I will be honest in saying i dont know anything about tires, so i need some help here. My tires are extremely bald and i need new ones but i only have about 400 to 500 bucks to spend. I was lookin for something to launch decent and good handling that will last a awhile. I also want them to be Z-rated. The tires I have right no are Goodyear Eagle GTII's P245/50R16. Are these any good and what are they rated? not that it matters because i need to replace them but im curious thanks for your time. By the way whats Z rated mean anyway? ........... told ya i didnt know much about tires.

Ok well heres a little help. First the rating. Z rated tires are the best as far as high speed performance. They are rated at 149+ mph. As the ratings go down by letter, their recommended speed goes down. If I were you I would go search the different tire companies websites. Good example:

http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/bfgap...ex.jsp?style=0

If you're on a real budget then you might not be able to afford Z rated tires. With $500 you could get a solid set of Z rated tires. I got a set of Bridgestone Potenza RE730's 245/50ZR16's all the way around on my 16" IROC wheels for around $450. They are a very very nice set of tires. I've ran them on the streets for over 6 months and so far I've used 12% of the tread. Not that bad!

You read the tire like this:

245/50/ZR16

245 = Width
50 = Sidewall height
ZR = Rating
16 = Wheel Size

You have a B4C and those things handle really good (1LE baby!). I highly recommend you buy some good Z rated tires if you can. I'm not saying you're going to go 150 mph on the streets, but the compounds used on the Z rated tires are the best for street handling.

thanks for the advice i apreciate it

I would have to agree. I am running Bridgestone RE940 245-50ZR-16 on my B4C and they are an excellent tire, by far not the best but for $560 (Hawaii price) for 4 mounted and balanced they fit my budget.

Yah I'm looking at about $400 CAD for 2 tires mounted and balanced (I want my fronts rotated to back too)

no offense meant here:
You posted: I also want them to be Z-rated

And then: By the way whats Z rated mean anyway?

if you didn't know what it meant? why do you want it?

Z rated doesn't mean the tired can go 149+ mph... it means it can sustain 149+ mph, when was the last time you had your car up to 149 mph?

If you go to tirerack.com they have explanations for all the ratings...

99th post, kudos to wayne

I took your advice and looked at some websites and found some Z rated tires for fairly cheap can i get anyones opinion on these tires?

Falken Ziex ZE-512

Kumho Ecsta Supra 712

Yokohama AVS ES100

Pirelli P7000 Supersport

thanks

I knew Z rated meant that the tires could stand high speeds better but I didnt know how high and I here everyone sayin that they are the best to get, so naturally i wanted them. And you are right I've never gotten my car up to 149+ mph but i have gotten it up to 135-140 Mph several times so it would be nice to have a tire that could handle well over that mph.

i've got the Futura Ultra Z's on my car (a Cooper tire OEM'd to pep boys). like $450 all 4 installed, Z rated, very soft rubber, does well in all weather. haven't had my car up to that speed range, so i can't speak to how they do at serious speeds.

actually the highest rated tires are Y rated. i would go with bf goodrich G-force KDW only 119 a piece they grip great and they are Y rated. Good tires. Go tirerack.com they have good deals

Your correct, I believe Y rated are 181+ MPH.

Yeah the KDW's are a really good tire. I plan to run those as my street tires for my 18's. The Kumho's are good too, I use them on my stang when I grip roadrace. As long as you're getting a new set of tires you might want to research your options and maximize your buy. You'll want to keep the sidewall height the same as OEM (50), but you might be able to go a little wider. Maybe a 255/50/ZR16 tire. If you look at the charts on the tire company websites they usually tell you what width tire fits on what size wheel (or range of sizes). Find the widest tire that'll fit (and stay within the OEM sidewall specs), then do some searches on this board and see what peoples experiences were with that size tire (aka did it rub the wheelwell or what). Good luck!

the price on KDWs went up, last spring i payed 119 a tire and now they are up to i htink 130 something. Good tires though, didnt get the best wear out of them though

Since you say your on a budget of $500, check this site out to do comparsions of various brands of tires. Loads of info with more detail then on this Board. TIRERACK www.tirerack.com .

I run Sumitomo HTR Z tires and they are very good tires for the price, especially in the rain. I'm impressed with dry traction too. Only $88 each from Tire Rack.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes

I usually get tires from Tire Rack, but Merchant's Tire matched the price without even checking the 'net price. I got a set of 245/50-16 Kuhmo 712s for $420 mounted, balanced, and out the door WITH a road hazard warranty and no shipping. I installed them on my car myself...I don't trust tire shop guys when it comes to that.

I know Merchant's, Tire Kingdom, and Discount Tire will price match so shop around and get the best price. See if you can BS them for $65/tire....

