Soft sticky tires

sonrider657

Registered User
Time for new rubber for my '94 SC. I am wanting 235/60R15 in a soft compound with lots of all season grip (I have stock SC wheels). I do not care about tread life as I only drive the car about 4k miles per year. I would prefer a USA Made Tire from a USA Company if at all possible. What are the best tires for my application?
 
Time for new rubber for my '94 SC. I am wanting 235/60R15 in a soft compound with lots of all season grip (I have stock SC wheels). I do not care about tread life as I only drive the car about 4k miles per year. I would prefer a USA Made Tire from a USA Company if at all possible. What are the best tires for my application?

Supercoupe rims are 16" not 15"
 
The size you chose is odd in that not many manufacturers offer the size. However, that aside I recommend the Cooper CS4. It's not what you'd call a soft sticky tire, but it does get great reviews from people wanting all season traction.

My opinion is that sticking to the OE size would get you a lot better options and would perform equally well or better.
 
Agree with XR7 Dave

The size you chose is odd in that not many manufacturers offer the size. However, that aside I recommend the Cooper CS4. It's not what you'd call a soft sticky tire, but it does get great reviews from people wanting all season traction.

My opinion is that sticking to the OE size would get you a lot better options and would perform equally well or better.

I agree with XR7 Dave. I've gone the up-size route and only noticed a more substantial ding in my wallet. Unless it's a "looks" thing, only time I've ever been satisfied was when I owned a '95 LX. It came with the 215/70-15's, and I put the 235/60-15's on. Much better stance.

The Cooper CS4 is a pretty nice tire as well.
 
Thanks for the recommendation. I definitely like the fatter look of the 235 vs the 225 but I would settle for the 225 if I could find a soft high-traction tire.

From Cooper's website, the CS4 is known for good tread life (80k mile warranty) which is something I care nothing about. Traction (which is what I do care about) is rated much lower.

Anyone have any experience with the Kelly Charger GT?
 
All season traction is usually at the expense of summer traction. If you want a soft grippy tire, it is going to perform poorly in cold weather and horribly in the snow. If you want a good year-round tire, it will not have the grip in warm dry weather that you will get from a high performance summer tire. If you only drive the car 4K miles per year, that tells me you have something else to drive in the winter, so at that point, I would say get summer tires, and in that category, my reccomendation would probably be for the Sumitomo HTRZ II. I had a set of those in 275/40/17, and they have good grip from new until they were almost worn out, they do decent in rain, they aren't noisy, and I know you said you don't care about this, but they had decent tread-wear too.
 
All season traction is usually at the expense of summer traction. If you want a soft grippy tire, it is going to perform poorly in cold weather and horribly in the snow. If you want a good year-round tire, it will not have the grip in warm dry weather that you will get from a high performance summer tire.

Agreed.

...a soft compound with lots of all season grip...

That's a bit of an automotive oxymoron.
 
I find it ridiculous that anyone would recomend Cooper Tires.. Those are cheap, low end tires.

What kind of power are you putting down? What kind of "Traction" are you looking for? Launching, cornering, Braking?

If you have a stock SC then you really dont need anything more then 225's, unless you're looking for a more aggressive "look/stance" like others have stated.
 
I find it ridiculous that anyone would recomend Cooper Tires.. Those are cheap, low end tires.

What kind of power are you putting down? What kind of "Traction" are you looking for? Launching, cornering, Braking?

If you have a stock SC then you really dont need anything more then 225's, unless you're looking for a more aggressive "look/stance" like others have stated.

I'm putting down plenty and I run Cooper RS3 tires......:rolleyes:
 
The tread pattern on those tires looks pretty nice, Although the compound of the tires themselves I can't really say much about. Was just saying they aren't a " Go to" tire for most people looking for a performance tire, unless they're on a budget.
 
With the exception of an M/T drag radial I haven't found any street tire that doesn't spin every time I get aggressive with the throttle. So these days I just go for the tire that leaves the blackest marks on the road, which are Hankook V12 evos :cool:

David
 
That's not fair David. There are damn few people who put that much power to the wheels =lol= I mean let's face it, we should all have the problem you do. :D

Ira
 
I find it ridiculous that anyone would recomend Cooper Tires.. Those are cheap, low end tires.

What kind of power are you putting down? What kind of "Traction" are you looking for? Launching, cornering, Braking?

If you have a stock SC then you really dont need anything more then 225's, unless you're looking for a more aggressive "look/stance" like others have stated.

It's not ridiculous. The OP asked for an American made tire in an odd size that doesn't have much widespread support. Cooper is American and they offer an all season tire in the size he requested.

I agree that Cooper has been regarded as a 2nd tier tire company for many years, but you might be interested to know that Cooper Tire also owns Mickey Thompson and Dick Cepek tires. Modern Cooper Tire company is not the same as it was 20 yrs ago.

Personally I'm quite willing to give the company a go, and that is one reason why I recently bought the RS3's for my car after running others including but not limited to Michelin, BFG, Kumho, and others. So far I like them a lot.
 
Loved my rs3's on my tbird as well, they were also the oem tire on the Roush mustangs.....Currently have them on a c5 corvette and doing well there also
 
Since we're on the topic, I just replaced a pair of Nitto NT555's with a pair of Cooper RS3-A's on the front of my Mustang. The RS3-A's sidewall is noticeably softer (took a couple days to get used to). I can't speak as to any difference in traction, as the car only really sees nice weather and highway miles. The intention for the switch is that they'll last longer than the NT555's (34k miles), but it'll be a few years before there's a verdict. My opinion: They're a pretty decent appearing, inexpensive, all-season tire. It just takes a day or two to get used to the sidewall if you're coming from something with a stiffer sidewall.
 
Right now I use 235 65 16 yokohamas , stock rims (see pix) it is my 3rd set of tires. I started with stock & was happy with performance. With my 2nd set I wanted a more agressive, fatter look & went with the 245 50 16 falkens. I was not happy with the look! Although the performance was better (handling) the ride was harder & the look IMO was terrible, they did not fill up the wheel wells, looked like a skate board, sorry can't find any pix. My 3rd & current set is the 235 65 16. Although really happy with the look, performance really suffers. Traction is good but a much bouncier (is that a word?) ride & there's a lot of roll when cornering. Unfortunatly....I think you have to go with a larger rim, if you want the best of everything. Hope this helps
 

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