Performance Tires in 225/60/R6 Size

Daniel Jones

Registered User
I'm looking for high performance tires in the stock 225/60/R16 size for a couple of vehicles (1989 Thunderbird SC and a 2003 Mercury Marquis with Marauder suspension). I'm currently running Sumitomo HTR Z II tires which were listed as ultra high performance summer tires. I'd prefer a tire optimized for summer as I run Nokian snow tires in the winter and the cars only see a few thousand miles per year. It appears the other high performance summer tires like the Nitto NT860 are also no longer available. I contacted the Tire Rack and they recommended Firestone Firehawk AS (480 AA tread wear rating) or Goodyear Eagle Sport All-Season (560 AA) but those don't have particularly good ratings. There is also the Goodyear RS-A High Performance All-Season (apparently available in 260 or 340 tread wear ratings) but have an even poorer rating.

If I have to go with an all season, the Sumitomo HTR A/S P02 appear to have a pretty good rating. There are also some tires from brands I'd never heard of before, presumably Chinese but I also came across one from Indonesia called the Forceum Octa that carries a W speed rating. They are cheap at $53.48 from Walmart. The only review I found was:

"I put these on my 04 Mercury Grand Marquis on 17" steelies. I am a retired police officer and pursuit driving instructor and drove a Crown Vic for the better part of 20 years. I know how to push a car to it's limits and get more out of it than 95% of drivers on the road. With these tires, this car handles like it's on rails. These tires are superb at holding corners and not sqealing, which is something that annoys the hell out of me. I've pushed them pretty hard in the rain as well as dry and have yet to have them feel like they're going to break out and slide. I've had them on for about 5000 miles now and no sign of premature wear. At this price I can get a new set every year and still be ahead. Do yourself a favor, if you wanna have a badass stance on your P71 or CV clone, get these tires and hit some curves. You'll be grinning from ear to ear."

I'll likely spring for a different rim size on the Marquis to get a better selection of tires but would like to stick with the OEM wheels on the Thunderbird SC. Looks like the safe bet are the Sumitomos but given the low cost, I'm tempted to take a chance on the Forceums.

Any input appreciated.
Thanks,
Dan Jones
 
Hey,
I’ve been wondering the same thing. I want to put some really nice sporty/performance tires on my stock Thunderbird SC rims. A few months ago, I did some research while buying tires for my brother’s Crown Vic Police Interceptor (also 225/60/R16) and some people on a Crown Vic forum said they really like Michelin Defenders. My brother went with something else, so I can’t personally attest to it, but I could try to find the link and share it.

Just noticed you are a new SCCoA Member and wanted to welcome you to the forum! :)
 
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Real performance tires with 60-series sidewalls are pretty much extinct. I'd look for the lowest UTQG treadwear rating you can find, since it's usually inversely proportional to grip.
 
I don’t care how good the reviews are, I don’t trust Chinese tires any further than I can throw them. Your best bet for a performance tire in the stock size is the Goodyear eagle RS-A police tire. They are pretty expensive for a 16” tire, but it is the only way I know of to get a V rated tire with a sub-300 treadwear rating from a major manufacturer.
 
I don’t care how good the reviews are, I don’t trust Chinese tires any further than I can throw them. Your best bet for a performance tire in the stock size is the Goodyear eagle RS-A police tire. They are pretty expensive for a 16” tire, but it is the only way I know of to get a V rated tire with a sub-300 treadwear rating from a major manufacturer.

I noticed those police tires, I figured they were meant for Crown Vics, but they seem like a nice all-round tire. At almost $250 per tire, is it worth it, or would I be better off having 2 sets of tires for the same price (I’m looking at BF Goodrich Advantage T/A sport tires for about $110.99 per tire off tire rack). I’m seriously considering buying 1 performance set and 1 touring or all season set. I have 4 SC rims in my garage without tires and the ones on my 1993 have tread so worn out they fail the “penny test”.

I noticed some Goodyear Eagle RS-A police tires for $153.96 per tire.
I also noticed some Firestone Firehawk police tires for $200.00
 
> some people on a Crown Vic forum said they really like Michelin Defenders.

I try to avoid H-rated tires as the sidewalls tend to flex more than I like on a 60 series tire. That said, according to the Tire Rack user ratings, both the Michelin Defenders and Michelin Premier all season tires have good dry traction.

> I could try to find the link and share it.

Thanks. I'm a member over there too and posted the same question. I'll share any constructive input I get.

> Just noticed you are a new SCCoA Member and wanted to welcome you to the forum!

