How much difference does the tire really make?

How much difference do the tires really make?

Is having the Z-rated super tire all that superior to say a T-rated tire that might last longer? I mean if I want to quarter mile on weekends, is it a half second to me with Z-rated vs S or T?

I know I have to replace the rubber on the car now, because any time I let the clutch fly in 1st gear, the tires make all kinds of noise. Impressive accept when small, quick family sedans (euros) take off because they can't light the tires up.

And lastly, which tires do ya'll use?

Thanks for the input.

I'm runing michlin XGTZ4 and olve them and they have a new tire that will fin the stogk rim that is a 225/60/16 i for get the name it like pilot sport ......

A Z Rated tire implies many things but means only one thing. That it is rated for speeds 149mph and above.

If you don't think you will be driving at that speed for extended periods you don't need it.

Yet there are some tread compounds only available in Z rated tires. The same for some of the traction and wear ratings.

So no, Z rated is not required. Look at the other specs first.

A T-rated tire will generally not be a performance tire, but it can vary widely with the brand and model of tire. Generally speaking, a V or Z rated tire is going to be designed with better performance and handling in mind compared to the lesser-rated tires, in addition to the higher speed capability.

My advice is to purchase the best tires for your car that you can afford. These are the only things between you and the road. I'd rather be driving a crapcan with good tires than a good car with s%*t tires. Especially on a decent handling car like the SC, an excellent set of tires can make the car just that much more fun to drive.

cheers
Ed Nicholson
SCCoO

Best all around tire is micheln pilot xgt zr4 you can find several other zr rated tires that are softer rubber compound with more traction but they will last about 20,000 miles. micheln will last 40-50,000 miles as long as you stay away from the drag strip every weekend. super coupes should have only and i repeat only zr rated tires. if for some reason you have tire failure and cause damage to your car the insurance company and the tire company can not be held responsable for any damage because you put a tire on your car that was not accetable for use on this kind of performance car. trust me as one of my buddies had a tire go bad and damaged his fenderwell insurance company refused to fix it and this is why so many explorers are having tire failure because with their overdrive transmissions and able to do 100 miles an hour their factory tires can not take this speed for long periods of time. GET THE ZR RATED TIRE ANY BRAND WILL DO BUT MICHELEN PILOT XGT ZR4 REALLY ARE THE BEST ALL SEASON RADIAL YOU CAN BUY ! LOOK AT THE TIRE STICKER ON YOUR PASSANGER SIDE DOOR, IF YOUR COUPE WAS EQUIPPED WITH ZR TIRES THAN REPLACE WITH SAME OR BETTER, INSURANCE CO. LOOK FOR EVERY WAY TO SCREW YOU WHEN YOU FILE A CLAIM SO FOLLOW THE FINE PRINT ON THAT STICKER

Tires

Ok, first off the rating really comes down to 3 things...One, the tempature in which a tire melts. (meaning Z rated tires can get alot hotter before melting hence the 149mph speed recomendation) and Two, How fast they cool down....A Z rated tire is conterproductive at the strip because by the time you stage the tire is half cooled from the burnout...where as a non rated tire will retain the heat needed for traction.....but Three, For those you will have to give up sidewall. The higher rated tires will have a thicker stronger sidewall for better cornering and control. So all in all there is no absolute perfect street and strip tire. All you can do is try to find a common ground in tires. Hope this helps you come to a decision.

Night and day

Tire choice can be night and day. I bought my car with S or T rated tires, I knew they had to go. I picked up the car on Thursday night and had new tires on it on Saturday morning. The passenger car tires had soft sidewalls which really kills handling. Traction was another issue. I could without power braking it nail it and the car would go sideway to the point where you couldn't ride it out you'd have to let off.

When chosing my new tires, I unfortunatly made the mistake of chosing an H-rated stock sized tire. I went with Pirelli P6000 225/60/16. They were a night and day upgrade against the tires I had before, but driving it you could tell the tires were giving up long before the car's abilities. They also offered far less traction than the car needed. I could do non-power braked 50 foot burnouts. That sounds cool and all but it gets old after a while.

The best decision I made was chosing a quality ZR Rated 245/50/16 tire. The 245/50/16 does throw off the speedometer but as long as you run them on all 4 will not interfere with your ABS and even if you run them on two I believe it's within the range that ABS can compensate but I'm not positive on that. The percentage out only works out to be about 3 mph at highway speed. I'd like to note that after using GPS and pacing with other cars, SC speedometers really aren't that accurate in general, typically they seem to be out at least 5 mph.

As far as holding heat, I really don't want to get into a flame war here but here is what my research shows. When you run any street tire at the track, the best procedure is to drive around the water box, really make sure you clear it including the spots from where people dripped water out of radials and all. (assuming automatic) Power brake it up to about 2,500-2,800 rpms, let off the brake and nail it to about 90% throttle. My car sits at about 4,000 rpms and then let it off. This cleans them off. If you sit there and smoke street tires they'll get greasy and spin worse and you'll heat up the car. I then launch pretty low rpms and don't floor it. I run fairly consistant 2.1 60fts like this and have managed a 2.0 and that was on the H-rateds. High speed rated tires are designed to cool themselves off by sheding compound.

As for tire choice, it depends on your budget and goals. Kuhmo has the least expensive ZR rated tire that wears well that I know of. They are about $100 per tire in 245/50/16's. Goodyear Eagle GS-C's are nice tires, they're easy to find because they are OE option tires on V8 F-bodies and you can find them inexpensively as take-off's sometimes. Bridgestone Potenza has a few good tires such as an RE910 I believe it is. They are sticky. My personal favorite tire to date is a Fulda Extremo. They are the "number one tire on the Autobahn." I run them on my SC and am crazy about them. To find a dealer go to www.fuldatires.com. I've also tried the H-rated version of Fulda's on my Maxima and they were far better than the Toyo's I was replacing.

Hope this helps, feel free to ask any questions.


Adam Mullen
The SC Kid

Well said Adam ...

When I got my 95, it had stock size Eagle GA S-rated p.o.s. tires on it. It was winter time when I first had the car, and I was able to get a set of Bridgestone H-rated winter tires used in good condition from a friend. See, I even have 130 mph rated tires for the dry days in wintertime ... even the winter tires handled better than the Eagle GAs, because they were a true performance tire. Don't have to worry about that anymore, otherwise I'd be looking for 17" rims and winter tires to go over my Cobra brakes. Anyway, the next spring, I lucked into a used set of ROH ZR 17x8-1/2" wheels with Bridgestone RE71s on them. What a difference !! The car hung on great. The tires only had about a summer's worth of tread on them, so after that, the ROHs got wrapped with Bridgestone S-02 255-45-17s. Fantastic tire, I used them for 2 summers, and sold them to Bill McNeil when I changed by brakes and hub pattern, and got a great deal on some Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D2 18-inch tires. These hang on at least as well as the Bridgestones, and have more wet grip.

So again, my point is, buy the best tires you can possibly afford if you really enjoy driving the car, it's worth it. And if you drive in winter conditions, there really isn't any such thing as an all-season tire, they're just 3 season. Get an extra set of stock SC wheels, they're cheap these days, or evem some LX 15" wheels, and get 4 good performance winter tires if you want to make it through the season, not just 2. It's nice to be able to turn and stop in the snow as well.

OK, I'm finished preaching for now.

cheers
Ed N.

how much diffrence does a tire make

all the diffrence in the world