the topic is labeled under "Nuff Said."

Well my front tires are basically bald, nothing left almost... killing my gas!
and i'd like to know what tires would be nice to get...

rear tires too!

does anyone know of any aftermarket wheels that look nice in our car?

 

Just had Pep Boys put on four P235 60 R14 tires yesterday. They also gave the car a much needed alignment. Man it made SUCH A DIFFERENCE.

Price was right as well -- 346 four four tires, mounting, balancing, alignment, valve stems.

I had them mounted to show the raised white letters

Only bad thing was it took them five hours.

 

17" Irocs. We have the greatest looking rim that cam stock on the Irocs- I think they look better than any aftermarket rim I have even seen on a Camaro. This company below make aftermarket OEM looking IROC rims in 17" & 18" diameters. I have seen the 18" on a car and personally think it looks just a bit too large- would suggest going to the 17".

Tires on a 17"- I would definately go to BFG G-Force KD's
Tires on a 16"- Trust me when I say Firestone Firehawk SZ50 EP's, I'm about to purchase my 3rd set in a month or so- not a better tire made in 16"

 

what are the tires tho? what company?

i'm just waiting it out... in about 3 weeks or so i get to align my car again(which really needs it cuz of an accident i had)
replace the front bumper from the accident
put in new spark plugs.
my exhaust has started to make funny sounds i'm thinking i've punctured it a few times...
get new tires, and brakes...
jeez...

 

Forgot the link to rims

http://www.performancewheeloutlet.co...ml?id=2&step=2

 

They were the Futura GLS Super sport tires

 

what do ya say for me...
check it out...
i have raised the back end of my car 4 inches for one thing... and i run larger tires in the back.
should i just put 15s in the front, and 16s in the back?
16s and 17s?
or just go one size all around?

 

i have goodyear nascar eagle 1 tires all the way around on my firebird. they have raised yellow letters. it was close to $500 for all 4 though. they are pretty much just for show though they dont hook or grip better than any other typical performance tire. i have 205-65-15's in the front and 255-60-15's on the back with 15x6 ft rims and 15x8 rears. they do look nice though

 

Z rated tires are a waste unless you plan on going 130+

I have GSC's on mine, and if I ever do decide to go w/ Z rated again, it'll be the SZ50's, but instead, I'm going to go w/ the Kumho Ecsta's

Honesly I did fine with standard tires on my V6. I ran Daytona's for a while, and then I ran some Firestone S220's. Then I tried some Yokohama AvidST's, and they weren't too bad.

 

Personally, my life is worth th extra money- even going 60mph. I don't buy a tire based on speed rating, I buy a tire that has the best overall traction performance in wet and dry for safety and top end cornering performance- ever blow a tire at 60 pulling 1g?
I don't plan on it and spend my money accordingly.

Someone asks for advice on tires- I tend to think they want to know what the best is---SP50ep's are the best 16" street tire that money can buy- and yes there is alot more expensive tires out there that don't perform close to these.

 

how are they in wet driving?
cuz rain will be often now cuz of summer coming up...
and i want tires that can survive wet and dry conditions... no snow or anything

i want good tires...
grip well, help me corner, decent thread life, even if they are more for gripping... speed rating w/e... doesn't matter much to me honestly... i just want really good tires, that can perform really well for draggin, street racing, and daily driving...
mainly daily driving fast and hard!

 

I am not exaggerating when I say that SZ50 Ep's will grip in the rain as well as BFG radial t/a's will grip in the dry. Wear is fantastic- I get 2-3 years out of them. Wife drives this car daily and I drive it hard at least once a week. We put about 15,000 miles a year on it. I drive a Chev truck that I eat tires every 8 months to a year from hard driving and heavy braking, so 2-3 years is good for me. I bought the truck new in '89 and am on my 16th set of tires- no bs.

 

Z rated does not necessarily mean they will get better traction.

Z is not a traction rating, it's a speed rating.

For traction, look at the UTQG ratings on the tire.

 

Are you talking to me? I am assuming so.

Let me educate you on UTQG ratings- They have nothing to do with cornering traction what so ever.

UTQG ratings for traction are a general rating on straight line WET braking safety specs classified by govt standards.(Hydroplaning resistence)

Tread wear ratings are heat resistence ratings- the higher the heat, the faster in general the rubber will wear. Harder rubber compound tires can have a good tread wear rating but suck in traction.