I purchased the car (1989 5 speed, red with gray interior) this past Saturday and need to address a few issues before it will pass the safety inspection required to get license plates. Tires are nearly full tread depth but date coded 2002. I thought tires that old would be an automatic fail but, looking at the DMV site, tire age is not listed as a reason to fail. Both back up lights are out so I assume there's a problem with the switch on the transmission (5 speed) and the driver side lap belt doesn't clip into the receiver end (button is stuck, popped it loose but it immediately sticks again). Driver's side door lock works only to lock and the drivers side window doesn't go up as quickly as the passenger side. Other than that, everything appears to work. I'll make a post to the new member section when I get the chance.

> I'd look for the lowest UTQG treadwear rating you can find, since it's usually inversely proportional to grip.

That's what I was doing. Oddly, many of the high mileage tires have higher user ratings on dry traction than tires with lower UTQG treadwear ratings. Some of that may be user expectation. The other odd thing is that many of the H-rated tires are more expensive than the V-rated tires.

> I don’t care how good the reviews are, I don’t trust Chinese tires any further than I can throw them.

None of the tires I'm considering are Chinese. The Forceum is from Indonesia.

> Your best bet for a performance tire in the stock size is the Goodyear eagle RS-A police tire.

I looked at those. Tire Rack lists two versions, one with a 340 UTQG treadwear rating and the other with a 260 rating. User ratings appear to be lumped together but are quite poor at only 4.2 (out of 10) would recommend the RS-A tires. Dry traction rating was middle of the pack at 7.9.

At this point, I think my options are:

1. Sumitomo HTR A/S P02. 600 UTQG treadwear rating but good dry and wet traction ratings. The Thunderbird won't see rain but, if I don't like them, I can swap them over to the Mercury which will be my go to car in the rain.

2. Swap the Sumitomo HTR Z II tires from the Lincoln summer wheels and keep the Nokians on that car until it's retired from service later this year. The Nokians are 10 years old so need to get used up and the Sumitomos are only 5 years old.

3. Buy the Nitto NT860 tires. Ebay seller says he'll take them back if the date code is not to my liking.

4. Take a chance on the Forceum Octas. The only W-rated tires available so maybe I'll take one for the team, try them and report back to the forum.
 
Here's the link to the Crown Vic thread I read a few months ago (just staying true to my word).


https://www.crownvic.net/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2695243&page=2


A part of me thinks it would be kind of cool to put "police tires" on my Thunderbird. I mean, I really want good traction and handling, but I also want them to do well in the rain and to last a while. Otherwise I'm leaning more and more in the direction of buying some BF Goodrich T/A sport tires now then waiting a little longer to buy another set (maybe when something really jumps out at me). Our Crown Vic may need new tires anyways... so I'll keep checking this thread in case there are good suggestions for Thunderbirds and/or Crown Vics.
 
So I decided to test the 18 year old Yokohama Avid T-rated tires on my favorite off-ramp. The ramp ends in a sharp 90 degree turn and I gave it a bit of throttle mid-corner which resulted in a slide which took a couple of oscillations to damp out. I checked the tires when I got to work and, sure enough, the right rear has a dry-rot crack that wasn't there before.

I found a website in the UK that had multiple reviews on Forceum (a.k.a. Accelera) tires. There were none for the Octa tire specifically but there were many "worst tire I've ever had" reviews on other Forceum tires so I'll pass on the Octas.

The Sumitomo HTZ II tires are currently mounted on 1999 Lincoln Town Car aluminum wheels. The Panther suspension was revised for 2003 and uses a different offset wheel so I'm not sure if they'll clear the fender lips on the Mercury Grand Marquis. If they don't clear, I'll use them on the Thunderbird, otherwise I'll likely order Sumitomo HTR A/S P02 for the Super Coupe.

> Here's the link to the Crown Vic thread I read a few months ago (just staying true to my word).

Thanks! In addition to the Defender, Michelin makes the Premier A/S in a 225/60/16 size. Both are H-rated but the Premier has a treadwear rating of 600 versus 800 for the Defender so may be a bit stickier. Also, Michelin claims the Premier is optimized for wet weather.

> $350.00 for a set of 4 after shipping from this site. https://www.giga-tires.com/225-60-16...saAoemEALw_wcB

That site also carries Nokian snow tires which hard to find locally. Looks like you can also get the RS-A for $359.32 shipped from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004QL64Y0/ref=psdc_2054185011_t1_B004QL659E

Note this is the 340 treadwear version. The 260 appears to be more expensive.

Dan Jones
Florissant, MO USA
 
Hello,

I typed all this then noticed Daniel Jones basically said the same thing. So, here you go anyways :)

I was tempted to get the BF Goodrich Advantage T/A Sport Tires (H- or V-speed rated), with the 98H ones with UTQG: 600AA costing about $114.99 on Tire Rack or the 98V ones with UTQG: 560AA costing about $125.06 on Tire Rack.

