Rate your 15 inch tires

[garry viohl]

Looking at the pro and cons of the following 15 inch tires:

Goodyear Billboards
Goodyear Eagle GTII
BF Goodrich
Firestone Firehawk
Avons
Avids
Micky Thompson

Looking for the best high performance street 15 inch tire. Please share your experiences, want to pick the best tire before buying. Thanks.

[Got the Bug]

I'm not sure you'll be able to find to find the Avids, since Yokohama stopped making the 15" tires.

You might want to do a search on tires on CC and read through all of the previous threads. A lot of it depends on personal preference and what you plan to do with the car (street only, street+track, track only).

If I was going to replace my Avids, I'd probably lean towards the Avons ($$$$) or the Micky Thompson's. The Billboards sure look cool and perform, but have some negatives.

Best of luck with the search.

[RICK LAKE]

garry Viohl Garry I have 2 sets of pin drive wheels. 15" and 17" On my 15" wheels I started with BFG's because everyone was running them. They are an average tire. IMO ok for dry street cruising anything more and they start to slide. Forget about wet weather driving at highway speeds. They are great for drifting and burnouts. I run GT Qualifiers on all my cars. They are a softer compound and still live go life. I have driven them in 10" of snow, heavy rains, 2" of ice and very happy with them. This is on a 79 transam. I have no real info on the Yoko, Avons, or Kummos. A few of the guys love the Avons. For 17" wheels I run the Pilots. Great all around tire. The best looking tire on the cobra is the GY bill boards. There are some issues with them being Bais belted and not radial umless they have come out with a radial. If you call GY, they are selling nascar tires cheap after this last weekend of racing at Indy. Rick L.

[Bob In Ct]

Avoid the BFGs. They are not a very round tire.

Bob

[madmaxx]

BFG's seam to be hit or miss. My last bdr had them and had some vibration, my spf has them and zero vibration, I could not be happier with the BFG's on this car. They look good.

[SPF1061]

Everyone has their own personal prefs for their own reasons. IF what you want is a period correct size and look, radial, hi speed rated (135mph), hi performance tire there is only one on your list - the Avon CR6ZZ. It is a great (and unfortunately expensive) tire.
Safe and happy driving on whatever you choose!

[greg schroeder]

The Mickey Thomson ET Street drag radial in the 275/60 15 for the rear was the best tire for me. It handled great around town and hoooks like no other. Without doubt one of the best performance mods one could do on a Cobra with rear tire slip issues. I ran about 20 to 22 psi.

[55312]

One other to check out is the Cooper Cobra. One of our members has them on his FFR and loves them. About the price of the BFG's. Look them over.

[G.R.]

I ran Dunlop Qualifier GT's on my NAF FIA. A similar cost to BFG's but ,IMO, a 10 times better tire, much softer compound, a great street tire, though only ok on a track at speed. Haven't checked in awhile but they were available in 275, 295, and 305 R 60x15 sizes for the rear.

If cost was no factor I would consider Avons, GY or MT's.

[Gary Stubbs]

I had the BFG's and put on M/T's about six months ago. Night and day by comparison. Down to 24 lbs and will go to 22. Launch hookup is so much better. Been on wet road(2hrs of drying and cleaning) and handled well but did not push. Discount tire matched prices from summit and no freight. Look good also imo.

[Frank Messina]

Here's a third for the Dunlop GT Qualifiers. Terrific tires and I thought the track grip is pretty darn good too. When I was building my car they peeled the coating off the floor. The big problem though is finding what you need. The last time I looked Dunlop had dropped the 295-50-15 size.
Frank

[speed220mph]

Put the FIA CRZZ DOT approved Avons on the GT40, then took the car to the track. They really pulled some g. Great tire. Just be ready to lighten your wallet and live wth less tread depth. After all, it's a race tire.

[Karl Bebout]

I too, am very pleased with my MT Street Radials. I run 325.50.15's and they really hook up on the drag strip, handle fine on the street, and are giving me relatively good tread life. Far superior to the BFG Drag Radials that were two inches taller and wider.
(345.55.15)

[Chilibit]

I have been planning to replace my Yokos with Avons. We have club members using Cooper's Cobra. So I looked on Cooper's corporate site and saw this. Is this the same AVON (see last sentence) as the those sourced from the UK?

Quote

As a global competitor in the replacement tire industry, Cooper is the eighth largest tire manufacturer in the world and is traded on the NYSE under the symbol CTB. Cooper provides a full line of tires to meet the needs of the most demanding high performance, off-road and motorsport enthusiasts. Product lines include the high and ultra-high performance market, SUV and light truck applications, motorcycles, racing and commercial truck tires. Products also include tread rubber and retreading equipment. The Cooper Tire flagship lines include Cooper Zeon tires, a series of ultra-high performance tires for cars and sport trucks; the Cooper Lifeliner family of passenger tires; and the Cooper Discoverer line of on and off-road and all-terrain tires ideal for the needs of full size pick-up trucks, full-size vans and SUVs. Other proprietary brands include: Mastercraft, Avon, Starfire, Dean, Kenda, Mickey Thompson, Dick Cepek and Oliver.

Close Quote

[MaSnaka]

Dunlop Gt Qualifiers not availible in 275/60/15 or 235 /60/15...disconinued.

GY BB's I currently have on the car with about 400 street miles and would love to find them a new home...sweet deal availible please inquire. 2 fronts, 4 rears all in near new great condition.

John

[nanard289]

Garry, don't disregard Michelin tire TB 5R and TB 15 type (18/60 x 15 in front & 23/62 x 15 rear). They are vintage racing tire (rallye and track) but they are street legal

[RedBarchetta]

Originally Posted by MaSnaka

GY BB's I currently have on the car with about 400 street miles and would love to find them a new home...sweet deal availible please inquire. 2 fronts, 4 rears all in near new great condition.

John

I'm in Yorba Linda. Click on my profile and e-mail me and I'll give you a call.

-Dean

[1985 CCX]

BFG's, I will buy a Yugo before I put them back on my car!

Billboards:
Negatives
1) Flat spots when cold
2) Rock tossers
Everything else is positive.......

[FUNFER2]

Nothing looks,....as good as the Billboards. I hear, and like some on this post, they throw rocks. Damn !

I have the Good Year Eagle ll's. They are very hard but, wear well.

[Naumoff]

Firestone Firehawk Indy 500.
295/50s rear 235/60s front
soft tire good for cruisin and good in the rain crap on the track.
auto cross they'll do. They will go away quick if you push them.
I don't know if they still make them.

I just ordered a set of Billboards for my second set of wheels.

I am looking at a set of MT SR radials to replace the Firestones