Help Choosing Tires

**Halon** · 05-18-2009

Well I'm in the market for some new tires for the Talon, and looking for advice from those who know more than I do about rubber.

Car "should be" a 10sec capable car. I currently have Sumitomo HTR Z3's (235/45/17) on 17x8 rims. I want to keep either the same size, or would also consider going to a 235/40 (to help with clearances).

I can spin the current tires in 1st, 2nd, and ever so slightly in 3rd. It's not too bad, I can compensate for it. 2 of the tires are shot, and the other 2 are still in very good shape (maybe 4k miles or so on them). One option I could chose is to just replace the 2 bad ones with good ones considering the rears aren't too worn at all. That'd be the quick easy cheap fix.

But before I do that, I'm wanting to look at other options I may have. The only racing I really do is drag racing, and taking the occasional clover-leaf at a spirited speed. But no auto-crossing or anything. No winter driving. Minnimal rain driving. So basically just looking for good dry-traction, geared towards straight fast acceleration. I don't want slicks, I don't want those street legal slicks (look like a slick, but with 2 little grooves making them DOT legal).

Hopefully that's enough info to give you an idea of what I'm looking for. If all else fails, I'll just get some more HTR Z3's. But ideally I'd like something with better traction, but not to the point of being slicks.

**Kracka** · 05-18-2009

When it comes to straight-line grip, to get a noticeably better amount of traction than your current tires, you're going to need some drag radials. The HTRZ III's are at the top of the Max Performance category; you could step up to Extreme but you'd be at <200 treadwear instead of your current 300, plus I think the only noticeable improvement would be during hard cornering i.e. track/autocross. My recommendation is to get two replacement tires and a custom alignment running minimal camber to maximize your contact patch going in a straight line.

After 12k street miles and 70+ autocross runs my Sumitomo HTRZ III's are going to be due for replacement in, I'm guessing, 3-5k miles. I plan on going with the same tires except in 245/40-17 instead of my current 235/45-17.

4g63tcrazy · 05-18-2009

Maybe try out the BFG KDW2 drag radials. I know Aaron was running them so you could ask him how he liked them. Those would be my tire of choice if I was in the market.

**Kracka** · 05-18-2009

Are you rubbing b/c your tire is too wide, tall, or both? If you have room to go a little wider you could get the 245/40-17 since it would yield a .3" wider tread contact patch while being .8" shorter.

4g63tcrazy · 05-18-2009

^^ Yea I noticed you're tires wearing from hitting the fenders. Have you tried rolling you're fenders out any? Looks like all you'd need is like half an inch and you'd be good to go.

GsXtUrBo98 · 05-18-2009

I would agree with Kracka. If you were going to go with a profile of 40 you would have to go to a 245/40R17 to avoid your speedometer from being thrown off.

**Halon** · 05-18-2009

I already plan on rolling the fenders to help with my rubbing. I don't know if a 245 would clear, even after rolling the fenders, that's why I'm wanting to stay 235.

I'm not too worried about the speedo being off.

GsXtUrBo98 · 05-18-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by Halon

I'm not too worried about the speedo being off.

Ok I was just informing.

**Halon** · 05-18-2009

Info is good

MustGoFaster · 05-18-2009

A note for rolling the fenders, Jeff the alignment guy has a fender roller + heat gun that he rents out cheap. $30 or so and you get it untill you are done/ he'll give you a hurry up when someone else asks for it. I had it for a week. Worked well, I was able to stretch my front fenders out about 1" and up about 1" as well. The rears have a lot more structure to them, so you can't make near the gains you can get in front.

http://www.thealignmentguy.com/page1.htm

These would fix your traction problems but I'm guessing they would be a bit extreme for what you want.

http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/overv...dial/1161.html

**Halon** · 05-18-2009

I was actually looking at those.

But I think I've decided to just get 2 new HTR Z3's, and an allignment, and that should be good enough I think.

THanks for everyones input.

Matt D. · 05-19-2009

I agree with everything Kracka said. You will not get more noticable traction unless you drop to a sub-200 treadwear tire, or go with a drag radial. Even then, you will not get nearly as much straight line traction with a high performance street tire as you would with a drag radial because the sidewalls are very stiff to help increase lateral traction.

My suggestion is look into some cheap wheels and get some drag radials for them and swap them out at the strip, and keep rocking tires like the HTRZIIIs unless you decide you want to start cornering better.

TheBlizzard · 05-19-2009

Im not sure if anybody mentioned it already but sidewall of the tire has a bunch to do with it too, if you have a really low profile tire with a super stiff sidewall it is not going to flex during a launch thus spinning no matter how sticky it is. The /45/ series you have now isn't too bad though, but if you have clearance issues a /50/ series wouldn't be an option.

You best bet would be to go with a smaller rim with a set of DR's or even a really good street tire; but then again switching rims and tires is a pain as well.

I agree with Chris, just replace the 2 bad ones, get a good alignment, and hope for the best.

Do you have a welded VC? What suspension to you have? Your suspension can have as much to do with traction as your tire setup IMO.

CVD · 05-19-2009

I would say go with the BFG drag radials if you can. I plan on buying a pair for the Colt when I start needing more traction. And like Craig said sidewall is important. Don't go with a lower profile tire unless you absolutely have to.

**Halon** · 05-19-2009

Thanks again for the additional input.

I really don't want to have a different set of rims/tires, not only because of cost, but lack of space to keep them also. Also, traction was less of an issue on the track, and is more of an issue on the street.

Anyhow, I'm just going to go with some new HTRZ3's and be done with it.

awd-drifter · 05-19-2009

i was going to add these tires:

- Falken Azenis RT615
- Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec
- BFG G-Force KDW 2
- BFG G-Force Sports

Matt D. · 05-19-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by awd-drifter

i was going to add these tires:

- Falken Azenis RT615
- Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec
- BFG G-Force KDW 2
- BFG G-Force Sports

The RT615s and Z1s are in a completely different league than the G-Forces.

**Kracka** · 05-19-2009

The G-Forces would be a downgrade from his Sumitomos.

Speedfreak · 05-20-2009

It seems Brandon has his solution already, but what about:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt D.

The RT615s and Z1s are in a completely different league than the G-Forces.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kracka

The G-Forces would be a downgrade from his Sumitomos.

What about G-Force T/A KD's? (not the KDW's etc) A good friend had them on his 300z a few years ago and they were great at Brainerd(road course) and on the street.

**Kracka** · 05-20-2009

The KD's are in a league above the other G-Forces. They're designed to only see dry roads so not a tire I'd recommend for a daily-driver, but for a recreational weekend car they'd be a good choice.