I have been trying to decide on a set of tires for the 17's I am getting, and just cannot make up my mind.

On the one hand, there Kumho, Falken, Hancook that are priced near the bottom. I know a lot of people in a local enthusiast forum like the Kumho's for the best overall performance for the price. I am a little concerned about how well and how long these will last.

At the other end, there are more expensive options... Michelins are pricey, but have good wear ratings. I have seen very good opinions on Perelli P7000's, but again they are up there in price.

I really don't mind spending the extra if these tires are going to hold up and last longer. But if they are going to wear just as quickly as the cheaper options, I would just assume go with them. Thoughts and opinions (btw, I know wear is subjective depending on driving style and all, just hoping for positive or negative feedback on your experiences).

BTW, I am looking at running 215 45 R17's front, 225 45 R17's rear. Thanks!!

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John
AOLIM: Fformula88

1988 Fiero Formula
2002 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

On my 88 Formula I run 235/45/17's on the rear and 215/45/17's. I know artherd runs 265/35/18 on the rear of his and 225/40/18 on the front. I have coilovers on mine and could probably run the same setup but my rims are 17x7's and I just love them and I dont want to change. The handling is great on mine still. Im pretty sure Ben runs coilovers on his Road race Formula but not totally sure. The size I use is the most popular but I also think 245/40s are popular as well for the rear. It all depends on if you have coilovers on it or not. If you dont 235/45/17's are probably the biggest you can go on the rear and 225s on the front is the biggest you can go no matter what from what I have heard and seen.
As far as tire types I love my Bridgestone Potenza RE730 tires; they handle and hook awesome. I know that if you want all out performance Pirelli P Zeros are the way to go but they are expensive. I like Bridgestone's set, I think the new ones are SO-3s and they are simply awesome! Go with what you can afford, but I love those 2 types myself.

Later.

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Maroon 1987 GT 5 spd: 2.8L
Ferrari Red 1988 Formula 5 spd: 3.4L

My Website: http://www.members.cox.net/rare88/

[This message has been edited by Rare87GT (edited 04-09-2003).]

John, I just purchased Kumho Ecsta Supra 712's for my GT...215/45R17's for the front, and 235/45R17's for the rear. My car is an 86 GT with stock suspension. I have 17X7 Konig Monsoons, with 40mm offset. I have maybe a quarter to an eighth of an inch of clearance between the rear tires and the spring perches. I, like you, was concerned about tire wear, etc, and I read just about all of the surveys for the Kumhos on tirerack.com. The majority of people seem to like them quite a bit, although there were a few gripes about treadlife. However, I don't drive my car in the winter (on these tires, that's a DEFINITE no-no), and so, I decided that treadlife wasn't that important. The thing to remember is, the higher performance tires are always going to have a shorter treadlife, due to the softer, stickier compounds they use. The Kumhos were, hands down, the best "bang for the buck". If I were using my car as a daily driver, I'd probably have sprung for something that was all season, and had a longer treadlife. But for the amount I drive the car, the Kumhos should last me quite a while. Seems like there are quite a few people here on PFF that are running them, too. The only problem is the name...I can't quite shake it. Sounds like a command you'd give to a prostitute.

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Mike...86 GT 4 Speed
"Sucks to be me..."

quote Originally posted by litespd: Sounds like a command you'd give to a prostitute.

LOL, yes it certainly does!

Seriously, like you my car is no daily driver, and certainly never goes out in the winter. Thats what the Jeep is for! I have read thru Tirerack's customer reviews too, on the Kumhos and other brands. There is almost always gripes about treadlife. As you said that is expected with performance tires like these. Thats no problem. I haven't bveen getting much past 10-15K miles on the 15 inchers. I may just go with the Kumho's, because of their good performance reputation for the price. As I am hard on tires anyway and end up buying often, getting the more expensive ones sounds like its only going to burn extra cash for little benefit. Its reasurring to hear the number of people who are satisfied with them.

The size has been a bit of a question too. I didn't want to get too wide on the front to prevet the steering effort from increasing too much. The 215/45's are nearly dead on to the 205/60R15's from the factory.

As for the rear, I don't mind a wider tire, but wasn't sure how much was too much. Since they were stagered 205 to 215 now, I figured going to 225's rear would be good. I will be running 35MM offset tires on the back (same as stock) so I would imagine there would be plenty of room to go wider. I am just not sure its really necessary. The front I am using 45MM offset to keep the wheels from sticking outside the front fenders too far.

Thanks for your thoughts!!

Konig Imagines 17X7 with 225/45-17 Yokohama AVS ES100 on all 4 corners.

Dunlop SP Sport W-10 235/40ZR17/90W

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87 GT

TSW 17x8 40mm offset with 255/40 on the rear and 235/40 on the front, good luck.
~Mike

I have Sumitomos on mine.

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quote Originally posted by Fformula88: The size has been a bit of a question too. I didn't want to get too wide on the front to prevet the steering effort from increasing too much. The 215/45's are nearly dead on to the 205/60R15's from the factory.

