ZZ42Fast

iTrader: (2)

I've recently spent a shed-load on restoring the IROC rims. I see that nobody seems to list tires for this anymore. What's going on? Any ideas?

RedLeader289

iTrader: (2)

tirerack.com has 8 different choices

Chiknhawk

iTrader: (2)

BFG sport comps are a great tire for our cars.

82tarecaro

iTrader: (4)

I just got a set of Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 Wide Ovals. There is a thread on here about them. They seem like a decent tire for the money.

Reid Fleming

iTrader: (2)

For summer tires in 245/50/16 your only choices are the BFG Sport Comp or the Firestone Indy 500.

All the other choices out there are all season.

daferris

iTrader: (8)

The bfg sport comp 2's are what I put on my car. They are pretty good. My track day got cancelled till mid July. But on the street they are a dam good tire.

RubberDucky

iTrader: (4)

255/50/16 is hard to find now. I'm gonna have to go to a larger wheel for better tire choices.

paul_huryk

Manufacturers are slowly killing off the 245-50-16 and 255-50-16 sizes, has been happening for about a decade now.

You do have a great choice to substitute for the 245-50-16, the super popular 225-55-16 size. Standard on dozens of import sedans from 1990 to 2008, there are over 50 tire choices in that size - over 15 are "summer high performance", compared to 2 in 245-50-16. People will gripe about the tires being narrower (they are of course), but a Continental Summer tire in 225-55-16 beats an all season every day of the week in every performance category - so consider that size.

steveo346

You can get brand new Kumho in 245/50/16 for $89 each Free shipping!


http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-NEW-245-50...3118cd&vxp=mtr

steveo346

or these Falken/Ohtsu FP7000 High Performance A/S Tire 245/50/16 for $90 shipped


http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-NEW-Falken-Ohtsu-FP7000-High-Performance-A-S-Tire-245-50-16-2455016-/191560963690?hash=item2c99ec566a&vxp=mtr

paul_huryk

This tire and the one above are "H" rated all season tires, which theoretically cannot replace gatorback VR or ZR tires as the speed rating is lower. Obviously you can mount them if you want to.

http://www.discounttiredirect.com/di...5&rd=16&cs=225

The link above is for a set of 225-55-16 Continental Extreme Contact DW tires, which are a better tire than anything other than the BFG several had mentioned above for $378 a set shipped to your door ($94.50/tire).

steveo346

$94.50 is a good price for better rated tires. I didn't know that the OP wanted high rated tires, he had just said that he thought the tire size of 245-50-16 was a rare size. Just trying to give another 3rd gen owner some options. That is a good deal though for all 4 that you posted.

82tarecaro

iTrader: (4)

I wouldn't want to put a narrower tire on the car though. I have 225/55/16 size on my 90 Stang and the size difference is noticeable. It ruins the look IMO.

paul_huryk

You just summed up the problem - many don't want to go narrower in a super-popular size, but gripe about not being able to find even 10 tires in 245-50-16.

So go up in size - 275-40-17 fits like a champ with the right wheel and the look is super aggressive.

82tarecaro

iTrader: (4)

That does not fit in with maintaining a stock appearance. There are many of us who like to keep things stock. I am not griping, I found a tire I like. I just pointed out why going down in size might not be popular option.

ZZ42Fast

iTrader: (2)

Thanks guys, at least there are some. I'm in the UK and don't have this kind of choice. I just generally see its getting harder.

LAFireboyd

iTrader: (3)

Another 245/50-16 tire that I believe is still available is the Riken Raptor ZR.

yfz28

I've been trying to find 245/50/16s as well and is near impossible. found a set of hankook ventus v2 concept 2s (I think they are called) more of an all season tire but they look like a decent tire at a good price. they are only H speed rated so I know it might turn a few people away.

paul_huryk

Tires available as of 7/4/15 online - street tires, not race:

1) Ventus H2 Concept 2: H rated allseason

2) Kuhmo Ecsta PA31: V rates allseason

3) Kuhmo Ecsta AST: H rated allseason

4) Firestone Firehawk Wide Oval: W rated summer tire

5) Firestone Firehawk Wide Oval AS: W rated allseason

6) BFG G-force sport comp2: W rate summer tire

7) BFG G-Force SS AS: W rated allseason

8) BFG G-force comp2 AS: W rated allseason

9) Hankook Ventus H457: H rated allseason

10) Cooper zeon RS3: W rated allseason

11) Falken Oatsu FP7000: H rated allseason

12) Federal SS496: v rated summer tire

13) GP Champiro UHP AS: W rated allseason

14) Primewell PZ900: W rated allseason

There may be more, but my patience is waning on searching.

Lots of no-name brands - no way some of those tires are truly W rated. Of the first 10 tires, 3 are H rated and only 2 would be considered "summer perfomance".

So while there are a little over a dozen choices, only 2 would be suitable replacements for the VR or ZR gatorbacks that the 3rd gens came with new. However in 225-55-16, there are over 15 summer tires of VR rating or higher.

cosmick

Was just checking out www.simpletire.com, they have 22 different choices of 245/50R16, and I know of at least 3 others they don't carry. Impossible to find? Not even close.

KMK454

They seem to come and go. I wanted Good Year Eagle F1 GS-D3s, but when it was time to buy, they were unavailable. I went with the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 Wide Ovals (what a terrible tire name!) instead. Several months later, the Good Years were available again.

The Firestones I have perform great. Amazing dry grip and very good, predictable handling behavior. My only complaint is looks - they have more of a donut look, whereas the original Gatorbacks were a little more square in the shoulder. Also, the Gatorbacks had smooth sidewalls, while the Firestones has designs embossed in them. That seems to be the norm on new tires, though.

