I just bought a 89 IROC to replace my stolen 88. First stop was the alarm, handled. The car has a combination of Khumo's, and continential's on it now. Theyre all slicks. Who makes the best handling tire for our cars now? I put Sumi HTR Z's on my Corvette because I was broke at the time. Theyre actually a very good tire. I am quite impressed. Was thinking of trying them on the ROC but I want the best cornering grip I can get. I drive the IROC much more aggressivly than the Corvette. Any suggestions?

 

You cant go wrong with BFG. Log onto Tirerack,,, I like their site very much because not only do they have pricing, but photos of the tire tread, and comparative ratings.

 

Best cornering grip? Then look to a set of R-compound DOT slicks, something like the hoosiers or victoracers. Of course I assume that you want some traction in the rain and more than 3000 miles of treadlife so they may not be the best choice.

Next step towards a daily driver tire is the falken azenis tires. They do very well in the rain when new, have a super sticky compound and even last 10 to 15k miles. They will overheat if you open track them, but are the tire of choice for STS and other true street tire classes.

After these tires you are into what I call the daily driver category and just about every tire manufacturer makes an ok tire now days. Unless you are racing you will rarely reach the edge of cornering traction on the street. You just want a predictable tire that does well in the rain. The kumho MX, goodyear F1's or the BFG KD's are some of the best and will hold decently when auto-xing or open tracking your car. These tires should get you 25-30k miles of treadwear.

 

I have BFG KDWS's 245/50/zr16s and i love em. I got em for less than $100/tire from discount tire direct and got awesome service.

Personally i dont think i've pushed my Z28 to its cornering limits, but every time i think i'm about to, it surprises me (probably a combination of the kickass stock suspension and these tires). Again, I don't go too crazy, but this car has no problems taking nice turns at atleast 2x the recommended turn speed limit (ie: ive taken a 15mph hairpin turn at ~40mph; 35mph turns at ~70, etc.)

The tires are all season tires, even though the car is only summer driven. The KDW is one step above the KDWS and is basically a better, summer version of the KDWS. If you have the money i'd step up to that, but if not...the KDWS is definitely a sick tire.

 

Goodyear Eagle F1. Great grip wet or dry, looks match the 3rd gen very well.