Tires?

[93 Ty #0818]

What do you guys recommend as far as tires for the Typhoon? Right now I have a set of 225/55/16 Goodyear Eagle RS-A's all around (parents did this) so theyre obviously a lot smaller than stock. I dont personally really like them and am thinking about getting a new set soon. What do you all reccommmend?

 

[atc82]

I just got a set of Firehawk SZ-50's. They ride really well and the traction in wet and dry weather is great. just my $.02

 

[Richard Le]

Why not go back to stock 245/50-16's? I really like the look of the Goodyear Eagle GS-C's.

 

[AlaskaTy]

Z rated! They may be soft, but Jesus do they grip.

Jason

 

[manitoufs]

Bridgestone Potenza RE950.

 

[Tooky]

On 2001-12-01 07:45, manitoufs wrote:
Bridgestone Potenza RE950.

George is that the ones you were raving to me about in my garage? If so, what was the deal with them? (Sorry I can't recall the specifics). Thanks.

 

[Syclone#892]

The 950's are real good tire but they are only H-speed rated which means they are good but not as nice as the Sz-50s or equivlent. Oh Tooky the tires I was telling you about, the RE-730's I could get you them for around $125 a piece with 12.99 a tire for mount, balance, valve stem, and road hazard. We do run some Super Sunday sales (next one is next Sunday) and most of the time you only pay for the tire and $5 for road hazard and the rest is free.

 

[93 Ty #0818]

Hehe, I get all my tires put on for free cause 2 of my friends work at Just Tires. They even patch tires for me for free :grin:

 

[Tooky]

I read once a performance tire is punctured, it should never be taken to high speeds again because it won't be the same.

 

[Syclone#892]

Josh you are correct, if a tire is punctured and fixed the manufacter voids the speed rating on any tire. Its not that the tires not safe anymore its just to cover their asses incase the tire blows out because the person that repaired was a moron.

 

[manitoufs]

Tooky -
Check out these links -
H = speeds of 130 MPH -
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/general/speed.htm

The poop on the RE950 -
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/bridgestone/bs_re950.jsp

I suppose if you plan on running a lot at 130 MPH you may want to look elsewhere. I feel that I drive a lot faster than most people on the road but I seldom get above 120 for any period of time. I just did a desert run (LA to Phx & Phx to LA)last weekend. I averaged around 90 MPH for 350 miles with bursts to 120.

I have found that the RE950 provides plenty of dry road stick and an incredible amount of wet traction. Hydroplaning is at an absolute minimum. (I went thru 2" - 3" standing and flowing water during a monsoon storm in Phx this year without a wobble.)

With a UTQG index of 400 you will get great milage. I feel that they are a great, all around tire. Plus the tread pattern looks really cool.

 

[Tooky]

Thanks for the info George!! The TireRack survey results look similar to those for the Firestone SZ50. Wildly positive. However, strangely and coincidently like the SZ50's, the tread width is literally one INCH less than the SVX or Sears Viper HX tires. Won't that reduce the amount of boost you can leave the light with? My Sy is not a daily driver by any means in fact I almost never drive it in the rain so wet traction is of a minimum of importance to me.

 

[Syclone#892]

Hey TookyCat I will talk with my boss and see if we can mount up a set of tires and see if you like them even though they are a little smaller. I do not really think that small a difference will cause any problems because the tires are such a soft compound that they hookup really well. I have them on my brothers GTP in a 255/45/17 and he said they are awesome and when they were down to 0-1/32nds he could still corner just as hard then as when they were new and he could still drive in the rain but he would be careful of big puddles. Another thing is you really want that extra inch is go to a 255/50/16 that should give you the inch back. Just so you know we have a 30-day test drive on tires only thing is my boss won't let me do it for friends that often because he thinks they will burn them up and return them, he might trust me though because everytime I have done it my friends have not returned the tires because they liked them so much. Also Josh does your dads dealership have the road force balancer (my friends dealership does) if so you could buy the tires from my work and have them mounted and balanced over there (I don't think they would charge you). Basically I think you would like the SZ-50, the RE730, or the RE950 they are all exceptional tires.

 

[Tooky]

David that is a fantastic offer. How can 255/50/16 fit on our stock rim? I am interested in this. Also I will not need tires until spring, I am storing it on my shit ones and then I will go RWD in spring and burn them off (I can't wait!!) However, I always get the feeling you do not like the Firestone SVX or the Sears Viper HX but I have not been able to determine why it is exactly that you do not like them? Is it just the brand name or what, the reason I ask is cause the Sears Viper in particular seems quite cheap yet lots of SyTyBB members have had excellent experiences with them. Thanks again,

PS: My Dad said they would mount my new tires in spring when I get them, for free as part of the trouble for them BASHing my truck on accident.. I looked at their balancer machine for a second then got distracted so I don't remember. Is there a way to tell by looking at it? They are the largest seller of GMC Trucks in Wisconsin so I would think they are big enough to warrant the hot shit when it comes to balancing tires but you never know.. so I want to be sure with some positive identification. Thanks