If you had a GTA, I'd say get the Hawks 17x9 GTA rims and 275s.

paul_huryk

Most of those tires are super low quality junk honestly. I wouldn't want to put them on a car capable of 140+ mph and able to handle at over .9g...

cosmick

Even the cheapest ones perform well enough to do anything legal, someone wanting to track-day a resto is gonna have a second set of wider wheels mounting at least 275s. Those wanting more performance are gonna be driving on 275+ all day every day. For a trailer queen resto that sits in a museum, pick whatever seems most correct. It'll never see the high side of 5 mph again.

dmccain

iTrader: (2)

Im thinking of going to 225-50-16s next time I buy tires because they are much more choices and much cheaper. I just wonder will the .4 inches shorter and them being a touch narrower be noticeable?

nosajwols

iTrader: (1)

225 55 16 is closer height wise (roughly .1" overall), it is a very common size and I think will look much better. The 225 50 16 while close I think will look too short.

Keep in mind that even though the tires are the same numerical size each different model will have some significant differences to other models...

jsr1485

iTrader: (1)

These are available in 245/60r-16

Kumho TiresEcsta PA31Avg. $85.30

Uniroyal Tires Tiger Paw GTZ All SeasonAvg. $108.99

Cooper Tires Zeon RS3-AZeon RS3-Avg. $103.00

Firestone TiresFirehawk Wide Oval AS Avg. $104.45

BFGoodrich Tires g-Force Sport COMP-2 Avg. $129.11

cosmick

I have a pair of 225/55s on 16x8s on the front of my S-10, they don't match each other, but both have more than 8'' of actual tread width, and the ohtsu 245/50R16s on the rear aren't any wider, but at least have a good looking square shoulder, i hate how it looks when most cheap tires have a tread an inch too narrow for the tires. most of those overseas 245/50s should actually be called 225/55s. i have an ohtsu 225/55 on the front of my '94 Camaro, it has about 7'' of tread width, even worn down to the point of needing replacement.
but the cornering grip of my futura gls touring 225/55 is better than any 245/50 i've ever experienced, including Eagle GS-Cs, too bad they're discontinued, i'd order 2 more sets in a heartbeat. And their treadwear rating was 420.
Anyway, the bfgoodrich g-force comp 2 a/s is getting lots of excellent reviews all over the interwebs, and at $130/ea delivered, they'd be my first choice for a daily, year-round 245/50R16.
The old bfg comp t/a hr4 245/50R16 had wider tread than most 255s, i expect that hasn't changed
225/50s may look bad, but the better ones will perform as well as any 245/50

paul_huryk

225-55-16 is a direct replacement for the 245-50-16 as it is the same overall diameter and there are dozens of options.

BFG has always run wider than spec, while Michelin and Dunlop and others are dead on spec (like you would expect).

You won't get as much dry grip with an A/S as a summer tire - althouhg in 245-50-16, almost all choices now are A/S.

DynoDave43

iTrader: (11)

Wow, you're not kidding.

http://tires.tirerack.com/search?p=Q...i_jump=1&srt=0

cosmick

I recall a few years ago at Pick-N-Pull seeing a blue '89 Formula 350 wearing a set of no-name 245/50s that had more than 9" of tread width, but they were near bald and dry-rotted.
I am sad that those days are gone.
These days both of the affordable 315/35R17s are no wider than the old Potenza RE71 275/40s were.
There's definitely some serious problems in the tire industry.
The only exception is Maxxis, they just released a 245/40R15 street radial with a treadwear of 200 for the Miata crowd that is really more of a 265/35, for $135 each. If we could get them to do a 245/50, it would be more like a 265/45, and then we'd all be getting our 16x8s widened to 16x9.5s.

cosmick

http://www.maxxis.com/contact-us
Ask for the Victra VR-1 to be made in a 245/50R16, with at least 9" of tread, preferably 9.5", for around $140

DynoDave43

iTrader: (11)

"Due to the nature of the tread compound, these tires require special care when storing near freezing temperatures."

I've seen summer tires where they do not recommend driving on them under, say, 40*. But I've never seen any with special storage requirements.

Reid Fleming

iTrader: (2)

I checked Discount Tire and Tire Rack for 245/50/16. Slim pickings being the result.

Discount Tire (in my Houston zip code) has 3 choices:
Hankook Ventus V2 all season
BFG Sport Comp2 all season
BFG Sport Comp2 summer

All 3 of the above are special order.

Going to Tire Rack, I see 6 choices. But of those 6, the Firestone Indy 500 are unavailable (back ordered) and the Indy 500 all season are discontinued. Leaving 4 choices. Basically the same as Discount Tire, except that Tire Rack has the option of a Kumho tire.

Ultimately, the only performance tire left is the BFG Sport Comp2. And even getting that is not too easy. BFG still offers a 255/50/16. But that too is a special order.

cosmick

In the world of Miata racing, they have rules about having to use a treaded tire with a treadwear rating of 200, to keep the $300 race-only slicks out. Those $300 tires may have DOT stampings, they may have treadwear ratings of 40 or even 0, and there are classes for them, but the Miata guys got their tire the same way I just proposed us getting a 245/50 that's really a 265/45, based on their 245/40 really being a 265/35. Who doesn't want wide, 1g corners at a competitive price?

skinny z

That's different. Up here in the Great White North the BFG Sport Comp II's (summer) were on the shelf in both sizes. 245/50 and 255/50. It's usually the other way around in terms of availability.
Good prices too. Just over $500 USD ($700 CDN).

cosmick

The BFG Comp summers are $140 each around SLC.

mucker15

found them locally no issue went with Falkens