Handling ratings and comparison testing reviews are what you should base performance off of. UTQG has nothing to do with this.

Speed ratings are for tire delamination resistence. speed causes centrifical force changes on tires as well as heat production- its a good classification for safety of a tire holding together and maintaining its composer- But yes it has nothing to do with rubber traction. However, with that said- take two tires/ one s-rated and one z or y rated (doesn't matter much on the upper end tires unless you are at speed) Both tires could have close to the same cornerning ratings(grip) at 30mph- but when turning at the greater centrifical force of say 70mph, the structural integrity of the s-rated tire will colapse(actually expand or deform) where the z- rated tire will maitain its structural shape and grip at a higher speed.

Sorry I'm not trying to cause an arguement- its just that I have more experience with tire testing and suspension setup than probably anyone on these boards- and I have personally purchased well over 40 sets of tires in my lifetime so far, probably close to 50-60 sets (Street and racing compounds)

 

I went to the performance wheel outlet site and it says front only. I know I have read here about not mixing the front and back wheels. What is the difference. Why can they not be swapped front to rear and vice versa?
Rudy

 

We have one of the only cars ever produced from the factory with different front to rear offsets with the 16" Iroc rims. Factories that reproduce these larger 17",18" & 20" aftermarket OEM rims do so with only one offset so the rims can be used on many different type of vehicles, not just Camaros and Firebirds.

On a factory IROC rims they are labeled "fronts" and "rears". Fact is that the fronts will fit on the rears, but the rears will not fit onto the fronts with out spacers- the brake calipers will rub on the inside of the rim and the outer tire rod is close to rubbing on the 8" wide Irocs. The cars that came with the 15"x7" rims do not have clearence problems

Fronts will fit onto the rears fine, the only reason the factory made them different is they were trying for some reason to maintain the same track width front and rear. The extra 3/8" outer spacing of the front rims installed on the rears works fine and actually looks a little better in stance of the car. I have my rears spaced out with 1/4" spacers on my '87 Iroc 16" rims. rear track width is not crutial like front track width is- Please don't ask why- it will take me a big novel to explain scrub patterns.

 

Thanx 2.8

 

With all your knowledge, then you should certainly know that there's no reasonable justification for Z rated tires on a V6 then. I'm not saying run S rated, but Z rated is still a waste.

 

wet weather traction is EXCELLENT with these tires, but unfortunately tread wear SUCKS (as do most Z rated tires, but i still felt they could have been better)

i'd go with BF Goodrich's...........

a decent tire for the money are goodyear eagle HP's.....

 

You obviously haven't ridden in one of my cars. Lets just say if you are not seatbelted in the passenger seat I could quite possible loose you out the window even in my V6- I'm sure it will turn circle on your V8 bigshot. Its not about engine size- its about performance driving with safety in mind.

 

Let me enlighten you- They are one of the best wearing performance tires available- Here's TireRack's spec sheet on them.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes

 

Personally i wouldn't go with the 17" IROC wheels, yes i do think they look better than the Z28 wheels, but they are too original. The only reason i wouldn't put those on my car is because i'd want something custom, with my own touch. Then you can say your car is one of a kind Those 17s are only for the front anyways. 17" wheels are as big as id go. I've got 17" wheels on my car with Khumo Rage Roadhugger 255/40R17s. They work quite well. Z rated tires are for up to 150 mph. My tires are H rated, for up to 130 mph. I think thats all you need. The ratings are on the side of one of the tires. Mine say treadwear 380, traction A, and temperature A. This is on a rating of A to C. I've got 17" wheels on my car and i've haven't seen any other camaros with wheels like them, the closest i've seen are the Z06 wheels, and i've only seen one camaro with those anyway, well here is an attached pic of them

 

My V8's turning radius may suck with the big *** tires, but I guarantee you with everything that's done to it, it will definately outcorner yours safely.


Remember, I've owned 2 V6's, and while I loved them dearly (sold the 3rd gen to my uncle so I could still drive it), neither of them could outhandle this car.

Course, the suspension isn't stock either.



Before I bought the car, my friend would scare the crap out of me with it, taking turn-around off ramps at 90 with the top down (doesn't matter for safety, but the open air feeling is a lot more frightening). I'm too much of a puss to do that kinda ****. I'd rather not wreck my car. It's already been ran through one fence at 120...don't need another.

