Tire Help
 

Hello,

I'm in the middle of my Cobra build, it's a Classic Roadster kit. I'm looking for a source on tires to fit my 15x10 torq d wheels. I'd prefer BF Good rich or Goodyears and they need to be 315 wide.

Patrick

Tirerack.com is a good place to start looking to determine which manufacturer has what sizes available. Plug in your desired tire size, and start looking. 15" tires are getting harder to find.

I went with Firestone Firehawk Indy 500's. The Goodyear Eagle II's get unfavorable reviews, slippery and bumpy. BF Goodrich, not sure.

I looked at www.tirerack.com to get some perspective, but ended up working with a local Firestone dealer who searched through her database and found some the right size, and had them shipped down to their store for installation.

DD

Deleted post. I sent Doug an email with my question.

Patrick
I just installed Mickey Thompson street radials on my cobra. I have 10 x 15 on the front and 12 x 15 on the rear. The fronts are 26.?? in diameter and the rears are 28 inch. Be careful about clearance. I am very happy with the tires coming off of BF Goodrich. My car is street only. Don't know how they would work on the track.
Leo

Pat, for my CR I built by Don Scott, BF Goodrich TA Radials, Compomotive Wheels:

Front: 8", 4" backspace, 245 X 60 X 15

Rear :9", 4.6" backspace, 275 X 60 X 15

DD, I went with the Firestone 500 as well and couldn't be more pleased, sticky sticky = great handling. I couldn't give away those T/A's fast enough.-

I can't speak for the Firestones but BFG TA radials should be avoided. I am very happy with my Mickey Thompson ET Street radials. 235/60/15 and 275/60/15 very stickey and handle great.

John

427 S/O: Learned about them here on CC. Can't remember who turned me on to them, but I'm very happy with them.

badvnom: What does Classic Roadsters recommend? I'd actually start with the mfg, and then check with other owners.

DD

MT all the way!
especially in a 15 in

Classic Roadsters doesn't recommend a whole lot of anything, anymore. Double Venom might have a thought or two about this subject.

I just got a set of Avon's, they are being mounted today. They are replacing BFG Radial T/A's. I'll post later on how they perform.

Based on my research into the available 15" street tires (the sole criteria of which was performance, not looks or authenticity), I would say the medium priced alternative is the M/T Street Radial. If you can deal with the price, the Avon's are supposedly the best performing 15" street tire. The only complaint I have heard about them (aside from the price) is that the soft-ish compound picks up pebbles.

Based on personal experience, I would totally avoid the BFG's. I have put almost 20,000 miles on mine in 6 years of driving, but you would never know it to look at them. They wear like iron. The question is, do you want to drive on tires that have a compound so hard that they never wear out? I have driven them in all kinds of weather. Below 65F on a damp road, you're asking for trouble, such as on a fall or spring morning here in New England. In heavy rain, mud or snow they are not too bad, they have a very deep tread pattern which compensates for the very hard compound. The bottom line is: I don't trust them anywhere near the limits.

On the plus side for the BFG's, the car sits on them all winter and I have never had any problems with flat spots. They balance nicely and seem to be round. As one person observed in another thread, they are a great "build" tire ;)

Roger Kraus Racing has a very nice cobra page that you might want to look at: CobraTires.pdf

On my early Contemporary CCX-3057, 15" Compomotive wheels, I just changed from T/A Radials to Cooper Cobras and the difference was very positive. Just for street, no racing, I also went from a 25" or so diam. front and a 27" or so diam.rear to the CCX recommended 26" diam. on both. Handling and traction are both fine at safe and sane street speeds, I think the dimensional changes are a large part of the much improved handling. fairly economical as well.
Kirk