johns84bird

I was looking at the Michelin Pilot XGT Z4's at 255/50/16 rear and 225/50/16 front. Tirerack's survey results put them at the top of the all-season ultra high performance for steering response and cornering, top 3 for almost everything else. How much of a difference will I feel over pep boy futura GLS and firestone firehawks which I feel both stink?

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• 84 Firebird w/ T/A gfx
• 350 4bbl (LM1)
• Automatic
• Non-leaking T-Tops (new rubber all around)
• Working headlights (new parts)

Mods: 14" K&N open element, 180* stat, ram-air hood, Accel cap & rotor, MSD Super Conductor Wires, 24mm solid rear & 36mm hollow front sway bar w/ PST polygraphite bushings & endlinks, Spohn SFCs, WS6 springs, SLP 1 3/4" Jet-hot coated headers, Hooker 3" cat-back, Catco high-flow cat, Comp Cams High Energy 268 cam, AFR 190 heads, Weiand Action+ intake, Comp Pro Magnum 1.6:1 Steel Roller Rockers, Moroso Oil Pan with trap doors, windage tray and crankshaft scraper, poly graphite motor mounts, K&N oil filter and Mobil 1 synthetic.

http://www.homepagez.com/350thirdgen/

Jza

I don't know about the Firehawks since I've never driven a car with them, but the difference over the Futura tires will be marked.

That's a pretty high price, though, for 16s. Have you taken a look at the Bridgestone RE series? That's what I'm running right now, and I can't imagine finding something better for the price.

91305z

You can get take off GSC's from slp for 100 a piece 245/50

86SCBNJ

Try the Kumos. The carcase they use is from their race tire. It's not really an all season tire, but it is only $86 for a 245/50/16. Check them out at the tire rack...

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86 SC, 305 LG4, TH700R4, SLP headers, 3" cat and exhaust. Mild cam 204/214, .423/.442. SLP shift kit, richmond 3.73's w/limited slip. Suspension Techniques Sway Bars, Globel West Wonderbar, Poly everything bushings, Metco LCA's, Lakewood Panhad Rod. 16" ROH, with Toyo 245's. For autocross, 16" IROC's w/bfg R1's... Nothing easy can be fun...

doc

Save yourself a lot of money and buy the Kumho 712s from tirerack.com



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'87 L98 TPI IROCZ, AFR190 heads, 3.70 gears, ZZ9 cam, 3000 Art Carr TC, SLP 1 3/4" headers, SLP cat-back, no cat, no AC, no MAF screens, Accel manifold base & SuperRam, 24#/hr SVO injectors, Edelbrock double roller timing chain, MSD ext coil & distributor, trans cooler, 52mm TB with airfoil, TB coolant bypass, AFPR(40psi), K&N filters, Hotchkis lowering springs, my custom chip, Lay Ind. ram air kit, SS Brakes 1LE upgrade 12" rotors dual piston calipers, 265/45R16 Kumho V700 tires.
ET 13.27sec @ 103mph on MT ET Streets
'90 Eagle Talon AWD, no rust thru 9 winters
'99 Camaro SS, red, 6-spd, T-tops, Mcleod clutch, Pro 5.0 shifter, MAF processor, Direct Flow airlid, K&N filter, next mod: 4.10 rear gears
313.7Hp & 320.6ft-lbf, ET 13.55sec @ 105.1mph

JJ

You think firestone firehawks suck ? I had a set of firehawk SZ50s, best all around tires I've ever owned.

iroc5speed

I don't think it matters too much which tires you have as long as they're high performance. plus, why pay $700 for tires you're just going to roast anyways?

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'86 IROC 5-speed
305 LG4
edelbrock performer rpm intake
edelbrock 600 cfm carb
msd pro billet hei distributer
'95 3.23 rearend
hotchkis rear suspension
PST front polygraphite suspension

johns84bird

JJ,
I have the firehawk SS10's on the back, Futura GLS front. I was looking at the sz's a while back but went with the ss10's cause money was short for me. Now I'm ready to spend more if I have to. Thanks for the suggestions guys, I'll check them out.
John

jobryan26

Yea till it blows out! Sorry man I couldn't resist.