However, I've pretty much decided I'm going to buy the P225/60R16 97V BSW Goodyear Eagle RS-A Police Pursuit tires. I noticed something, there seem to be two variants. One has a UTQG of 340AA and the other has a UTQG of 260 AA. The 260AA ones have a speed rating of V and so do the 340AA ones.

If you want cheap, it looks like you are better off getting the UTQG: 340AA from Giga tires or Amazon. I did a calculation for buying 4 tires.
Amazon is $359.32 + Free Shipping = $359.32
Giga Tires is $304.40 + $48.03 Shipping (to my zip code) = $352.43

Simple Tire:
UTQG: 260AA for $153.96
UTQG: 340AA for $135.97

Amazon:
UTQG: 260AA for $147.98
UTQG: 340AA for $89.83

Tire Rack: (doesn't specify whether Police or not)
UTQG: 260AA for $165.54
UTQG: 340AA for $173.59

Giga Tires:
UTQG: 260AA for $169.81 (before shipping)
UTQG: 340AA for $76.10 (before shipping of $48.03)


Police Tire links

https://simpletire.com/goodyear-p225-60r16-732354500-tires


https://www.amazon.com/Goodyear-Eag...1Z3KF23GESA&psc=1&refRID=ZY7758K9E1Z3KF23GESA

https://www.amazon.com/Goodyear-Eagle-Police-All-Season-Radial/dp/B078WSM7MT

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/Tire...kipOver=true&minSpeedRating=H&minLoadRating=S

https://www.giga-tires.com/225-60-16/goodyear-tires/eagle-rs-a-police/tirecode/732354148


BF Goodrich tire links

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tire...HR6TATAS&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes


https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tire...26VR6ATA&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes

Walmart ($110.99 per tire)

https://www.walmart.com/ip/BFGoodrich-Advantage-T-A-Sport-225-60R16-98-T-Tire/173212717
 
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I did the fit check of the 1999 Lincoln wheels on the 2003 Mercury Grand Marquis and, as expected, the offset is too different for the tires to clear the fender lips so I'll be swapping the Sumitomo HTR Z II tires to the Thunderbird SC wheels. It's a shame as the Lincoln aluminum wheels much better on that car than the tacky plastic chrome wheel covers with fake lug nuts.
 
Hello everyone.

I pulled the trigger on some Goodyear Assurance Max Life tires. I was really determined to get the Goodyear Eagle RS-A Police Tires until I saw a bunch of negative customer reviews. I also found a few other places selling the same tires for $89.00 and figured there might be a reason for that. The Goodyear Maxlife Assurance tires (according to the tire shop) have a "9" out of "10" for traction both in the Rain and Snow and the rain and they have an "8" out of "10" for Comfort and Road Noise. They cost $115.00 and they say they should last 85,000 miles. They're no performance tire, but at a reasonable price and for such a long tread life and (hopefully) good traction in the snow and rain, I figured I could have picked worse for a lot more. I'll report back after I've given them a bit more of a test drive. Unfortunately, I probably need a front-end alignment but my ball joints need replacing (so that will need to happen later).
 
Crap, I kind of wished I had ordered a set of 4 Goodyear Eagle RS-A tires while they were cheap. Nobody is selling them for less than $100 per tire anymore. I'm starting to wonder if the only reason they were getting mediocre to bad reviews is because people were expecting more out of a $150.00 tire, but they could have been excellent for a $90.00 tire.

I haven't gotten to drive my car with my Goodyear Assurance Maxlife tires yet because I'm replacing the upper and lower control arms, the inner and outer tie rods and I may need to address a bad power steering leak (and maybe transmission leak).
 
So following up on this thread. Since the pandemic, I haven't driven the Thunderbird SC a lot but I finally got the chance to drive it on some twisty roads after mounting the 5 year old Sumitomo HTR Z II tires. I needed to run into work to meet up with a co-worker and took 2 lane roads pushing it progressively harder until all 4 tires were making noise at the limit through some S-turns. With the shocks set on firm and the sticky tires, it handles quite well. Predictable with no drama and surprisingly nimble, given the vehicle weight. Flick the shock switch back to automatic over the rough stretches and it soaks up the bumps without complaint and floats down the highway. I'd forgotten that I stopped at the grocery on the way back so the groceries were all over the trunk but worth it.

Recently, I had to buy some tires for my 1985 Mazda RX-7 (went with 205/50/WR15 Continental ExtremeContact Sport tires) and noticed a tire that I'd missed in the Thunderbird's size. Pirelli makes a 225/60/YR16 Cinturato P7 ultra high performance summer (260 AA A) which the TireRack has for $180.89 each. I hope these are still around in 5 years when the Sumitomos date code out.

Dan Jones
 
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