Stuck for Tires

[golftime]

OK guys, I need some tire advice. My '88 Targa currently has 205-65-15 front and 225-60-15 Yokohamas on stock 15 inch Fuchs. (Factory called for 195-65-15 and 205-60-15.) The tires are approaching 11 years old which worries me a bit. I have looked at Tire Rack and the only tires listed with a V rating are Kumho Ecsta ASX and the Kumho Ecsta LX Platinum. There are a couple of H rated tires including the Michelin Primacy MXV4. None of these tires received very good ratings in Tire Rack. I only drive the car on public roads but would like to stick with a V rating, if only because the speed rating represents better tire quality. Assuming I keep the factory wheels, which are in excellent shape, what's the consensus - Ectsa ASX or look for something else? I assume another Pelican has come up against this and would appreciate any suggestions.
jpl

[Joe Bob]

6s and 7s or 7s and 8s?

205-225 50 or 55s for the fronts, 225-245 50s for the rears...it's a good "stagger".

Sport tires for 15 and 16 inch wheels are getting slim.

[golftime]

Have to be 6s and 7s. I assume 55s and 50s would screw up the speedometer, and is that something that is easily corrected?

[Joe Bob]

Not so much....Porsche was always optimistic with the speedo readings. A cheap GPS will give an accurate read. Always good to have anyways.

I'm running 45 and 50 series with 964 gauges in my SC. It's dead nuts on.

If it's really off, a 50-75 buck trip to a speedo shop fixes it.

BTW, pulling a wheel and reading the serial numbers on the inside of the petals will tell you the sizes.

[golftime]

Thanks Joe. Kicking myself as I just had all 4 wheels off to do spring cleaning of wheels and inner fenders and never looked.

[Joe Bob]

Take the opportunity to clean the insides of the wheels of brake dust, the calipers, check your pads thickness and rotors. If you have measuring calipers....check the rotor thickness.

When was the last time you changed your brake fluid? Get ATE blue if the fluid is clear. Easy indicator of when the line is clear of the old crap.

Find some spray brake cleaner on sale or use plenty of water, soap and brillo pads. Brake dust can be corrosive. Do NOT use compressed air.

[johnsjmc]

If you are driving on 11 yr old tires now ANY new tires will bring an improvement in handling and safety. Regardless of speed rating 15 inch sport tires are getting hard to find

[Drisump]

I hesitate to offer my experience looking, as I just posted it just last week. But here it goes....(but honestly I don't remember the speed ratings) BF Goodrich G-Force Sport. They come in sizes that don't mess up your speedo, and they are a good dedicated performance tire. If your tires are 11 years old....how many miles do you do per year? The BF's are not a long lasting tire (probably 20k out of the fronts and 10k out of the rears) but they stick very well and slip in a very predictable way at the limits of adhesion. It seems almost all the tire manufacturers can't be bothered offering a 15" performance tire anymore, instead they want you to buy all seasons. Amongst others, Pirelli and Michelin are both doing this. Good luck in your quest.

[twistoffat]

I put Goodyear Eagles F1 GSīs on mine as I wanted something grippy for wet weather.
Great tires in my opinion and they look really well too.

hereīs an older Pelican thread on them with some cool pics

Any thoughts on Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3

[Drisump]

Originally Posted by twistoffat

I put Goodyear Eagles F1 GSīs on mine as I wanted something grippy for wet weather.
Great tires in my opinion and they look really well too.

hereīs an older Pelican thread on them with some cool pics

Any thoughts on Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3

Not sure what size wheels you have, but I'm pretty sure that these are not available in the 15" size. I looked for them two years ago while shopping for tires....N/A.

[twistoffat]

Iīve an 87 Targa with the same size as John in the opening Post. I think you are correct in saying they are not available in 15īs but Johns 16īs are good to go

oh crap, I just realised he posted 15īs and not 16īs sorry

The D2īs are available for 15īs though

http://ssl.delti.com/cgi-bin/rshop.pl?dsco=100&Cookie=froogle&details=Ordern&typ=D38999&ranzahl=4&nichtweiter=1

[golftime]

Joe, when I had the wheels off I used Simply Green to do the wheels, hubs, and surrounding areas with an old tire brush, and they came out looking pretty good. I appreciate everyone's ideas on the tires and they gave me some things to think about. I'd like to keep the current wheels as they are in excellent condition, but this could eventually force me to look for some 16 Fuchs (maybe at Hershey??). The Yokohamas feel very hard and maybe the best response was that any new tire will be an improvement. Decisions-decisions. Thanks again guys.

[Joe Bob]

How are the pads, rotors and fluid?

[golftime]

Rotors and pads are almost new. I had brake fluid replaced last summer by my local Porsche guy.

[Drisump]

Originally Posted by golftime

Joe, when I had the wheels off I used Simply Green to do the wheels, hubs, and surrounding areas with an old tire brush, and they came out looking pretty good. I appreciate everyone's ideas on the tires and they gave me some things to think about. I'd like to keep the current wheels as they are in excellent condition, but this could eventually force me to look for some 16 Fuchs (maybe at Hershey??). The Yokohamas feel very hard and maybe the best response was that any new tire will be an improvement. Decisions-decisions. Thanks again guys.

I'm thinking that if you get an unbelievable deal on the 16" Fuch's, great! But the way things appear to be going (Phasing out of 15" performance tires.... and to a lesser extent,
the phasing out of 16" performance tires) you might want to keep your eyes open for even larger wheels. I'm in the same boat, my 15's are in great shape so it would be sad to have to replace these great wheels. Cheers