Tire suggestions for my cobra

[ACHiPo]

Originally Posted by Antny

I just put new tires on mine. I went with the Mickey Thompson Sportsman S/T Radials. Much stickier than the BFG's they replaced, and the tread pattern appears much more suited to wet road conditions than the BFG's. Tire sizes on mine were 245/60/15 front, 295/50/15 rears....I changed to 275/60/15 on the rears. Slightly taller tire, but the width is a much closer match to the fronts. The car handles much better now. Also changed them to look like Billboards....total cost: tires delivered to my door: $540. Mounting and balancing at the local garage: $80. Stencil kit: $60. Paint: $10. Results: priceless... :-)

The Mickey Thompsons S/Ts and Cooper Cobra tires are the same tire with the same treadwear of 440 and T speed rating, but the MT S/Rs look different and maybe stickier? The S/Rs are H rated (130 mph), but I can't seem to find a treadwear rating on them. The Avons are definitely a step up--a race compound tire with a wear rating of 80. Not that it matters much, but Avon is owned by Cooper, which also owns the Mickey Thompson brand.

I also need to figure out which tires I'll run on my new ERA, but I've got some time to do it. It's good to read a direct comparison of MTs to the BFGs, as they're in the realm of the reasonable. The Avons are ~$450 each and by the time they're mounted and balanced (needs to be done in a race shop) it's north of $2k for a set that will likely last less than 10k miles on the street. Sure would be nice to be able to get Michelin Pilot Super Sports in 15s!

How do the MTs behave at the limit? Do they break free gradually or grip well then release?