Why the best is not always the best...
 

Well, actually... yes, there is. And that's one benefit to having "less than the best" tires. What I mean by that is, having driven on "pretty good" and "really great" tires, the "pretty good" tires tend to tell you when they are approaching their limit of adhesion and give you some warning. The "really great" tires do indeed stick better than the "pretty good" tires, but when they reach their limit it can be a surprise to those of us who are "less than pro.";) There are some true tire aficionados around here. Surely they can comment on the "surprise" factor of the very high end tires.

The Firestone Firehawk isn't much different than a BFG. With a tread wear rating of 500, it will last a long time, but it will drive like you're on a wet road all the time. With these tires, and there are others like them, Cooper Cobra, Goodyear Eagles, you had beter have your car pointed straight when you give it the gas. The only exception to all of this is if your car "only" puts out around 250 hp or less to the ground. Those type of tires are not made for light, high horsepower cars. But they do well, and look good on 60's muscle cars. Jim, the best way to keep an amateur in control after the tires break loose is to have a tire that doesn't break loose everytime you gas it around a corner. Look, my car puts 550 hp to the ground, I run Nitto 555r's that have a tread wear rating of 100 and a traction rating af A. These are drag radials, but actually go well around turns as well. Tires last about 18 to 24 months and I have seen them for as little as $175.00 each. If any of you guys have high horsepower cars, and you put a set of these tires on the rear of your car, you will be simply shocked at the grip. The first order contributing to in control vs out of control once the tire breaks loose is the wear rating. The higher the wear rating, the longer the slide, the closer the tree comes. The stickier the tire, the lower the treadwear.

Ehhhrrrgg, Tim you mean you've never actually driven on the Firestones?

I have driven on the Firestones and I do not care for them at all. I run Kumho Ecsta MX with a tread wear of 220 and a traction of AA.

I know that My Cobra does not have the HP that most of you do, but these work well for me.

Terry

I run the Firestone 500's and there great!!, for the price they can't be beat. Sticky and great handling. Some here think $$$$$$ is the answer...BS!. If your running a small block, you will probably see even better handling with the 500's.
'

Like I said, "the only ones that have negitive things to say are people who have never owned them.":rolleyes:

Tread wear ratings don't mean S#!t.

Limitations
The DOT does not test tires. It depends on manufacturers to test their own tires and report the results. Unfortunately, this system has made treadwear ratings far less useful than the DOT had originally intended because tire manufacturers are able to use the treadwear grade as a marketing tool.

It is legal and permissible for a manufacturer to give their tire a 240 rating when their competitor's equivalent tire has a 220 rating; thus creating the false impression that the 240 tire is a better purchase because it will last longer. This tendency to inflate treadwear numbers has become so common that some manufacturers may report that ALL their tires have above average treadwear grades. Some are taking normal tires and reporting a treadwear of 600 or more, or giving a 220 rating to maximum performance tires with a reputation for poor tire life (e.g. the Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar EMT).

Trends
In general, manufacturers tend to overstate the treadwear of their tires in an effort to create the impression that their tires last a long time. The exception to this is in competition racing tires, which customers expect to have very soft rubber compounds and very short lifespans. Manufacturers tend to give their race tires low treadwear numbers (often zero) to emphasize how soft and sticky their rubber is.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treadwear_rating

Yes, I was aware that the values were "voluntarily proffered" by the manufacturer and could be any value they want to put up there. That's just like the ratings on TireRack and others -- it's just the numbers that the folks that purchased them put up there. Really, anybody could put numbers up there. I could get on there right now and write a rave, or not so rave review and give 5's or 1's. The only thing I believe are the first hand reports from guys that have bought them. I guess if R&T or C&D did a comparison I would believe them as well... I think.:p So far though we've had one legitimate negative post on this thread (and a couple not so significant).

Not to change the subject but I have always been fully satisfied with Cooper Cobra tires on my Cobra. They are around $14 per tire cheaper than the Firestone and I just liked that the tire says COBRA on it and has a raised profile of a Cobra snake.

Dirty Harry says he has almost 200,000 mi. on his bird with 2 sets (several) of 500's.
That would seem to indicate these are very hard tires, especially for a very light car such as ours.
His bird is probably close to twice the weight.

Craig

Well, that would seem to make sense.

I would rather replace my soft tires more often than have too hard of tires that last longer. I dont worry about tire wear on high performance cars. I am more concerned with control.

I know a guy that had BFG's on his cobra with a mild 270HP, 302CI that spun his around just getting on the freeway. Lucky that he did not hit anything or get hit. Of course that does not mean that the tires was the only reason. Could have been suspension set up also.

Terry

I think tire choice has more to with driving style and car set up. The only way to really know the different characteristics on a particular car's set up is to try them out. We all have different suspension, alignments, hp and torque and different tires will react differently. Find what works for your set up and be happy. Guess and check might just be the best method to really know. I have never driven on Avons (assuming the best being the most expensive?) but they maybe overkill for a lot of us.

John