Tire Recommendations

[ChallengerHK]

Not size, but tread design and road holding.

For years, I've had Dunlop GT Qualifiers under my car. I've read several reviews of them, and nobody appears to like them very much, but I've always gotten good results from them. Unfortunately, for me at least, GT Qualifiers have been discontinued.

I've had two sets of Goodyears (one was Eagle GTs, can't recall the others) and they didn't perform nearly as well; the compound seemed too stiff, and the tires lost traction without much warning. I've also had Goodriches, which seemed to hold the road well, but wore much more quickly than the Dunlops, and didn't have nearly as good a feel. On various cars I've had Yokohamas, Bridgestones yadda, yadda, yadda.

So, since my fronts are shot, I'm looking for recommendations for replacements.

Two obvious things. First, none of this is scientific. I didn't put the car on a skidpad and measure what it was doing. Rather, this is just my "seat of the pants" reaction. If you have scientific evidence to offer me that's great, but your seat of the pants results are just as appreciated. Second, there are radically different designs available within any given brand. If you want to give me tread designs that have worked for you, that's appreciated as well.

[NoMope Greg]

I typically like Michelins, but I put some 205/55R15 Dunlops on the UAV after getting a fantastic price ($30/tire) and reading good reviews at Tire Rack.  That little car goes around corners on rails now.  I have yet to buy a decent Goodyear tire, though I know the performance tires are supposed to be pretty good.

Check it out: http://www.tirerack.com

[ntstlgl1970]

I typically like Michelins, but I put some 205/55R15 Dunlops on the UAV after getting a fantastic price ($30/tire) and reading good reviews at Tire Rack.  That little car goes around corners on rails now.  I have yet to buy a decent Goodyear tire, though I know the performance tires are supposed to be pretty good.

Check it out: http://www.tirerack.com

 

pick your size at tire rack, and then read reviews. always an excellent reference source and some of the best prices...

[Bullitt-]

If your looking for RWL in the same ilk as the GT Qualifier and not terribly pricey check out Kelly Springfield "Charger", otherwise I'd say go with BF Goodrich T/As. I've had the GT Qualifiers & the T/A's hold the road better, isn't that what it's all about?

[HP2]

I gotta admit, I actually have little performance driving experience on street tires. Most of it has been on dedicated race tires. Yes, Goodyear has some of the best racing slicks out there. Can't say I'm too sold on their street tires though.

I agree that reading recommendations on tire rack is a good start. Since there is not a lot of performance 15" tires, their feedback is as good as any you could get anywhere else.

I'd take this stab at it this way; larger, chunkier, tread blocks with less grooves are going to mean less tread squirm and consequently, less distortion when pushed to the limit. It also means higher operating temps and probably shorter tread life. Smaller treads blocks with more voids will run cooler, displace moisture better, and in general, last longer although tread compound has a lot to do with longevity, but the high void to rubber ratio means they will move around more at the limits.

[ChallengerHK]

I typically like Michelins

I had Michelins on my Escort, and they were good. People laugh when I say this, but the Escort was one of the best cars I've ever had, especially in handling.

but I put some 205/55R15 Dunlops on the UAV after getting a fantastic price ($30/tire) and reading good reviews at Tire Rack.  That little car goes around corners on rails now. 

I have to admit that I've looked at the Dunlop replacement, and although that's the way I may go, part of the issue is that I don't like the name. It's a modern sounding name (Stupenda or something like that) that just doesn't have the coolness I associate with GT Qualifier. Silly, I know, and I may go with the Dunlops anyway.

pick your size at tire rack, and then read reviews. always an excellent reference source and some of the best prices...

I've looked at the tire reack reviews. PArt of what turned me off there is that so many people rated the Qualifier poorly, whereas it feels great to me. Obviously this is a subjective rating, but I figured that a) their subjective is obviously different than mine, and b) I trust the opinions here a lot more than people I don't know 

I've had the GT Qualifiers & the T/A's hold the road better, isn't that what it's all about?

