Re-tire to what?

[p51]

OK. I need some advice. I'm thinking about buying some new tires for my GT/CS. I've noticed that lots of folks seem to have BF Goodrich Radial T/As on their cars. What's the attraction? Good performance? Safety? Original looks? Price? I'm looking for original looks but safety comes first. Price is not an issue. Unfortunately, it appears that in the tire size I'm looking for (225/70/R-14) that the most original looking (BF Goodrich) is not the safest (Firestone Firehawk). And the difference *seems* large enough to warrant asking what others think.

Online survey:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=PAS

Right now I've got Goodyear Eagle IIs which are at the bottom of the pack :tongue:
...at least, according to the survey...

Thx

James

 

[rvrtrash]

If you want original looks with the safety of a modern tire, try this.
http://www.coker.com/store/customer/product.php?productid=17269&cat=&page=1

I have Goodyear Eagle GT's on two different cars and am neither positive or negative on them. My personal preference is BF Goodrich T/A's. Just an opinion.

Steve

 

[Mosesatm]

I've always like to buy American when ever possible. As far as I know BFG and Goodyear are American while Firestone was bought by the Japanese years ago. Firestone also owns Bridgestone.

Wasn't Firestone the company whose tires blew up under the Explorers a few years back?

 

[rvrtrash]

They were. Lots of finger pointing there. Ford said the tires were defective and Firestone said Ford was running them underinflated to make the ride softer. I had them on my Ranger and Mazda and never had a bit of trouble but I always inflated them to the recommendation on the tire. Who knows what the truth was. Probably a bit of both at fault.
Steve

 

[PFSlim]

We went with the BF Goodrich because we liked the look and because several of you had pics posted on the gallery of the this site. Lastly, we had used the BF Goodrich before and liked the tire.

Paul

 

[68gt390]

I'm running Goodyear Eagle GT II's on my car and have had no problem with them. They've been driven in the rain, and under some pretty stressing traction tests as well. They've been on the car for over 2 years and still holding up very nicely.

Don

 

[p51]

Thanks all for the info, folks. I've done a bit more checking on the web - checking reviews, etc - and have found the following to be true, in general. Most people feel that BF Goodrich T/A are the best looking and closest to period accurate look for modern tires. Safety (dry/wet traction, cornering) and ride quality is won almost hands down and seemingly by a significant margin by the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500s. I've presently got Goodyear Eagle GT IIs on my GTCS and really like the looks. However, after doing a 180 while taking a corner in a slight rain (not driving aggressively) I'm chucking the Eagles.

If anyone has Firehawks on their car I'd like their opinion on looks and safety.

Also, if anyone is interested, the tirerack has extensive info and reviews of tires. You can plug in your vehicle (eg 68 ford mustang) and get reviews particular to your car for different tires. I specifically checked mustangs and light trucks (both RWD with relatively light rear ends).

http://www.tirerack.com/

Cheers!

 

[Mosesatm]

Goodyear rates all their tires on their web-site and the Eagle GT 2s show a wet traction rating of 6. That ain't good. No wonder you spun out!
They have other tires with much better wet traction ratings.
What size rear tires are you going to run?

I'm really glad you started this thread because I am getting ready to buy tires, too. With Houston's weather I may need to abandon the sporty look and go for an all season tire. No, can't do that. Looks like a little more research is in order.

Here is the link to the Goodyear site.

http://www.goodyeartires.com/goodye...=15&mrktgrp=Performance&image.x=73&image.y=16

 

[Mosesatm]

It looks like the Yokohama Avid ST pretty well matches the Firestone's for $20 per tire less ($52).

All the American tires pretty well suck when it comes to wet traction.

 

[mmarsalone]

I've got the Firestone Firehawks on my car. They were on the car when I bought it. I drove the car from Comfort, TX (outside San Antonio) to St. Louis when I bought it. I thought the tires rode fine, but then my car feels a lot tighter than some other cars I've been in.

What's funny is I was thinking of changing them to BFG simply because most people were using them. If you want to see them, my car was the January car in the calendar. Sorry, I'm not very good at resizing to make attachments.

 

[L8GR868]

I put on BFG Radial T/A 225/60R/15 tires on. I thought that they looked great and filled the wheel wells. I have no rubbing. I think the wide tires look great.
Eric

 

[390cs68rcode]

235/70/14's BFG's will fit with no rubbing.

 

[p51]

Goodyear rates all their tires on their web-site and the Eagle GT 2s show a wet traction rating of 6. That ain't good. No wonder you spun out!
They have other tires with much better wet traction ratings.
What size rear tires are you going to run?

Planning on getting 225/70/R14s. Also considering 235/70/R14s but not sure they will fit on my rims. Right now I've got 215/70/R14s (= skinny in addition to poor traction rating!)

Also, just FYI to all. I did a little more checking on Firehawks. Some of the tires with the Firehawk brand have very good ratings (specifically the Firehawk Indy 500) while other Firehawks do not. So, be aware. Here's a link that I got when I looked at the Firestone tires they carry. Push down on the Firehawk links to see the survey results...

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/firestone/fireston.jsp

 

[p51]

235/70/14's BFG's will fit with no rubbing.

What is the width of your rims?

Thx

James

 

[390cs68rcode]

What is the width of your rims?

Thx

James

6 inch stock styled steel rims.

 

[PB GT/CS]

Just a note on the BFGs. We not only have them on our GT/CS, but I also have them on my Cobra S/C. They are NOT "sticky" tires. But, many of my Cobra buddies see them as good looking and are good milage tires. Several companies make "sticky" tires for racing and such, but be ready to replace them in less than 20k miles. As well, they will pick up a lot of Rocks on the road (rock chips). As with many things in life, it is a trade off. The BFGs are rather the resto standard these days and work fine. Just don't think the BFGs will be great autocross tires. So, be careful when you are on wet roads.

Brian

 

[Joes68]

James,
I put BFG radial T/A's on my CS. 225/60R15's. I liked the look and a few friends have been happy with their BFGs. That size was supposedly the largest size I could get away with for the stock suspension (so I was told). I love the look on the American Racing Torque Thrust II wheels, but I have to order the heavier rear springs (with additional 2" of arch) from Eaton if I want to take anyone along for a ride. The 1/2" shackle increase isn't quite enough.
Ron

 

[p51]

I'm running Goodyear Eagle GT II's on my car and have had no problem with them. They've been driven in the rain, and under some pretty stressing traction tests as well. They've been on the car for over 2 years and still holding up very nicely.

Don

Don

I'm finally getting around to making my new tire purchase. From the galley photos, I *really* like the stance of your car :thumb:

So, one last question about your tires. What size are your Eagle GT II's? What width rims do you have?

Thanks

James

 

[Mustanger]

Don

I'm finally getting around to making my new tire purchase. From the galley photos, I *really* like the stance of your car :thumb:

So, one last question about your tires. What size are your Eagle GT II's? What width rims do you have?

Thanks

James

The Goodyears I think are a pretty good pick ... I have them on my '70 mach I, size 235/15 front and 255/15 rear on Magnum 500's, and they look really cool ... especially since Goodyear was the main tire for Mustangs and Shelby ...

 

[68gt390]

James;
Thanks for the compliment on the car. I've sent you a PM. For those folks considering the Goodyear GT II's - The last time I was at Goodyear I seem to remember the salesman telling me the GT II's have been discontinued.

Don