what's a good tire
08-11-2009, 03:38 PM
#11
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: NJ
Posts: 1,110
Never owned Michelins for the same reason... price$$$. Never understood why they were so expensive. With that being said I have had good luck with Dunlops. I always hated the way Uniroyals wore.
08-11-2009, 07:25 PM
#14
3rd Gear Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location:
Posts: 572
http://www.tirerack.com has just about all the brands, sizes listed and lots of customer reviews on just about all the tires they sell, I've used that site to decide on tires for many of my vehicles and they also list spec charts with hieght,width,tread width, rim size etc....by the way you wont find much in tires (performance especially) in that size or just about any 14 inch tire. I'd look at upgrading to at least 15's or 16's+ to really find performance tires, anymore 14" tires come on trailers and cheap subcompact cars.
Last edited by htwheelz67; 08-11-2009 at 07:35 PM.
08-12-2009, 07:26 AM
#15
5th Gear Member
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Texas
Posts: 4,462
I have BFG Radial TA tires and think they look great and perform well. I have no complaints. I guess it depends on how hard you drive your car. Mine is more of a cruiser with some mild to moderate hot rodding.
What about the Goodyear Eagle GTII? Some of the 1st gen Lightning guys run that tire and it has white letters.
What about the Goodyear Eagle GTII? Some of the 1st gen Lightning guys run that tire and it has white letters.
Last edited by tx65coupe; 08-12-2009 at 07:29 AM.
08-13-2009, 11:55 AM
#18
6th Gear Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Elk Grove, CA
Posts: 5,896
Compared to modern tire designs, tires like the Radial T/A, Firestone Firehawk, and GY Eagle GT II are sorely lacking. If you've ever driven a modern performance vehicle with decent tires, you understand how much of a difference there is.
Radial T/A's, while they look great, have mediocre grip at best, and that's in dry conditions. Wet traction is almost nonexistant. The sidewalls are tall, round, and soft, and have a tendency to roll over while cornering. When it comes down to it, you're using 30 year old tire technology.
I have Radial T/A's on my '67 that I drive very hard on occasion, and I hate them. They're not designed for performance driving at all, and linear traction is so poor that I have a very hard time keep the tires stuck to the ground on a quick take off.
Even a set of modern sport touring tires, like BFG Traction T/A's, will drastically outperform Radial T/A's. A set of BFG G-Force or Nitto 555's will blow them out of the water.
Radial T/A's, while they look great, have mediocre grip at best, and that's in dry conditions. Wet traction is almost nonexistant. The sidewalls are tall, round, and soft, and have a tendency to roll over while cornering. When it comes down to it, you're using 30 year old tire technology.
I have Radial T/A's on my '67 that I drive very hard on occasion, and I hate them. They're not designed for performance driving at all, and linear traction is so poor that I have a very hard time keep the tires stuck to the ground on a quick take off.
Even a set of modern sport touring tires, like BFG Traction T/A's, will drastically outperform Radial T/A's. A set of BFG G-Force or Nitto 555's will blow them out of the water.
Last edited by Starfury; 08-13-2009 at 08:36 PM.
08-13-2009, 01:50 PM
#19
3rd Gear Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Wyoming
Posts: 800
No offense, but unless you've gone and upgraded the entire suspension and steering setup to be on par with modern stuff (which I'm doubting you've done if you say it has problems with linear tracking), all these tires that you're saying are behind in terms of performance will be more than adequate.
For 90% of us, whom have basically stock or very mildly upgraded suspensions (40 year old technology), these tires (with their 30 year old design) will be plenty good. Of course autocrossing is a different story, but most of us just cruise and drive regularly, even fewer of us drive in the rain.
Now, if the tire makers would make the good tires in the sizes we use, I'm sure we'd be all over them, but a lot of us are still running the 14 and 15" rims with tall sidewall tires, they don't make many high performance tires in our sizes so we just make do.
Doing much more than that is just asking more of the car than it was ever designed to do, which I don't see as a good idea.
For 90% of us, whom have basically stock or very mildly upgraded suspensions (40 year old technology), these tires (with their 30 year old design) will be plenty good. Of course autocrossing is a different story, but most of us just cruise and drive regularly, even fewer of us drive in the rain.
Now, if the tire makers would make the good tires in the sizes we use, I'm sure we'd be all over them, but a lot of us are still running the 14 and 15" rims with tall sidewall tires, they don't make many high performance tires in our sizes so we just make do.
Doing much more than that is just asking more of the car than it was ever designed to do, which I don't see as a good idea.
08-13-2009, 08:48 PM
#20
6th Gear Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Elk Grove, CA
Posts: 5,896
Nabster, there is an incredibly noticable difference between my crappy Radial T/A's and Jonward's sticky Michelins, and I'm the one with the modified suspension. While my car is more stable and responsive while cornering, his definitely has more tire grip. You just can't always make use of it.
"[Few] of us ever drive in the rain?" That's a big assumption. I know lots of people that drive their classics rain or shine, myself included.
Also, I said linear traction, not tracking. As in traction in a straight line, as opposed to lateral traction. My 1st gear is basically a tire burning gear, and in the rain it gets 10x worse. Taking off from a stop while facing up a hill in the rain is almost guaranteed to result in lots of tire spin.
Radial T/A's and their like, while acceptable for mild driving, plain suck when you compare them to anything modern. Even Traction T/A's, which are mild sport touring tires, will run circles around them.
You may not realize it while putting around town, but when you have to slam on the brakes or swerve to avoid an accident, you're going to appreciate the tires that stick to the ground and don't fold over as opposed to the ones that roll and slide all over the place, giving you mushy, unresponsive steering.
Just because the cars are old doesn't mean you shouldn't be using something better than a 30 year old tire design. Firestone Wide Ovals were great back when these cars were new, and in theory you would probably still be just fine running those around town, but do you really want to?
"[Few] of us ever drive in the rain?" That's a big assumption. I know lots of people that drive their classics rain or shine, myself included.
Also, I said linear traction, not tracking. As in traction in a straight line, as opposed to lateral traction. My 1st gear is basically a tire burning gear, and in the rain it gets 10x worse. Taking off from a stop while facing up a hill in the rain is almost guaranteed to result in lots of tire spin.
Radial T/A's and their like, while acceptable for mild driving, plain suck when you compare them to anything modern. Even Traction T/A's, which are mild sport touring tires, will run circles around them.
You may not realize it while putting around town, but when you have to slam on the brakes or swerve to avoid an accident, you're going to appreciate the tires that stick to the ground and don't fold over as opposed to the ones that roll and slide all over the place, giving you mushy, unresponsive steering.
Just because the cars are old doesn't mean you shouldn't be using something better than a 30 year old tire design. Firestone Wide Ovals were great back when these cars were new, and in theory you would probably still be just fine running those around town, but do you really want to?
Last edited by Starfury; 08-13-2009 at 08:56 PM.