HTH...Ed

When buying tires make sure you get good ones cause its not worth saving a few bucks when performance is on the line. Tires make a huge difference make sure you get the best you can afford

You should absolutely get the best tires you can afford. EVERYTHING else you do to your car somes down to those 4 little contact patches. One of the best places I've found has been E-bay! You have to figure for shipping, but I just got 4 Goodyear Eagle Aquasteel RUN-FLAT tires for $300 INCLUDING shipping. (interesting tires!) They are rated to 139mph and do well in the wet (something you gotta deal with out here) I have seen MANY different tires in the right range of sizes out on e-bay, you just have to watch the shipping costs and read the seller's ratings.

if you dont mind them wearing out relatively fast, i recommend pirellis. they arent that expensive and grip better than any street tire ive ever encountered.

how fast do you conisider fast? ABout how many miles im almost through a pair of g-force after about 12 k

LOL not that fast........maybe they'd last 2/3 as long as your standard tire? but that's just a guess

please that is great tire wear. i went through 4 sets of yoko AVS intermediates and averaged 7k per set. I am hard on tires but the intermediates grip very well and i was not that hard on them. they are not as good as the brigstone re730's or the g force kd but they were exelent tires. they have been discontinued. I am either going to ge the kumho victor race next or the brigstone re730's i have not decided how many miles i am going to put on the roc yet. I think i am going to drive my truck on an every day basis.

well.........then he ought to look at some pirellis, as far as im concerned they are great grip for the money and..........apparently.........if they last more than 7k............ that's good too....

I bought 4 Z Rated tires from Falken for $435. You will be more than impressed on how much smoother your ride is gonna be.

Any performance Z-rated tire that gets less then 20K is a
Sh-t tire in my opinion. As a original owner of 87 IROC, I am only on my 3rd set of tires in 95k, The orginal Goodyear Gatorbacks
were the WORST tire I used on this car and got 25k out ot them.

I put a set of Kumho Ecsta 711 on my 92 Camaro. Really Reasonable in price and a great tire.........I recommend you take a look at them.

How do the Kuhmos wear cause they are cheap? If its close then its worth it cause there only like 85 a piece

i think the wear is ok. my back ones have lasted for 1yr 3months so far and i bet they have 5 or so months left in them. i drive about 85 miles a week, so thats about 7k miles. please remember that my back tires seem to spin faster then my fronts on a daily basis. and i usually smoke em once a month.

You are intitled to your opinion but i do not share that opinion. I think that any tire that gets more than 14k is a crap tire. They do not stick like ones that wear faster. I will just say this if you got the power you got to plant it. It is really a good feeling to roll a 1 second lead on a 5.0 stang by the 330 ft mark.

Yes, but I am talking TRACTION not burning rubber and leaving it on the ground . A good tire hooks up and gets you moving. So spend your money and keep getting that good feeling.

Yeah lots of guys before they race "warm up there tires" by smoking them , with g-forces you dont have to grab like no tire ive ever had. Soft so they wear quick but worth it

My favorite tire is the BFG Radial T/A. (this comes with 12 years in the tire business) it is a classic. Now before you all start yelling, I know it is not Z rated, but it offers EXCELLENT wear and handling for a street tire. I feel for every day driving you can't go wrong with it, since you can get them for less than $90 a piece, and once again they offer good handling and great wear. if it is a daily driver and money is an issue, I would go with a lesser rated brand name before I bought a z rated no namer.

Just my opinion.

i went through two pairs of tires in 11k

I was wondering if any of you guys have the Futura Ultra-z < they have a 40k warranty i was wondering how they hook up and if they really honor the warranty. thanks

i've had them as my last two sets of tires, one on my current car and one i sold. the ones i have now have been through almost 20k already and are still all right. the previous one went about 15k before i had to sell the car. they are nice and soft though, and do as well in the rain or snow as any <$200 tire i've driven with.


from what i've heard, pep boys never honors that warranty, unless your tread falls apart in the first 10k. they require you have them rotated and balanced there like every 5k or something, which turns out to be more expensive than the tires, otherwise they blame it on your driving, your suspension, poor maintenance, or anything under the sun that doesn't make them directly responsible....

So do u think its worth the price of them?

if anybody is planning on buying some brigestone potenza re730's let be the one to let you know that they are no longer making re730's they are being replace with the potenza re750's wich is a much better tire any way. I dont' know what the price diffrence is going to be. the only diffrence with the two is that the 750 has a diffrent type of rubber that does not brake down as fast as the older tires so the tire performes the same when it is half way worn out as when it was brand new. and they are also built diffrently so that they balce better and can with stand higher speeds even thow they still z rated

I'd reccomend BFG g-force KDWS tires. I have those on the front and VR50's on the back(discontinued model). They stick pretty well.

I have had many tires including the BFG KDWS. Of all the tires I have had my personal favorite were the ES100s assuming you don't count my Kumo racing slicks I know alot of the guys running LS1s like the Nitto 555s but I personally haven't tried them.

Tyler

Ive got a set of Goddyear 275 45 17 and a set of Kelly Springfeild charger hp plus 245 45 17 tryin to decide on what to run on my rears thinkin KS Charger hp plus 215 45 17 on the fornt bu tnot sur eif i can cheat them enough to fit a 9.5 rim any ideas?? tire choice or if i can fit them on the front rims