critter

iTrader: (9)

I decided to get a beater so I could fix the 20% leakdown in my Y2K black car this winter. I looked a several F bodies and picked the one that drove the best. It is a 93 V6 and the ad said "almost new rubber". The tires did look good - had a lot of tread. However, I noticed during my first trip in the rain that this silly little 144K mile V6 would spin the tires at will. So I put the rear tires off the black car on it. No more spinning. Then with the first snow fall I noticed that the front brakes would lock and slide with hardly any effort, so I put the front tires off the black car on the 93 too. Much better.

If I hadn't seen this, I wouldn't have believed it. The tires that came on the 93 are marked "Furura GLS" and "Super Sport" and are same size as the OEM tires on the black car (which of course are Goodyear). They look good, yet have essentially zero traction. Perhaps they were cheap at K-Mart or something. I don't know. But the lesson is to be careful when you buy tires for your favorite toy. There is more brand to brand difference than I would have believed.

ActionJack

Tires are made for different reasons. I would not drive my summer ultra high performance tires in the winter and my winter tires suck *** out of snow and mud.

I put my Yokohama Ice Guards on and itn dry or somewhat wet they suck for traction and cornering and are speed rated for only 99 mph. But, in the snow the are great and out do my Pirelli PZeros even though they are all season. The Snow tire kicks *** in snow and mudd (M+S).

The tires from your 93 bird are probably cheap all season money savers...

hondo

iTrader: (2)

futura brand tires come from pep boys i believe and they suck

GuitsBoy

iTrader: (4)

Futura tires do come from pepboys, theyre rebadged dunlops IIRC. The intended application of the tire is more important than the brand, as far as Im concerned. Id rather drive on a good set of lesser name tires than a crappy model goodyear, firestone, or BFG.

Is this the tire: http://www.pepboys.com/tires_wheels/...per_sport.html ?

Theyre labeled as a performance tire, however, not a "high performance" tire. I still feel they may be a bit too liberal with how they label those tires, as i dont really see anything "performance" about 50 and up profiles, 50K mile and 440 treadwear ratings.

WhiteSSP

Futura's are made by Cooper Tires. I happen to work at pep boys...against my will i might add. But yeah the super sport tires suck, the touring HR and VR tires are fairly good in all weather though.

GuitsBoy

iTrader: (4)

Cooper tires... thats what it was. Thanks!

critter

iTrader: (9)

That looks like the tire, alright. It was just a guess on my part.

I don't know about good lesser name tires vs crappy big name tires. All I have is a sample of two - the OEM tires from my Y2K Z28 and these Futura tires that came on the 93. The Futura tires look good, but you can't believe how snotty they are. I went to pull away from a light, stepped on the gas (not mashed it, just normal driving style) and the car just sat there. It was a bit of a grade, but not much. I backed off and walked into it genly and moved up the grade. And this is a V6 with 144K miles. Heaven help the guy who puts those tires on a healty LS1.

GuitsBoy

iTrader: (4)

well, those tires are certainly not meant for a performance car. They have low speed ratings, poor temperature ratings, and are undoubtedly made of far too hard a rubber compound to get good traction. Dont forget that your 93 only has an open differential, so when you spin, youre only spinning one tire since theres no posi.

I use BFG KDWSs during the winter. Their dry, wet, and snow traction is absolutely incredible. Theyre Z rated too. The best part is that the 245 50 16s are barely over a hundred bucks a piece. If youre looking for new tires in the future to replace the ones on your winter beater, look into those.