LT1-LT4 Modifications 1993-97 Gen II Small Block V8

Best tires for grip

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Old Jun 10, 2013 | 09:41 PM
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Default Best tires for grip

I need some tires that are great for grip but have to be good for daily driving as well.. My wheels are the stock salad shooter looking wheels and they have 245/50 r16 on them right now.. Fallen tires on them.. Let me know what to do.. I just want grip in the rear tires so if I need the biggest tires for these wheels then fine but please tell me what size that is.. Thanks
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Old Jun 10, 2013 | 10:19 PM
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how bout some bf goodrich g force drag radials, 255/50 16. or any drag radial you can find in that size. i think thats about as wide as you can go anyways. if you want something that will last a little longer you could go with the g force sport.

oops, daily driving. the drag radials will be fine for dd in dry weather, not so much the rain. i run the gforce sports and they are fine in the rain. not as sticky as drag radials, a step under.

Last edited by ascastil; Jun 10, 2013 at 10:26 PM.
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Old Jun 10, 2013 | 10:55 PM
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255 is about as wide as you'll wanna go on an 8j rim.
Its hard to realy hook up on tires that small. And if you do find a good compound it tends to wear fast. When im not runing the stickers i run 16 firebird takeoffs with 255/45 falken ziex that i bought about 6 yrs ago. They're pretty good for an $89 tire.
Definatly no limiter dumping.
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Old Jun 11, 2013 | 08:26 AM
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Thanks for the replies, I may look in to the gforce but as for the falken tires the other post talks about I have those on it now in 245/50 and they suck for grip.. Could be the size I have though so I'm not saying the bigger size wouldn't help but I know what I have isn't good..
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Old Jun 11, 2013 | 08:31 AM
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I'm Rockne kumho ecsta XS tires and they are awesome. Amazing grip stiff side wall, best autocross street class tire period
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Old Jun 11, 2013 | 09:54 AM
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No contest (if price is no object) - for street use (i.e. - dry / wet) at the 245/50-16 size, use the almighty Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3.
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Old Jun 11, 2013 | 04:53 PM
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Originally Posted by jrwilliams95z28
I'm Rockne kumho ecsta XS tires and they are awesome. Amazing grip stiff side wall, best autocross street class tire period
i got ecsta ast's all around.... i have to launch off idle and roll into it or they just go up in smoke on the street
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Old Jun 11, 2013 | 05:40 PM
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Kumho's are just garbage... I had a set and never again, same with goodyear. If you want grip go to a 255/50 Gforce sport comp 2 30k miles tire and about 150 per give or take. I'll be running them when I get 17's, but I've sold plenty of the sport comp 1's and they are an amazing tire.
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Old Jun 11, 2013 | 06:54 PM
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I have hankook ventus v4 ES on my car... great tires for DDing
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Old Jun 11, 2013 | 06:59 PM
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How about Nitto t5 drag radials? I heard those are good and havent seen them mentioned yet not sure though havent tried them either. if anyone has please respond im interested as well thank you.
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Old Jun 11, 2013 | 07:00 PM
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or how about what the new z06 comes with?
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Old Jun 11, 2013 | 08:32 PM
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I run Nitto 555Rs, granted thats on 315s but once they're warm they hook nice. Great all around tire, stiff sidewall, good in rain, and I daily drive mine too. I tried them in snow twice, it wasn't pretty but they got me home with my 40 mile commute in 1" of slush being extremely gentle.
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Old Jun 11, 2013 | 08:48 PM
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Originally Posted by nitroheadz28
I run Nitto 555Rs, granted thats on 315s but once they're warm they hook nice. Great all around tire, stiff sidewall, good in rain, and I daily drive mine too. I tried them in snow twice, it wasn't pretty but they got me home with my 40 mile commute in 1" of slush being extremely gentle.
thanks man i will probably buy some when i need new ones. How long do they last? what is there max sustained speed? I would look that last one up but IDK how to read their charts all that well because some online stores rate them in letters and not numbers idk they do that but they do.
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Old Jun 12, 2013 | 01:14 AM
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Can't comment on how long they last cause I've only had them on for around 5k or so, but from what I've read they should be good to 30k which would be pretty nice for such a good all around tire. I believe they're Z rated to 180mph if I remember correctly.
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Old Jun 12, 2013 | 05:32 AM
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I had great results with sumitomos on my salad shooters, but the soft sidewall made the rear feel squishy on a 255 so I went back to 245 on the next set. Grip great on the street and track in a straight line, and cheap too. Granted these were the older HTR 50Z models that stopped about 3 years ago.
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Old Jun 12, 2013 | 08:12 AM
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my 245/50 16 nitto drag radials did really well for about 9k miles with roughly 50 miles a weeks spent with some spirited driving. they would have lasted a little longer but someone in my neighborhood prison shanked both of them while parked in my driveway.

my 265/40 18 G-Force T/A Drag Radial performed better than the nittos (terrible at the track but great on the street) and looked way better but they wore like pencil erasers and were very expensive. they lasted maybe 6k miles and did not fare as well in the rain as the nittos did.

my 255/50 16 MT ET Street Radial performed a little better than the BFG's (consider they were also for different wheels) but they felt a little more sloppy on the street and they were the most expensive at the time.

all of these tires hit 120+mph on long stretches of clear highway regularly and the ones i felt most comfortable in were actually the nittos.
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Old Jun 12, 2013 | 09:03 AM
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The 245/50/16 BF Goodrich comp t/a's that where on the stock salad shooters where OK for being a little dry rotted and bald.

Then my 275/40/17 sumitomo htr z II on my 02 as 17 wheels where much better than the bfg. When warmed up they got very sticky. I got about 30k outta em with plenty of spirited driving and a few drag nights. I now have 275/40/17 front and 285/40/17 rear michillen pilot sports and they handle the curves very well wet or dry but any type of drag racing and the go up in smoke hot or cold.

I'm thinking about buying a set of 255/50/16 M/T drag radials for the salad shooters for drag strip days. I'll be checking in on the thread ....
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Old Jun 12, 2013 | 09:31 AM
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this is a great thread I am oblivious when it comes to tires but thanks for the input! now how wide can I go with the wheels in the back? also if I get a Mosser 12 bolt before i get the wider tires will they bolt up to the new Mosser 12 bolt rear end?
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Old Jun 12, 2013 | 09:43 AM
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Best street tires I had were the ones that came with the car brand new.. Good Year GSC's
been through BF's, Yokohama, and Mich
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Old Jun 12, 2013 | 10:57 AM
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See if you can find a set of Vredstein Sessanta's.

These are a little hard to find (but they can be found easily with free shipping on ebay). They are very popular on the Corvette Forums with the Vette guys. They have been around Europe for years, but have not been around in the US for long, so they are not a widely known brand.

At any rate, they are made for supercars. They have amazing traction and supposedly do fantastic in the rain. Their prices on top of all that are cheap!

Seems like a good fit for what you are looking for.
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