this may sound stupid but how important are tires..... alot of yall know that my gta's suspension is vitrually all aftermarket.... it handles well but how big a role do tires play in handling and body roll.... im asking because i have bald rear tires and bald tires up front but they are bald on the outer edges... basically all my tires are shot but my car handles pretty well.... ive been looking at sumitumo htr tires.... would i see a big increase in handling....

 

tires are important . each make/brand will will be a little different . i have B.F.G. G force sport on my car . i love them , good looks , good handleing , good price , and made in the U.S.A. . ck. all the different mfgs. web sites , cooper has a good one . made in the U.S.A. is important to me . why send money overseas ? yeh , honda , toyota , etc. say made/mfg. in U.S.A. , but where does the final money go ??? support things in our country . God Bless America , good luck .

 

Handling, yes to a certain extent.
Ride quality, wow yes.
Rain quality, yes.

I replaced the original Gatorbacks on my car in 2007. They were 19 years old. The car handled great with the Gatorbacks on corners. But in the rain, it was a joke. I might as well have had 600 HP.

Went with the new set of GS-D3's and was amazed at how much smoother the ride home was.

 

Wore out tires on any car are bad news and accident waiting to happen. Look for tires that have a good rating for dry & wet use and if you drive your car all year round be carefull about choice (some "Z" rated tires in winter are worse then your bald tires now).....

 

Well I'm trying to decide weather to get kumho ecsta ast trie which is 77 dollars each on tire rack or the sumitumo htr + tires... For 93 each....

 

Tires are for the most part one of those items "you get what you pay for" unless you go to an expensive Goodyear dealership of such.

I love the old saying, "Got a $10 head? then buy a $10 helmet".

I do not skimp on tires. I personally would not put either of those on my car and trust them not to have a blowout at speed. Tire rubber coupound is also VERY improtant. The cheaper tires are generally old technology and harder compound, not the more advanced dual rubber coupounds and such of latest technology.

Tire grip has EVERYTHING to do with suspension tuning. You simply change a brand of tires and you will have to retune your suspension for balance due to a change in grip coefficiant. Let me give you an example:

Lets say you have a worn out tire that has a lateral grip yeilding the car to roll lets say 2* then slippage. You now put a better (or newer softer tire- note that tires harden with age and loose grip) set onto the car and it now grips laterally better to lets say 3* instead of two. The entire suspension is acting differently due to roll and will generally tighten a car's balance whereas to push due to the heavier front weight ---when it was loose with the worn tires.

In NASCAR, the reason we are always messing with the suspension is not only changing track temperatures, but different sets of tires even in the same brand will always render different specs(sizes and pressures). The suspension has to be slightly altered to meet these differences to maintain balance.

Dean