 

My friend- no offence but I'll teach you something-

1st off, there are my pictures of my cars suspension on the suspension boards for you to get an idea who your telling this to that your V8 will out handle.

2nd, I am a suspension expert with full education and understanding of geometry and settings/ and can setup any type of racecar.

3rd, My little V6 Camaro you are boasting to beat in a corner can pull 1.07g's on street tires (when hot)- I have tested it. You car with the suspension in your sig- if settings are at optimum could maybe pull .95g's if you are lucky-sorry but thats a proven fact in several magazines that have done moderate upgrades and lowering of the V8's.

4th, your V8 car has a heavier front end and a worst weight bais front to rear than a V6 car and could never be set up to corner as fast- your car will always have "the notorius to V8 f-bodies push". This is why I bought a V6 Camaro to mess with and not a V8- for autox and roadrace setups.

5th, I can drive and have driven with some of the best in the buisness- Dick Guldstrand, Grant Byers (Ex-test driver for Monroe Shocks& Goodyear tires), The Mears, Brain Chemileski (one of the top-5 Vette drivers in the nation... some names that Ihave raced against and beat. I have also tested and helped developed the "Dual-Friction" clutch for Mike Hayes at Centerforce back in the late '80's with my Corvette as the test car. ( Centerforce also sponsored me as did Cone Chevrolet)

Please next time check out who you are challanging and what they know and have before you make a claim like that. On a Drag stip- yes you would beat me for now- but I am working on that part of it presently and I'm sure you have read some of my posts in the past to know what I am doing to it and why.

I only come over to this V6 forum to check out whats going on- originally I came an found headers now I mainly come in to the suspension board to help and teach- I enjoy that, It gives me a little break in the day.

 

ouch, OWNED!

BTW, ill put my V8 up against yours anyday and mine still has the factory softride springs

 

I do apologize, I confused you with AFrikinGoodTime and all his other names.

BTW, I never said my V8 was fast...I just said it would handle....and it does have a lil more than what's in the sig :wink:

 

Yeah I'm busted - but of course you guys have known who I am for awhile I do know suspensions on cars and am highly respected in my circle of acquiantances. I help alot of 50-60yr old friends who have been around cars for years -I debug their setups for them. I don't like to argue with anyone but I am stubborn when it comes to things I know and have tested. Sorry I sometimes come off as an arrogant ***- sometimes I can't help myself- but I do always try to give the best advice. Hope we can respect eachother for now on. I'm always openminded to new tips- thats why I check in here- Its the best f-body board on the latest info.

Thanks Dean

 

ummmm, should i believe an advertisement or look at my own REAL experience with these tires

mine were gone after a year (20,000 miles approx)

sorry, but i DONT believe what i read (especially money driven advertisements)

i DO belive what i see with my own two eyes

did you hear what the National Enquirer headline was this week?

Elvis was seen wearing a turbin shopping at a K-mart in Italy

 

I've owned two sets and am almost ready to buy my third set in the next few months- I speak 1st hand also- I have owned virtually every type of BFG tire out there, includeing numerous sets of BFG R1 autox and roadrace rubber- and there is no comparison that the Firehawks last longer.

 

I had planned to ban you immediately after you revealing that, BUT due to the way you handled yourself, I'm not going to ban you this time. Let this be your warning though.

As you know I'm sure, it is against the rules to sign up with another name if you're banned. Since you're using AOL, there's really not much that we can do as far as IP's go, but just don't cause trouble this time around.

 

Thank you.

The way I try to express myself around here when giving my opinion, I always to to back my opinion with fact or experience not just shoot from the hip. I promise to keep things clean and try to stick to this new personal rule, it seems to be working fairly decent. I also know this post is old news and getting tired so I am done here- I have said all that I can contribute for others future discissions on purchasing Firehawks.

 

I bought a set of 1991-1992 Z28 16x8 rims and had them refinished and fit with new tires, I personally like their looks! And

Before


After


Bridgestone Potenza RE730 P245/50ZR-16 Tires
I've been very pleased with them, quite good traction in the rain and VERY good in the dry. The hotter they get, the more they stick, but I assume that's the same with any tire. They are Z rated.

I'm also partial to the agressive tread patterns!

Side Note: These tires are summer only... Trust me, I drove in the cold with maybe 2 cm of snow on the ground... not fun.... I knew then it was time to store the car away for the winter.