Yep...can't remember where I found it, but I found a website that had a GREAT tire calculator on it. Stacked the tires up side by side on the specs. The 215/45's are almost identical to the 205/60's, and show the same revolutions per minute at the same speed.

quote As for the rear, I don't mind a wider tire, but wasn't sure how much was too much. Since they were stagered 205 to 215 now, I figured going to 225's rear would be good. I will be running 35MM offset tires on the back (same as stock) so I would imagine there would be plenty of room to go wider. I am just not sure its really necessary. The front I am using 45MM offset to keep the wheels from sticking outside the front fenders too far.

That same tire calculator told me that the 235's would be a better choice than the 225's, if I wanted to keep my speedometer fairly accurate. I can't remember exactly, but the 45's spin about 50 more RPM/Mile than the 215/60's, and at an indicated 70MPH, your actual speed with the 235/45's was 68MPH, so it's close enough for me. I also looked at a 40 series tire, but wanted the 45 for the bit more sidewall cushioning it would provide, and it was also closer to the size of the original than the 40 series tire was.

[This message has been edited by litespd (edited 04-09-2003).]

Nitto NT450's

Treadwear: 300
Traction: A
Temperature: A
Speed Rating: ZR

215/45/17 front
235/40/17 rear

All for $97 a pop at http://discounttiredirect.com

For the price, they're real tough to beat

[This message has been edited by 88GTNeverfinished (edited 04-09-2003).]

Well, I don't have 17's (just 16's on my coupe) but I second the vote for RE730's. I got about 25,000 out of mine, and that's including a bad alignmnet that chewed a few thousand miles of life out of them before I got the car aligned. the tires are awesome! The sidewalls are a bit stiff and they tend to make a little noise at the end of their lifespan (uhm, they don't ride like your fathers oldsmobile?) but man they are awesome handlers (and a nice jump in forward bite too - you can jump on the brakes a LOT harder before the traction goes away and a tire locks up).
When the summer is up and I need to replace them, I'm probably getting another set.

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88 4cyl 5spd & 88 Formula 5spd

My two cents - Continental ContiSport Contact 2 - 215/45R17 front and 225/45R17 rear. I really like the original ContiSports on my wife's BMW. Currently, I am running 215/45R17 Good Year Eagle GS-D -all around. Upgrading soon.

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I run Kumho 712's.. 215/45 17 and 245/40 18's. No complaints here, they've actually lasted quite a while in front even with the amount of camber I have.

Here's the tire calculator I always use:
http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

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1988 Quad 4 Coupe 5 speed click for more pics
1986 GT 5 speed
AOL: LastMinuteBastrd AIM: SavedbyJebus

I am running Kumho 712s. They hold the road well but the rear tires seem to smoke occasionally and for some reason the rear tires are wearing out much faster than the front tires.

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Red 88 GT T-Top 3800 Supercharged
White 88 GT Stock
Please give me a rating if you appreciate my contribution.
History of Skitimes Car

Hercules G5000Z: Front P215/45ZR17, Rear P235/45ZR17. Why, they were cheap. $550 Cdn (including 15% taxes) for the set. That's about $370 US for the set.

I run them on Eagle Alloy 192's.

quote Originally posted by skitime: I am running Kumho 712s. They hold the road well but the rear tires seem to smoke occasionally and for some reason the rear tires are wearing out much faster than the front tires.

Ski, I pondered over your rear tire problem for some time and came up with two solutions the second one in my opinion being the better of the two!
First solution is remove some of the lead from right foot !!
Second solution is pull motor and help Zoom88 install in his Formula !!

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www.diginostics.com

Hah.Hah...!! That's pretty good, Skitime.. I'm sure some Forum members may be able to figure out why the rears smoke occasionally and seem to wear out faster than the fronts.

BTW, you neglected to tell us what tire size you are running, front and rear..?

...Rickker

Same as 88GTNeverfinished in my red car.

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Like Silverformula I have the Continental ContiSport Contact 2. I got mine off of ebay for $250 for four tires with about a thousand miles (there great). I have 235/45 in the back and 205/50 in the front. I like how it steers easier at lower speeds with the 205's up front.

quote Originally posted by Rickker: Hah.Hah...!! That's pretty good, Skitime.. I'm sure some Forum members may be able to figure out why the rears smoke occasionally and seem to wear out faster than the fronts. BTW, you neglected to tell us what tire size you are running, front and rear..? ...Rickker

I am running 205-50-17s on the front and 235-45-17s on the rear. I retained the 205 width on the front so I would not mess with the superior steering characteristics of the 88s. The rear tires are going to have to be replaced soon and the fronts look like new. I am sure drifting the rear end around turns also has something to do with it. ;-)

[This message has been edited by skitime (edited 04-10-2003).]

I run 235/45/17 and 215/45/17 Michelin Pilot Sport's on my Formula. They are great!

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88 Formula, T-Top, 5 spd | 68 GTO | 80 Jeep CJ7..I live where the fine chocolates come from..

Thanks again for all the thoughts.

The Miata.net calculator is the one I have been using too. Its great!

FYI, On the rear, 225's and 235's are off about the same amount either way of dead right.

