I'm about to put a new set of tires on my T/A. Quality is more of an object here than money. My priorities are 1. handling 2. wet weather traction and 3. treadlife -- in this order. I realize the difficulty in getting all of that out of any one tire, but I've done some shopping and put together a list of prospectives. I'm searching the archives right now for people's opinions on these tires, but most of what I'm finding is arguments about whether Pep Boys Futuras are good or not. Here's what I'm looking at:

BFG G-Force KDWS or KDW (other than the W vs Y speed rating, I'm not sure of the difference between these two) - These seem to be a versatile tire, and I can get them *installed* for $579. There DO seem to be quite a few people in the archives who have these tires, and all of them seem to like them.

BFG Comp T/A ZR

Michelin Pilot Sport A/S - These are horrendously expensive, but there seems to be a consensus that they're worth the money.

Michelin XGT Z or H rated - The tire people tell me these aren't as competent in wet weather as the A/S's. The H rated I don't think are worth the money, because they're more expensive than most Z tires.

Dunlop SP Sport 5000


So I guess my question is: To those of you using any of these tires, what do you think about them? To the rest of you, if you wanted good 245/50-16 street tires (NOT DRAG RADIALS), and money was no object, what would you buy?


Thanks in advance,
Willie C.

 

If I had the $ and was buying tires all over again, I'd probably get one of these, in no particular order...

Michelin Pilot Sport
Bridgestone Potenza RE730 Gen2
Kumho ECSTA Supra 712 (good price/performance, but they say it looks narrow)
Kumho ECSTA 711(can you beat 60$ a pop!?!?!)
Goodyear Eagle HP Ultra Plus(closest thing to the gatorback i've seen)

 

I decided several years ago that every tire I buy from now on will be a BFG Comp T/A ZR , due to the fact that when I drove my buddie's 94 Mustang w/400 HP engine barely even chirped the tires when I floored it at a turn, so definatly consider the comp t/a's

 

Ive owned at least 20 sets of BFG's in my life and still love them. However, not to be narrow minded, I tried out Firestones FireHawk SV50 a few years back and liked them so well I went for another set. To my surprise they now offer an even better version that is the best street tire I have ever driven on--The FireHawk SV50 EP (EP stands for extended performance) I've been on a set of KD-GForce BFG's In another car and they stick the best I've seen on dry, as well as most autocross tires, but they suck in the wet. Haven't been on the KDW tires yet.
Try the SV50 EP's, I promise you won't regret it, my opinion is its the best all around street performance tire made.

 

I have used BFG's alot and I'd say for best all around I'd go for the COMP T/A's. THe dunlops are ok My buddy has them on his 87 monte ss but they aren't as good as the BFG's. If I had my chioce I'd get the BFG G-FORCE tires.

 

I'm happy with my B.F. Goodrich g-force KDWS tires. As I understand it, the KDW's are better for handling, KDWS's are better for wet/snow traction. They handle well in all conditions, and last time I went to the strip with my 305 they didn't slip much, and they rarely ever slip in the rain.

 

I further that vote on the Firestone Firehawk SZ 50 EP's... best tire i've ever driven on, and I got them for 55% off (some Firestone dealers are offering this sale) because of Firestone's financial difficulties. total came to $950 Canadian all -around with mounting, balancing etc. that's around $500 US.

 

KDWS is for Snow (all-season). KDW is for Wet (spring/summer). I have KDW's, they are great, very sticky, wear great (I have about 40 autox runs on them), quiet and are great in the rain/standing water.

 

I had some BFG's on my car a while ago. I liked them. Then i got some Yokohama's. WOW! I love them. Handle great in the rain too. They're the A550V's. Nice tire. $275 a pair. Stay away from the SP 5000's by Dunlop. I work at NTB and they're always coming back with problems. And the wet traction sucks.

 

Thanks for the suggestions ya'll. I had entirely forgotten about the existence of firestone/bridgestone. I've been doing some research, comparing consumer reviews and road-tests on the various tires, and I think I've decided to go with either the BFG G-Force KDW's or the Firehawk SV50EP's.

Unhappily, no two consumers/testers/websites seem to have the same opinion on which tire performs better. They're both good enough, and close enough in terms of performance, I guess it's pointless to try and find *tbe best* tire. For the kind of driving I do, I probably wouldn't notice a difference between the two. It may come down to a coin-flip, or to whoever is willing to offer me a better deal.

Willie C.

 

did you check out the Bridgestone Potenza RE730 tires? I have them and like them alot. Z-rated, great rain handling, all around good tire. And cheap too!

 

both the tires you listed are great. I personally would go with the Firestones because you will get a better deal with them.

Phone around... see what the best price between the two is and go with that, i'd be guaranteed firestones are a lot cheaper... and will perform the same IF NOT better... I love these tires!

 

I work full time at a Bridgestone/Firestone (BFS) company store. I have Dayton (a BFS brand) Daytona 245/50ZR16's on my Z28. They are not too expensive, and they handle very well. Wet weather does not seem to bother them.

I could have bought any tire, but i chose these. I'm glad I did.

Thanx,ANDYZ28

 

I just got a pair of G-Force KDW the other day. I like them so far, here is a pic of them 245/50-16, treadwear 300, traction AA, temp A.

<img src = "http://@home.twcny.rr.com/gta88/DSCF0002.jpg">

 

I have the XGTs. They have superb dry grip but like you said not as good in the wet. I have trouble getting out of my parking space at work (grass parking lot) at night with dew on the grass I shift to OD and the tires just start spinning. I love them in the dry, my 350 is strong but can barely spin them.
Temp A
Traction A
Treadwear 160
The tires are very soft so don't expect them to last to long.

 

I love my Kuhmos and you can't beat the price. Awesome handling both wet and dry, and my cornering is unbelievable. My only reservation is the tread life. I can't say anything about that since I only have like 5K miles on them. To take a shot at it; it looks like they're worth about 25K miles or so.

.....and I don't think they look skinny

 

I vote for Kumho's as well. $60 each at tirerack.com

Get a whole set of four shipped to your house for about $270 bucks!

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Compar...y_45HR6E711_=4

I have had two sets and they are not noisy, have a 320 treadwear rating, and stick good in wet and dry conditions.

 

Thanks a lot for the advice. I've never paid much attention to tires before (30,000 miles later my T/A is still wearing the H rated rubber that was there when I bought it), but I feel like I have a much better grasp of what's available now. I may regret spending my torque-converter-fund on tires, but I think these also count as a performance modificaiton. Besides, the converter does precious little good if I can't hook.

I ended up going with the BFG G-Force's, simply because I got a superb deal on them. I'm taking my car to have them mounted and balanced saturday morning. If they turn out to be surprisingly good, or surprisingly bad, I'll let ya'll know.

Willie C.