Want to get better tires eventually.....

[speedy_2]

It'll be awhile since the tires on the car still have quite a bit of tread on them. But, being in Florida, I'm tired of All-Season tires. Today it's going to be almost 70 degrees here. lol. I want to switch to a good performance tire. Something that I might even see a drop in times on the drag strip if that's possible. It does rain plenty here. But, that's it. Car will still be daily driven and with family. It's a 2005 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP Comp G

Stock tire size is 225 55/R17

I'm not sure how much I can deviate from that if a certain tire doesn't come exactly in that size, but I would to get a nice tire.

 

[Eric.]

How many miles do you want them to last?

 

[Biggamehit]

Falken RT615's are good and affordable. They wear sorta quick but they are good. Federal 595s are good for the buck as well.

What kind of car are you driving? 55 is a lot of sidewall for performance you should drop down to a 45

 

[Eric.]

What is up with drifters and Federal tires?
RT615s wear fast. Really fast. Maybe not the RT615k, but that's so new I dont know anyone who has used it.

Yokohama S.Drives might be fine for you. Its a performance summer tire but should wear pretty well. And given that you drive a Grand Prix, its not like handling is a top priority.

 

[Biggamehit]

Federals are just very affordable for us, can be run on the front/back and they chunk in little pieces versus blowing apart. One thing I hated about the 615's was after about 4 laps they began to heat up causing psi spike and grease ball. I would have to pit and soak the tires for a bit in order to continue to attack effectively.
OP if you wanna spend a bit more you can look into some AD08's

Here is my on going tire review thread on FB. Does not have all of the tires I have used to date though. These reviews are heavily based on drifting and a bit of grip racing.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2564496&id=5707395&l=ce0170d8b9


ps

Eric are you an SCCA or NASA member? if so what region? I am a Washington DC SCCA member.

 

[speedy_2]

Another forum I'm on recommended S. Drives. As for a drifter/AutoX'er tire. I'm not in need of that. Car is a 2005 Grand Prix GTP. Daily driven. Possibly weekend drag strip use, but not a lot of runs.

 

[Biggamehit]

well Azenis are no longer produced RT615s are soft and great for drag.

 

[pk_090]

i dont know if they are avalible in the us im assuming so Toyo R888's for the drag use and proxies for the day to day and "sporty" driving. ive had these fitted to various of my cars and cant fault either of them!

 

[Keef]

What is up with drifters and Federal tires?

They're cheap, and that's about it. I wouldn't put them on my car.

RT615s wear fast. Really fast. Maybe not the RT615k, but that's so new I dont know anyone who has used it.

They also perform atrociously anywhere above 60mph in a heavy rain. I know this. And I also know many parts of Florida can get some pretty gnarly rain. If you're looking for extreme performance (they're called extreme performance summer tires for a reason) you'd be much better off with the RT615's competition, the Dunlop Star Spec in particular because it's relatively inexpensive but performs on par with its newer and much pricier competition from Bridgestone, Yokohama, and Nitto. The Kuhmo XS is lacking in wet conditions compared to the others but is still far better than the Falken.

Yokohama S.Drives might be fine for you. Its a performance summer tire but should wear pretty well. And given that you drive a Grand Prix, its not like handling is a top priority.

Agreed. It's a real summer tire which means it performs well on boiling hot pavement and also in the rain. It's not nearly as hardcore performance as the ones I mentioned earlier but that's okay because it will last twice as long, is cheaper, and might save you quite a bit of money in the long run. The Dunlop DZ101 and Kumho SPT are also very similar to the S.Drive in performance, price, and longevity.

There are a few others I can't think of off the top of my head but if you need to do more research on performance stats and sizes available you should go to Tire Rack. They have all sorts of tech write-ups, test results, and will let you choose tire sizes based on the actual car you own and show what is available.