225's will read 0.7% too fast (or when the speedo says 60, the car is traveling 59.6)

235's will read 0.7% too slow (or when the speedo says 60, the car is moving 60.4).

As for the fronts 215's are are only .3% too fast.

I guess I need to make the call between the 225's and 235's. I will also check out and get pricing on everyone's tire suggestions! Thanks you!

Kumho Ecsta Supra 712's ALL THE WAY!!

I know I've said it before but Standard's car has the best stance of any Fiero I've ever seen!

I'm running 225/45/17 on the front with 7 inch rims.

I'm running 245/45/17 on the rear with 8 inch rims.

Kumho 712's.

215/45/17 front and 245/45/17 rear Falken Ziex ZE-502 directionals. 17x7.5 .40 offset ALT AT-148 wheels. My 88 GT looks great from every angle with this combo. The fronts do not stick out more than the rears when viewed down the side of the car. No rubbing either.

I forgot, Traction A Temperature A treadwear 300 on the Falkens. Not too bad for the price.

[This message has been edited by Rick 88 (edited 04-11-2003).]

quote Originally posted by skitime: I am running 205-50-17s on the front and 235-45-17s on the rear. I retained the 205 width on the front so I would not mess with the superior steering characteristics of the 88s. The rear tires are going to have to be replaced soon and the fronts look like new. I am sure drifting the rear end around turns also has something to do with it. ;-) [This message has been edited by skitime (edited 04-10-2003).]

Skitime what width rim are you running on the fronts ?

I was running Kuhmo 712's, 225-45-17 on the front and 235-45-17 on the rear. The fronts are a 17x7 rim and the rears are 17x8. I have about 13-14k on them and the rears would have had about another 4-5k on them and the fronts had maybe 2-3k left on them.

Of course since my broken spring shredded my one tire to bits, I am now going with the new Kuhmo MX's 225-45-17 on the front and 245-40-17 on the rear. They cost me $526 shipped from the tirerack.

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quote Originally posted by AkursedX: I am now going with the new Kuhmo MX's 225-45-17 on the front and 245-40-17 on the rear. They cost me $526 shipped from the tirerack.

That sounds like a great deal!

I am going to get the whole setup from Discount Tires... Their prices on tires seem a little higher than Tirerack, but they offer free shipping. I just take it they built that price into the tire. I am buying there because they carry the wheels I am looking for. BTW, who do you take the car to have the wheels installed and balanced around here? I have generally not ordered tires in the past for fear of getting a hard time from tire shops that want to sell you the tire.

quote Originally posted by Fformula88: That sounds like a great deal! I am going to get the whole setup from Discount Tires... Their prices on tires seem a little higher than Tirerack, but they offer free shipping. I just take it they built that price into the tire. I am buying there because they carry the wheels I am looking for. BTW, who do you take the car to have the wheels installed and balanced around here? I have generally not ordered tires in the past for fear of getting a hard time from tire shops that want to sell you the tire.

Well my dad used to work with a guy that would mount my tires, but he's not doing it anymore.

I have also taken a set to Sam's Club and slipped the guys there $50 to do it.

This time around I will be taking them to Fox Tire on William street near the post office there. I've had them fix a flat before and they do good for for a decent price.

But, if you order the tires and the rims at the same time, they should come mounted and balanced right from discounttiredirect, at least that's my understanding.

Hope that helps!

quote Originally posted by AkursedX: But, if you order the tires and the rims at the same time, they should come mounted and balanced right from discounttiredirect, at least that's my understanding. Hope that helps!

Yeah, they will be mounted and balanced from Discount Tire. Just was curious if you new a good place for future reference. Thanks!

I'm running Dunlop SP Sport FM901, 215/45/17 front and 245/40/17 rear on 17x7.5" wheels

Can't really say I have much to compare these to...this is my first set of decent tires/wheels I can say that I get lots of compliments on them and I really like them (if that helps you any)

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quote Originally posted by helmet1978: Can't really say I have much to compare these to...this is my first set of decent tires/wheels I can say that I get lots of compliments on them and I really like them (if that helps you any)

That car is just awesome in every respect! Those wheels just look great on it! Thanks!

I've posted several other times about my tires, I'm sure you found it looking through the archives.

FYI, my Kumho 712s have about 20k miles on them now running a little extra camber in the front and rear (1.5/2 degrees front/rear) and they are finally starting to show it. The rears are worn on the insides as you would expect, and in all honesty I could just get them dismounted and flipped and probably still get another 10k miles on them. So, tire wear is great with the Kumhos, as good as I expected based on the tirerack.com reviews. Traction is great for the price, but I'm stepping up to the Ecsta MX in the next month or two. I'm going to get "normal" alignment specs on the MX and see how it compares to the 712s in terms of performance in the dry/wet and tire wear. I figure I should still get plenty of mileage on the MX if I get a less agressive alignment while keeping the same or better performance.

Also, a little more camber did improve the handling a noticable amount...but in hindsight it wasn't worth the tire wear because I rarely drive in a performance situation. About 90% of my mileage is highway miles, and I'm willing to bet I could have got about 50k miles out of the 712s with the proper alignment.

Bryce
88 GT