT +4, but as they became unavailable, I used the lower speed rated Eagles with longer tread life.

My recent set got about 40K - better than the +4's as expected.

I did some searching at the Tire Rack using their system and came up with the Dupont tire. No snow, first priority is handling, second is road noise, third is tread life.

Also Michelins came up, I forgot which model number.

But there seem to be a large use of Bridgestone, Firestone, Continental by many SHO drivers.

Any recommendations from anyone on what works(ed) best on their SHO, preferably the '89 with stock wheels, but all welcomed.

Also, I don't know if I'm interested in messing with a different aspect ratio tire as that article pointed out on selecting tires on this website where one uses that equation to determine a number (640? or so) and messing with rim sizes and width etc. to get near the stock number.

Hope I'm explaining everything in a lucid manner!

Thanks.
hail

 

[Whiner]

Try Pep Boys! The tires we have are made by cooper. There is a good Z rated tire that simulates a bf goodrich kdw for 120.00 a tire. thumb

 

[sdpatt]

After doing a search at TireRack.com for 225/60-15 and 215/65-15 size tires, I was very surprised by the limited choices for high performance tires. In the stock 215/65-15 size, the Dunlop SP Sport 5000 Symmetrical at $77 each and the Yokohama AVS dB S2 at $72 are two fairly high performance choices. In the nearly qual overall diameter 225/60-15 size, the Firestone Firehawk SZ50 EP is probably the highest performance choice at $105 each. The Dunlop SP Sport 5000 Symmetrical at $73 each and the Yokohama AVS dB S2 at $70 each are two other good performing choices.

Except for the Firestone SZ50, which I have not personally tested, none of these tires would be considered ultra high performance, but would provide equal or better performance than the OEM GT+4s. And 40,000 miles for a set of tires on a SHO is outstanding. My record for the twelve sets I have fitted to my 1991 SHO has been about 30,000 miles.

 

[Emerald94]

I know a few SHO owners running the Firehawk SZ50 and they're very happy with the performance, especially in the wet.
?Dupont tires? Isn't that the brand the Ferrari F1 team is using?

 

[SolidState]

SZ50s....over here...

I absolutely love these tires. Wet weather performance is really really good, and dry handling is phenominal.

Good tires make the SHO...

 

[Marccus]

Thanks to all above. hail

I'll check prices and availability locally and get off the bald track.

I agree with the comment that tires make the car. I never really owned or drove a car with this much performance and I'm not Speed Racer, but when I do try to "learn" more about handling and performance at 2:00 am out on the desolate Southwest or Highway 1 in CA, I've reached a point where intuitively the tire were saying "OK A-hole backoff or you and I are going to end up 'off-road'." oh_my eek!

It's very scary intuitive feeling that overcomes oneself; you just know you're at the point where something is going to give and you can absolutely attribute it to something - in this case the tires.

I'm not a great driver by any stretch, now if you want to talk about my brother, whose first car was an awesome Pontiac GTO, now that's when I wished they had invented Depends bladder control diapers. oh_my

I could never drive at that level inches away from everything, kicked back, and listening to music while working the shift, clutch, brake, **** on the radio(!), etc. hail

But I know my own limits!

Regarding Scott's comment, original stock tires GT +4's got 20K to 25K, not very good and that's with not a lot of aggressive driving. As I stepped down in tire rating, tread life went up a lot as expected by design, but handling suffered.

Eveything in life is a tradeoff! headbang

 

[billyshoe]

Kumho ecsta 712 more bang for the buck. $75-$80 Z rated.

 

[sdpatt]

billyshoe:
Kumho ecsta 712 more bang for the buck. $75-$80 Z rated.

That's not much bang.

 

[tracy_s_1993_atx]

I put on the Potenza RE730's(225/55/ZR16)on my 1993 ATX two years ago... Great wet and dry traction. I originally swapped the Goodyear GT+4 's for the BFG COMP T/A ZR tires and then they swapped to the KDWS. Now I have the RE730's and like them much better than any tire I have ever had on a daily driver.

Michael and Tracy

 

[AutoSHO]

I had the BFG KDWS. Loved them. Quiet, Stuck very well, wore well too. Very positive experience.

 

[shojuan]

Moved to SHO Generation I & II Performance Upgrades - Wheels, Tires, Interior, Body, and Cosmetic Mods

<small>[ September 04, 2003, 03:00 AM: Message edited by: shojuan ]</small>