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See my Ride:
https://www.thirdgen.org/rides/index...ew&rideid=1324

lukerene

its an engineering fact michelin, is the best tyre in the world,,,its the tyre ALL tyres are JUDGED against,,,most big tyres are junk,,,bridgestone,dunlop,yokahama,michelin,are the tyres lamborghini,porsche,ferrari,,HSV,and jaguar,merc,and,many more use for a reason, ANYWAY you cant put a price on safety,

86SCBNJ

Michelens are over priced and over rated. That's why Mercedes uses Dunlops on AMG models. Michelens wear well, but I feel they don't stick as well as some LESS expensive tires...

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86 SC, 305 LG4, TH700R4, SLP headers, 3" cat and exhaust. Mild cam 204/214, .423/.442. SLP shift kit, richmond 3.73's w/limited slip. Suspension Techniques Sway Bars, Globel West Wonderbar, Poly everything bushings, Metco LCA's, Lakewood Panhad Rod. 16" ROH, with Toyo 245's. For autocross, 16" IROC's w/bfg R1's... Nothing easy can be fun...

Greg90iroc

well i have to say that the yoko AVS intermediates are the best tires that you can get for the money too bad they were discontinued. But the kumos are almost as good for about the same price. i would say go with the kumos. I will say this the SZ-50's are crap. They don't hook! we have taken the pepsi chalage with the AVS intermediates and the sz-50's and the yoko's are far superior. a freid had a flat on his mustang so discount gave him an sz-50 untill they could get an intermediate for him. well we mounted the avs on the right rear and the sz-50 on the left rear. then droped the cluch. the car has a good posi and it was the sz-50 that spun while the yoko stuck. The funny thing is that the right rear is the tire that looses traction first when you have equil tires on the rear and you have open diff. The kumos are likley to be a tenth quicker than the sz-50 in the 60 foot times. also my car runs the same on street tires as it does with slicks.

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90 IROC l98
last season best corected 13.62 @102
mods
full exhaust, AFPR, pulley, jet stage 1 chip, billet servo, 52mm throttle body, slp runners and some 1.6 RR's and a few other little things.
243 RWHP and 342 RWTQ with hot engine and 90 octain fuel

Mkos1980

iTrader: (8)

I'm running SS20's and Love them

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89 FORMULA 350
99 Grand Prix GT

88IROCs

I have Pilot Sports MXX3's(255/45YR-17 fronts and 285/40YR-17 rears) and have mixed feelings about them. They're phenomenal at cornering, amazing in the wet and absolutely suck for acceleration. I've talked with other people who have these tires(though not necessarily the same size) and the consensus is the super-stiff sidewall is great for cornering and helps wet traction, but hurts accelerations. I've added a Trac-Link bar and HAL adjustables on the rear to try and come to grips(pun-intended) with these tires. Those mods have cured the kickdown two-step, but if I leave above 1000 rpm from a stop it's Spin City.

If I wasn't so addicted to squeezing my brains into the side of my skull, I'd have probably sold them by now('course it doesn't hurt that I got the wheels and tires at a real good price).

85transamtpi

I switched to Bridgestone RE910's when I got the car. For 245/50/16 they run like $110 each w/ mounting and balancing. With the old tires (goodyear) I could not get traction at WOT from a stop. After changing tires they dont even spin at all. I would recomend these tires, even if they are made by firestone .

RayZeR14u

Then why does Nascar use Goodyear?

88IROCs

NASCAR doesn't use Goodyear's, but Goodyear does use NASCAR.

Tire companies don't participate in racing series to sell street tire. Rather they use racing as a way to speed-up development of technologies that could be applied to street tires. Few people will think their street Eagle's have much in common with a race Eagle(aside from the name). But if you want to test tread patterns, wear characteristics, etc., it's faster to develop solutions at 200 mph for 3 hours at a time, than it is to go 75 mph for 8 hours at a time.

I don't think Michelin or any other tire company stands head and shoulders above the competition. Michelin participates in the race series(Formula 1, WRC, etc.,)it does, in the hopes that they will learn things they can apply to their street rubber. Goodyear does the same.

Unless you are a small operation like MT or Hoosier, you don't worry about making money from your racing tires. But it's cheaper and faster than real world testing.

86NiteRider

iTrader: (10)

I have had good sucess with Dunlop, Goodyear and Michelin. Depends on the type of car, size of the tires and what you are trying to achieve. Now I don't think those Pep Boy 4 for $99.00 tires are good for a performance car but are great for the beater. It's all about personal preference.