 

[Syclone#892]

I like the SVX's but I have not owned a vehicle with them so I can only go by what my customers tell me. Personally I just not a big fan of anything Sears brand whether it be tires or tools, I am probably somewhat biased because I work for Firestone and I only buy Snap-On tools but oh well. I personally have not seen the road force balancer yet but my friend says it has a big wheel on it to put pressure on it while its spinning to simulate the road (someone please correct me if I'm wrong). Its called the Hunter GPS-9700 or something like that, it should be written on the side of the machine. I am not sure if they would have it or not, my friend has it because they do Jaguars and stuff like that. Well if you balance them there and the don't balance out correctly I can always talk to my friend and we can work something out when the time comes. The 255's should fit pretty easily might only be a little tougher to mount than the 245's but I can do it, Are the factory wheels 8" or 7". I believe they are 8 but not sure, either way I can do it so any experienced person should have no problem doing it.

 

[JoeLutz]

Nitto Drag Radials
At all four corners :smile:

 

[typhoonzz]

ok, so if you go with drag radials on all 4 corners, Don't most people when they are at the track drop the pressure to 15lbs or so and then spin the sh1t out of them to heat them up. Since that really isn't an option to us, how are they going to provide superior traction for us? Just curious...

 

[SY732]

On 2001-12-05 01:34, typhoonzz wrote:
ok, so if you go with drag radials on all 4 corners, Don't most people when they are at the track drop the pressure to 15lbs or so and then spin the sh1t out of them to heat them up. Since that really isn't an option to us, how are they going to provide superior traction for us? Just curious...

IMO put the fronts at 35 and rears at 28, any lower and it seems to hurt the top end.

Drive around the water, back in just in front of the water, spin the rears for a second, let off the brake and go to full throtle until they stop spinning

 

[JoeLutz]

On 2001-12-05 01:34, typhoonzz wrote:
ok, so if you go with drag radials on all 4 corners, Don't most people when they are at the track drop the pressure to 15lbs or so and then spin the sh1t out of them to heat them up. Since that really isn't an option to us, how are they going to provide superior traction for us? Just curious...

I was actually half way kidding about that, but here is how I look at it.

You are very correct in that a drag tire is made to be heated up to get beter traction.

Don't mean to get too technical here, but When we talk about traction, usually we actually are talking about static friction. Static friction is equal to the normal force (which would be the weight acting on each tire) x the coefficient of static friction. At higher temps, the tire gets softer and stickier, so the effective coefficient of static friction between the tire and pavement is increased. This is good, because static friction force is the force exerted between the tire and the road assuming the tire is not spinning. So obviously if we can increase that maximum available static friction, then we can launch harder without spinning the tires. With that said, the basic equation for static friction means that the static friction is independant of the area of contact between the road and the tire. So if the static friction was the only thing we were concerned with, it wouldn't matter if we were using bicycle tires as long as the ruber composition and compounds were the same, so that the static coefficient would be the same. However, there is more to it than just regular static friction. There is also some forces due to adhesion between the tire and road. This is due to the rough texture of the pavement and the tires flexability to conform to this surface. This adhesion IS a funtion of the contact area between the tire and road, so therefore the greater the contact patch, the greater the available adhesion. This is the reason for the low tire pressures and the reasoning behind "skicks", to increase the contact area between the rubber and the road. So even if we can't heat the tires from doing a burnout, slicks give us greater available adhesion to the road due to the fact that more rubber is in contact with the road. They also usually have a softer compound to begin with so the coefficient of static friction is beter than an ordinary street tire.

This adhesion is the reason that Top Fuel cars can pull an amazing 3g's off the line.
Sorry for the long boring post.

_________________
Dashmat GP
93 Typhoon
67 VW Bug Judson SC
67 Chevy Stepside
68 Camaro RS/SS
88 Zuk
91 MR2 Turbo (sold)
communities.msn.com/joeelutz

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: joeelutz on 2001-12-06 00:19 ]</font>

 

[xcaliber]

MAN, that was a mouth full, I dont know if you an ienstein, or what, but you sure sound smart, I have nt555 extreems all the way around too! so it sounds like I made a good
choice,
I got them just before KC 2000, and while I was there, took 3 different kids for rides, ( their dad brought them) because they loved syclones, young kids to like 16, 14, 12, I gave them all 3 an 8Lb boost launch in the front hotel parking lot, and the tires wouldnt even bark, just pure hook, the guy buffing cars there, seemed to enjoy the show to, and now I am an offical kids hero!

Jamie sanders (OFFICAL HERO)
sy 0252
heber springs AR
(the milage on nitto's suck (7,000) max)

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: xcaliber on 2001-12-06 09:59 ]</font>