Posted By: Flo
good sticky 15" tires? - 04/13/10 06:27 PM
Hi,
I am looking for a new set of tires for my cough... 79 Firebird... cough. The car is putting around 400 hp at the wheels. For several reasons I cannot leave 15". I want this thing to handle and brake as good as possible
-15"
-235 to 255 wide (needs to go on a 15x8" wheel)
-aspect ratio between 50 and 60
-needs to be street legal
-speed rating at least H, better V
-Very important is dry and wet BRAKING and HANDLING.
-I do not care AT ALL about snow or "M&S" rating, I am looking for a summer tire
-I do not care AT ALL about wear. If the tires are shot after 10000 or 15000 mls that is totally fine.
Is there anything like that around? The closest I could find were Yokohama Y352, but I cannot find anyone in the US who can sell me some of those.
Firestone Firehawk Indy500 seems to be OK (read other post), but they only have an "S" rating. This car will very likely end up on the Autobahn by the end of this year. Any ideas?
I am Ok with paying some extra for extra wishes.
Greets
Flo
Posted By: Neil
Re: good sticky road street 15" tires? - 04/13/10 06:30 PM
Autocross tires would be the best, but not sure if 15" are still made. Try Hoosier's website....
Posted By: Flo
Re: good sticky road street 15" tires? - 04/14/10 09:57 AM
Hoosier stopped their street tire line unfortunately...
Posted By: Skeptic
Re: good sticky road street 15" tires? - 04/14/10 01:24 PM
It's hard times for people that want high speed tires in 15" sizes, they don't seem to exist anymore.
Time to switch to 17's for the Autobahn run.
Posted By: reflections7
Re: good sticky road street 15" tires? - 04/14/10 07:15 PM
Have I been out of the loop are they not making bfg drag radials? I also thought someone else was making a drag radial. Heck I was running Mcreary dirt track tires on my challenger but its just a slick with tread.
Posted By: HealthServices
Re: good sticky road street 15" tires? - 04/14/10 07:21 PM
I had 275/50R15 all the way around on the 15 x 8 Snow flakes back in the day when I used to autocross the car but, like the others mention there is not the selection there used to be.
Posted By: patrick
Re: good sticky road street 15" tires? - 04/15/10 12:43 PM
Posted By: Flo
Re: good sticky road street 15" tires? - 04/16/10 01:51 PM
The Pirelli actually seems to be a very good fit. A little smaller than I would like and not exactly cheap but far better than anything else I found yet!
Any one here driving BF Goodrich Drag radials on the street? I have no idea how stiff the side walls are on thse, I would think they are fairly flexible and so are unsuited to what I want?
Thanks
Flo
Posted By: Fury Fan
Re: good sticky road street 15" tires? - 04/16/10 03:53 PM
I think BFG drag radials are a bad idea for any street driving beyond going to the track and back, and the RWD tires might not even be designed as a steer tire. The dedicated FWD sizes probably have a design modifiedfor steering.
I'm not a tire expert, but I can't see how a tire designed as a street-legal/drag-race compromise would be anything other than dangerous for Autobahn work.
Especially if it rained.
Posted By: OzHemi
Re: good sticky road street 15" tires? - 04/16/10 04:00 PM
Hi Flo, got your email on the tire question and will get back with you this afternoon, just out to work on my Torana now
Posted By: Flo
Re: good sticky road street 15" tires? - 04/20/10 08:37 AM
well, I read it, but some of these tires (for example the Nittos) are not available anymore in 15".
Currently I am unsure if either the AVON CR6 ZZ or the Pirelli P 600 are my best bet. the Avon comes in 10mm wider (245 over 235), which may be negligable.
Several questions remain:
-Are the Avons race tires which need plenty of warm up before they grip? Or will they perform well under street conditions?
-the Hoosier A6 are almost a slick. Anyone run them in the rain?
-is there a Mickey T which would make a good handling street tire? I am Ok with just 10k mls thread life, but whicha re fine for cornering and braking without warming up?
Greets
Flo
Posted By: boydsdodge
Re: good sticky 15" tires? - 05/01/10 10:23 PM
Try the Maxxis Marauders, they come in all or sizes and an H speed rating.
Posted By: Alikazam
Re: good sticky 15" tires? - 05/02/10 03:19 AM
I run the Mickey Thompson S/R radial tires on my van and they are great in all weather conditions here in Oregon short of weather you really shouldn't be driving 340 whp in (icy/very slick conditions). Handle good and good traction on the dry street
I run 18" wheels though but they do come in 15" and they sell them by size based on Outside Diameter x Tread Width x Rim Diameter so it is easy to select the size you want 26" tall or 28" tall and 8" or 10" wide to fit an 15 x 8" rim. Good luck!
Posted By: Supercuda
Re: good sticky 15" tires? - 05/02/10 03:24 AM
Dunno about Pirelli's myself. I had a set of PZero's come apart on my during a high speed run in the desert in 87, been gun shy of them since. Kinda scary going backwards at 70+ and trying to steer it away from the shoulder.
Posted By: TC@HP2
Re: good sticky road street 15" tires? - 05/19/10 08:19 PM
I think the only MT tire that might be any decent for you is their sportsman s/r. But I'm just going to guess and say they're geared more toward straightline performance than curves, but their tread design looks decent.
Nah, the S/R is designed for corners, unlike their ETs which are best for straight line. They also make the S/T series, which is comparable to BFG TA, S or T rated with small block white letters and an all weather tread.
Don't forget there is also the Mickey Thompson I series which is a 4 ply sidewall and tread face based on early 70s road race tires. They are only available at Summit these days and only come in alpha-numeric sizes, so you'll have to figure out what an L60 and N50 are.
Flo, if what you want is a tire that grips without any warm up, then your going to limit yourself to the A6. Any other tire is going to need a little bit of heat to make things sticky. How much grip do you think you need on a cold tire?