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86 Camaro Black SS Coupe, T Tops, Flowmaster, Custom Paint, Dunlop Road Kings S/R tires, Wheel Country Directional Chrome Wheels,new charcoal & gray interior including seats and door panels, new carpet and headliner, complete front end suspension rebuild, new Valve seals, and more mods to come
'91 RS 5.0 TBI = Waiting to be modded, but has all of the toys inside.

http://www.angelfire.com/sports/niterider/86camaro.html
Morgan_Andre@hotmail.com

TS b4c

At one time I had the bridgestone re910's all the way around. I loved them, not to much wheel spin and man could they hold a cornner. Now I have the Firestone ss20's on back. I can leave 20" long black marks on dry pavement from a standstill, looks cool, but it doesn't win you races.

johns84bird

holy crap dude I wrote this back in august, and you just brought it back from the dead! That was like 6 months ago lol!

P.S. I still havent upgraded my tires

m23haz

I have the Michelin VR4's and I HATE them. They suck in the rain and have left me stranded in the snow. They dont hook up because they are hard and the only positive is they dont wear fast. Performance wise though I would never get them again because they are not practical for me because I can only drive it in certain weather.

Camaro_hunter_d

NO JOKE... I bought some when they went on sale a while back... I thought the Sh 30's were decent, especially for 62 bucks and they lasted over 3 years!.

AJ_92RS

Vipers from Sears. $434.00 installed w/tax (6.25%) for 4 245/60/16's with 35K mile wear warranty.

They aren't the best tire for straight line in the snow and rain, but they're directional, and I have yet to break them loose while turning on either snow or rain. Unless of course I floor it. But I'm talking exit/entrance ramps, or even quick right turns.

They're made by Cooper, and I was very surprised from the increase in traction I got compared to the Dunlop P5000's that were on there.

AJ

SpeedCat86

Depends on what you want. A tire that hooks great at launch will generally give up some conerering. Conversely, a great cornering tire will give up some laucnh traction (that's why you see indy cars doing burnouts leaving the pits).

That being said, I Have Dunlop Sport 5000's in 245/50r16
They get better cornering grip than the Goodyear GSC, with out giving up much at takeoff. The Dulops also have a good all weather pattern and hold up well under extreme handling
(autocross) I got mine from a local tire place for $120 each

AJ_92RS

See, that's were I had the most problems with mine, was in the snow. All I'd have to do is let my foot off the brake, and that pegleg tire just spun. They were OK in the rain though.

And I know that you don't get much snow in Norfolk.

BTW, my sis is in the Navy at Newport News. I wanna go see her, but I need money to do that, which I don't have. I guess that's why I bought $434 tires huh?

AJ

trans87

Indy cars burn out leaving the pits to warm up the tires not because of bad traction. I don't think there is any tires that an indy car can't burn up.

SpeedCat86

Actually, I used to get a pretty good snow storm or two when I lived in DC, also drove to Rochester, NY for a couple of holidays, in the snow. Traction wasn't a problem, if you roll out in 2nd or 3rd gear. The 2.77 Posi doesn't hurt either. Stopping in the snow with any 245 front tires, now that's a challenge!

Indy cars burn their tires leaving the pits because those 200mph, 9000rpm motors have such tall gearing, and so little low end, that you have to dump the clutch at high rpm to keep from stalling. You really don't want to stall, because the car is not fitted with an onboard starter motor.

TS b4c

I thought it was a good post with valuable insight on tires, plus I wanted to add my opion on my firestone ss20's. I'm looking at the Bridgestone RE730's right now for summer only use. So if anyone has something to say about them, I want to hear it.

AJ_92RS

UUUUUUUUHHMMM.

Bridgestone owns Firestone. I can tell you that.

:lala:

AJ

Jza

Wow. That first reply was a while back. Now it's about 6 months later, and I still like my RE730s. The treadlife is WAAAY past what I expected it to be. I have lots more to go.

91cop

If you want traction buy falken tires. If you have to drive all season buy all season tires. Don't try to drive in the snow with a performance tire. It dosen't work. Better yet buy a set of both they will last twice as long.

fireturd350

iTrader: (8)

I got some Michelin Pilot XGTs on my formula. I got them for 90 bucks each at walmart cause someone ordered them and back out. + I doubt wallie world sells to many 245/50 R16s

I like them, but I wouldn't spend the 140 or 145 each brand new. Just my opinion.