Amen. I'll look at the TAs. I had All Terrain TAs on my last two Jeeps. Didn't like them, but obviously they're much different tires than the car-purposed TAs.

I'd take this stab at it this way; larger, chunkier, tread blocks with less grooves are going to mean less tread squirm and consequently, less distortion when pushed to the limit. It also means higher operating temps and probably shorter tread life. Smaller treads blocks with more voids will run cooler, displace moisture better, and in general, last longer although tread compound has a lot to do with longevity, but the high void to rubber ratio means they will move around more at the limits.

When you say "squirm" and "move around," are you saying that such a design is loose in the corners or gives warning before getting loose? My understanding (and correct me if I'm wrong) is that the more real performance you get out of a tire in terms of g-force, the less warning said tire gives before breaking loose.

[Chryco Psycho]

I will not buy BFG , or take them for free if they were given to me , porr wet traction & virtually never round even when new , I liked the GT qualifier though , just went to get a set & yup they are disco 
 Coopers seem like a decent tire , not a lot of companies left supporting the old Muscle car tire sizes anymore , especially if you want 14"

[FJ5_440]

I had 235/60/15 front and 275/60/15 rear  BFG T/As.  When it was time for new tires I read the reviews on tire rack and then tried the same size Firestone Firehawk Indy 500s.  I found that the Firestones gave me much better traction - both wet and dry. 

Besides handling better, I found that it took alot more to break the Firestones loose.

On my 70, I just put on a set of 245/60/15 front and 275/60/15 rear Cooper Cobra GTs, and I also like these tires better than the BFG T/A so far.

I still think the Firestones may have given me  a little better traction than these new Coopers, but the Coopers have fewer than 50 miles on them and no wet driving experience so the jury is still out.

I would have to recommend the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500s.

[HP2]

When you say "squirm" and "move around," are you saying that such a design is loose in the corners or gives warning before getting loose? My understanding (and correct me if I'm wrong) is that the more real performance you get out of a tire in terms of g-force, the less warning said tire gives before breaking loose.

Squirm isn't a warning of breaking loose but rather just a "wiggling" feeling when hitting surface irregularities like bridge expansion joints, tar strips, etc.

Radials in general don't give as much warning of breaking loose as a bias ply does. Once a radial does break loose, it is not as easy to gather it back up either. You usually have to almost stop the slide/rotation before a radial will grab again. So yes, the more performance your getting from a tire, the less likely you'll have a warning that it is letting go.

Probably the most modern design out there is the Mickey Thompson Sportsman SR radial. These were designed from the ground up for large tire applications like 17-20 inchers, but they also decided to release them in a multitude of 15" sizes as well. They recently added a few more 15" sizes to their line up as well. They are H sped rated as well, which is higher than the S and T ratings of most other street tires.

Here is an interesting read on 15" performance tires. http://www.pro-touring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=34692

Sportsman SR picture attached.

[ChallengerHK]

Good reading, HP, thanks.

I liked the GT qualifier though , just went to get a set & yup they are disco 

Never heard this term before  . Does disco mean "good"? In my world, disco sucks and Pink Floyd rules 

[HP2]

Disco as in discontinued. Or NS1 in Chrysler parts speak.

[NoMope Greg]

Good reading, HP, thanks.

Never heard this term before  . Does disco mean "good"? In my world, disco sucks and Pink Floyd rules 

  Pink Floyd rocks! 

[ksierens]

 

[Carlwalski]

Probably the most modern design out there is the Mickey Thompson Sportsman SR radial. These were designed from the ground up for large tire applications like 17-20 inchers, but they also decided to release them in a multitude of 15" sizes as well. They recently added a few more 15" sizes to their line up as well. They are H sped rated as well, which is higher than the S and T ratings of most other street tires.

Sportsman SR picture attached.

I plan on mounting a set to some spare rear wheels for "enthusiastic" driving.
Just going to see how Madeline treats her 275/60 BFGs first, not expecting too much lol.

[Chryco Psycho]

Disco sucks ...both meanings