Can anyone recommend a great performance tire in 225/60R15? I have some Z rated Yokohamas on the car now that have been great tires, but they are so old they should be replaced.
All I can find that comes close to being a performance tire is BF Goodrich Radial T/As. I’m sorting out my new Hotchkis suspension and Radial T/As are not what I had in mind. I was hoping to find something that offers much better performance. I’m afraid I may have to move up to 16" wheels to find really good tires and I’m happy with the size wheel and tire combination I have now.
What wheels do you have, and why do you need more performance? A fancy suspension that sits in the garage or gets trailered to shows can live on classic bias ply tires and look stupendous.
I’m very over need with aftermarket 15" magnum 500s and BF Goodrich T/A’s, but perhaps you are competing in a class we can compute for?
BFG are overpriced mediocre tires, but the white letters do look good.
225/60R15 are getting hard to come by. Two that I know of that are well regarded are the Uniroyal TigerPaw and General Altimax. There’s a bunch of other tires out there, but these two are known brand name tires, not an alphabet soup name that was created in asia.
My current setup is 15 x 7 Shelby Ten Spokes with Yokohama AVS AV1-60i 225/60ZR15 96W tires. The wheels look great but aren’t really the best. I bought them from Tony Branda in 2003. Branda advertised them as built on the original tooling that Shelby used. It turns out that wasn’t the original Ford tooling but tooling from Shelby American Wheel Company which was apparently an aftermarket venture. The wheels were cast, not forged, and exhibited so much core shift that on some wheels parts of the barrels were an as-cast finish instead of machined and some of the mounting holes weren’t registered perfectly in their recesses. I returned several wheels due to these issues and Branda got really tired of me complaining. And then they let the cat out of the bag and told me they can’t control quality issues because that’s how their vendor makes them. So, who owns that worn out tooling they were bragging on?
The tires are Z rated performance tires and when Yokohama discontinued them Tire Rack was closing them out dirt cheap. They were really well liked by guys who were using them for track days and guys were buying multiple sets of the tires. They have been awesome tires for the street.
I make no apology for garaging my car. My car has never been trailered to a show, nor do I use it for any sort of competition. I’m setting it up for aggressive street performance and I didn’t put all this work into the suspension just to mask the car’s potential for great handling by installing mediocre tires. That said, I don’t put a lot of miles on the car and my tires are over 20 years old.
I love buying tires at America’s Tire. They told me they will let me try on a tire to check how it fits without buying it so long as it’s a tire they have in stock at the store. Kind of like trying on shoes. I may end up with new 16” wheels just so I can get some really good tires on the car. I may end up buying some mediocre 15” tires just to get some rubber on the car that isn’t cracking and scaring my alignment guy. If I move up to a 16” setup I’m sure some Mustanger will take my old wheels off my hands for more than just beer money.
I found a few more tires by opening up my search to 235/60R15. Cooper Cobra Radial GT looks ok.
I scanned the manual and stock tires were E70x14 or F70x14. The F70 tire is 26.89" diameter according to google. The Firestone Wide Oval in F70/14 is 26.2" I think. The 235/15 Coopers are 26.1" diameter.
I’ve read that problems begin as tire widths reach 245. Sixteen inch tires may be the next size to become scarce.
I had a similar issue with my 15s and chose instead to move up to 17 so I could run the tires spec Miata has filled the market with along with many so-so performance sedans. You may not like the 17 aesthetic, but it very much opens the car to some very good tires. It’s possible you could keep your 15s for showing and have a set of 17s for driving.
I run Firestone Indy 500s on my car currently and have a set of newly repopped Hurst 17s. I couldn’t find any 15s that were acceptable since I both live in the mountains with some of the best roads in the world and have spent some time and money on the suspension so it won’t drag the door handles around curves. So, I can empathize with your frustration over 15 inch tire choices.
I’m kind of ditching the idea of 16s in favor of 17s. I was at the smog check the other day and there’s a dyno tune shop next door. There was a 69 mustang at the dyno tune. It had 17s and was lowered way low in front. The tires in front were Continental Extreme Contact 225/45ZR17 and I was surprised how adequate the sidewall looked for 45 series tires. I think they were 8’ wide wheels. The tires looked like they wanted to be on 7" wide wheels. The car had 255/45ZR17s in back and they looked a little wide for the rims. It was nice to be able to see an example of that size tire on a Ford.
Legendary Wheel makes the same 10-spoke design I have now in both 17x7 and 17x8. I would probably go with the 7" wide rims and stay with 225s. I’ll be looking at the tire dimension charts on Tire Rack to see if 45 or 50 series comes closer to the stock overall wheel diameter. I only have stock brakes, so I don’t want to over-tire the car.
What year is your car? I have a 1969 and use 245/45-17 on the front wheels (17x8) and 275/40-17 on the rear wheels (17x9.5”). I’ve done all the suspension, brakes and steering mods from Street or Track except his drop spindles which should allow me to fit the 17x9.5” wheels up front too. That is my long term goal.
It’s a '68. Hothkis suspension up front with roller perches and the Shelby/Arning drop. Stock springs cut down 1 1/4 coils. I’m not looking to max out on width; I’m just disgusted with the 15" tires that are available. Mine is actually a pretty mild setup.
I’m not sure if a '68 will fit as large a wheel as a '69 in front. This is my car on 225/60ZR15 wheels and tires. If I get 17 inch wheels I’ll stay with the same 10-spoke design. I’m old, change is bad. Except for all the shit I just changed - that was good.
I run BFG on 15’s…. 225/60 up front, 245/60 on the back…. Yeah, they ain’t that good… I can spin them up big time in the dry just rolling on the throttle … but I know I am not going to break anything in the dry as they become the fuse (unlike drag radials).
Horrible in the wet, spin like crazy kick down 3rd to second!
IMO. Coopers are J U N K. I had relatives work there. They wouldn’t even buy Coopers. I bought 5 sets in a certain time period. ALL of em NEVER got the mileage they should of. But it’s your choice.
I have also noticed Coopers on my son’s car wear faster than other radials. But they are perfect for my Cougar - available in 14”, raised white letters look good, stick to the road well, and will need replaced from age long before they wear out. Plus they are cheap and so I don’t mind making some smoke with them.
I went with 16” wheels because I like the magnum 500 wheels and could get better tires in that size. Mine are Falkens 225/50r16’s. I like a bit more sidewall so I opted not to got to 17’s
She’s a beauty, I love it🤌 Likely going with 17”s, but that modern 500 is one of the wheels in my shortlist for the new look next year. Thanks for sharing.
I have those same Falken Azenis tires on my Datsun. On 6x14” 280Z rims from the junkyard ($17.95/each long ago). I fitted 195/60R14 tires, and they are a lot of fun. You can see my Datsun in the background in the photo of my Cougar further up this thread. The white door and fender on an orange car is a color scheme I call “creamsicle” and is the result of more junkyard parts after laying the car on its side. Not to slight the Falkens though, the car was on different tires, and I did it before I had done any suspension upgrades whatsoever on the car.
