Tire Preferrence?

[Jack21]

Koontze,

You are definately not in any minority using BFG T/A radials. I started using them on musclecars in the early 70's, and was frankly very satisfied with them. But that was then. I used BFG's on the factory wheels on mine initially.

Actually, I agonized over the 17" conversion for quite some time, reading everything in print, and on the net. First impressions were, "17's look like fork lift truck tires". What started swaying me were end user satisfaction comments, and published independent track testing results. The high priced spread, even in the 17's; BFG, Goodyear, Pirelli, Yoko, weren't turning in very good scores. Lesser known brands, Brigestone, Falken, and Kuhmo were getting the high marks.

Started talking directly to factory tech support folks who universally stated, "Do not expect any kind of performance out of a 15" tire". "You need 17's on any performance car today because tire technology has changed dramatically!"

Car is pure street, but a 3 1/2 season car. Wet and dry road traction is important.

Final choices were Bridgestone RE730's, and Falken FK451's. Got the Falkens on-line (vulcantire.com) for $495 for the entire set including shipping. Team III wheels were $1,200 for the set. The difference was astounding. 12,000 miles on them now with little noticable wear. Expect these tires should go 40,000 - 50,000 miles before needing replacement. Then, I'll strap on another set of Falkens. (Kinda like upgrading your old 8088, or '286 computer to a Pentium 4.)

Perhaps the new BFG KDW's are an improvement over the Comp T/A's, but you're still looking at a 17" tire.

And they don't look like fork lift truck tires. They give the car a more agressive, no sh!t, all business look.