Tire Philosophy

[stevej37]

I have two tire brands that I stick with....Kumho and Toyo.
The Toyo's are excellent tires.

[mtnrat]

For summer and shoulder seasons ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus. For winter nothing but Hakkapeliitta SUV 10 studded. I don't see the ground in my driveway from November to April. lol Pretty much the winter tire of choice around here.

[oldE]

For 8 months of the year, my 'old man's car' wears Continental all seasons. The wife's Golf Sportwagon wears similar Michelins. I value the ability to shed water and maintain momentum through the corners on a twisty road.
The rest of the year, both cars have winter tires. We're retired, but you never know when you absolutely have to get somewhere.
You get what you pay for.

Best
Les

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by cockerpunk

i do go through between 6 and 8 sets of tires a year.

At least you don't put studs on them and drive on the ice.

[Tobra]

Originally Posted by dad911

"Good tires, but certainly not great tires"

Long as the weather is warm, they are pretty great

Have had good luck with Yokohama, Kumho and Falken in the past.

[cockerpunk]

Originally Posted by Bob Kontak

At least you don't put studs on them and drive on the ice.

right?

i have probably almost 20 sets of wheels and tires for NA/NB at this point.

and 5 sets currently for Porsche

even more than cars ... any true race car driver is into *tires*

[3rd_gear_Ted]

Learning the most nuanced aspect of interfacing with your car and the road surface is the best part of performance driving or track driving. The aspect ratio of high sidewall or low sidewall tires feel very different.

Once you've felt about 2.0 G's on race slicks @ the limits of adhesion, the rest is just living.

https://motorhungry.com/low-profile-vs-high-profile-tires/

[Rusty Heap]

Just watched this on HBO / MAX.

Like the name Porsche has a ring of performance to it, so does Pirelli.

totally behind the scenes PHILSOPHY, ENGINEERING, DESIGN, MANUFACTURING, TESTING...........in the Pirelli tire plant with the P-zero tire. Very cool Very Cool well worth the whole watch. seriously, wanna see how your tire is made?

[CurtEgerer]

The problem, more and more frequently, is simply finding tires for older cars. Particularly 16s. In my case, staggered 225/50-16 and 245/45-16. Other than track tires, there were only a handful to choose from. Went with Yoko A-008P (ultra high performance summer). Very pleased with them.

I wanted to go with the Pirelli P7 Classics, identical to what came on the car from the factory but they were backordered across the country for months.

[cockerpunk]

Originally Posted by CurtEgerer

The problem, more and more frequently, is simply finding tires for older cars. Particularly 16s. In my case, staggered 225/50-16 and 245/45-16. Other than track tires, there were only a handful to choose from. Went with Yoko A-008P (ultra high performance summer). Very pleased with them.

16s is a bad place to be.

i buy cars based on what tire sizes fit them cuase i go through so many.

[matthewb0051]

Originally Posted by CurtEgerer

The problem, more and more frequently, is simply finding tires for older cars. Particularly 16s. In my case, staggered 225/50-16 and 245/45-16. Other than track tires, there were only a handful to choose from. Went with Yoko A-008P (ultra high performance summer). Very pleased with them.

I wanted to go with the Pirelli P7 Classics, identical to what came on the car from the factory but they were backordered across the country for months.

One of my Land Rovers has 16" wheels. Only two or three choices. Last Christmas it needed tires. I ordered Yoko Geolanders from Discount Tire. When I went to pick it up they told me they couldn't mount the tires due to a manufacture warning not to do so on original Land Rover wheels. Would have been nice to know when they had the tire as a fit on the website.

[CurtEgerer]

^^^ What is the problem with the wheels that make them unsafe to mount new tires?

[matthewb0051]

I think there was concern about the bead and OE Land Rover wheels.

[fanaudical]

Tire size can certainly limit your choices. I run 15's on my '75 and like a little wider tire than what was stock (am running 195/65). I also drive year-round in the Pacific Northwest. The car is never on track but is on the windy-twisties around here. I've got some Michelin all-seasons and they handle well.

I've always had trouble with Bridgestone road noise - they always seem to start loud and get louder.

[wildthing]

RE71S on my 88, but I don't drive it to work. Mostly 3-5 autocross events a year, weekend mountain drives, and track days here and there. They last two years for me.

On my 2013, I went with PS4S since I drive that to work, and in the rain sometimes, but then I realized they're not very good for track days. Maybe I'll go to either P Zeros or the Cup 2 with 240TW, not the 180TW, as I need to drive it in the wet and in lower than 55 degrees F.

[Tervuren]

The C5 Z06 has just ONE tire choice in size, and it's often out of stock.

To get tires for it last time I got DOT legal track tires dropping down a 10mm on the front size.

What some do on these cars is pick up a second set of rear wheels and run rear tires all the way 'round.

Originally Posted by CurtEgerer

The problem, more and more frequently, is simply finding tires for older cars. Particularly 16s. In my case, staggered 225/50-16 and 245/45-16. Other than track tires, there were only a handful to choose from. Went with Yoko A-008P (ultra high performance summer). Very pleased with them.

I wanted to go with the Pirelli P7 Classics, identical to what came on the car from the factory but they were backordered across the country for months.

[CurtEgerer]

Originally Posted by cockerpunk

i drove my 944 turbo one day in winter with hankook RS3s, and i drove my mr2 spyder in light snow with Dunlop Z1 star specs, back in the day when those were the hot tires.

i would not recommend. 944 was sideways while engine braking (just a lift), the mr2 was never not side ways.

winter is not to be ****ed with. proper winter tires are the only solution IMO.

LMAO. Did the same one time with my Audi quattro rally car. I had gravel tires on it (very aggressive looking, but essentially track tires with grooves and ribbed reinforced sidewalls). No snow but temps were in the teens. They were like hard plastic. Like driving on a hockey rink. I didn't go far before heading back to the shop

[Otter74]

Originally Posted by David

On the subject of all season tires, I've mentioned this when this came up before but I was so surprised I have to mention it again:

A few years ago I saw a ZL1 Camaro with Cup 2 tires in the middle of winter in Creede, CO. It was parked in the middle of town so not there overnight and the streets were snowy and icy.

I thought it was just a one off but the next year I saw the same Camaro still on Cup 2's parked the same area. So even tho I wouldn't do it, it can be done.

Do not recommend. Back when I was an engineer at Chrysler, one time I had signed out an M plate Chrysler Sebring to do some testing on. It was a Euro-spec car with a VW TDI powertrain and summer tires. One day I was driving it home on a winter day with light snow and going through downtown Detroit a light turned yellow in front of me and I slid through the intersection at ~15mph, helpless to do much. I knew they were not good tires for the season but that sure underlined it for me.

[flipper35]

Originally Posted by CurtEgerer

The problem, more and more frequently, is simply finding tires for older cars. Particularly 16s. In my case, staggered 225/50-16 and 245/45-16. Other than track tires, there were only a handful to choose from. Went with Yoko A-008P (ultra high performance summer). Very pleased with them.

I wanted to go with the Pirelli P7 Classics, identical to what came on the car from the factory but they were backordered across the country for months.

15s for a Cobra are hard to find at a decent price. Avons are an excellent tire but $500 per. Mickey Thompson makes an OK tire for less than half, but they are half the tire in terms of grip.

The Goodyear Billboards were decently priced but are a bias ply and no DOT sticker and tramline horribly. Very sticky though.

Van gets summer Pirelli and Blizzaks for winter.

My commuter has BFG Comp 2 T/A which are sticky and work well if there is less than 6 inches of snow. I take the van after that.