All season Tires

Hey, I have an '89 firebird formula, and I have been shopping around for tires. I really don't know what to get or what tire or brand is the best for all seasons. I got an estimate for firestone firehawk indy 500's P245/50R16 for $510 installed, tax, balancing, everything pretty much needed to put a new tire on a car. I am not sure if this is too pricy or if anyone would know of a better all around tire to get. I have had my bird for about 4 months, so I do not know a whole lot about these types of cars. If anyone has any other suggestions on more I can do to the car for better performance or maybe just looks too, I would greatly appreciate suggestions.

Thanks a lot. I can be emailed at [email protected]

Adam Busch

Tires really depends on what type of driving you do and what you would like out of them. I do suggest at least a V speed rating for most sport cars and street use all season radials are usually the best for all around use. I would ask this question in the tire forum also and good luck.
John

www.tirerack.com will give you a good idea of what tires are available for your car and what pricing is.

The Firehawk tires are really good. A friend of mine has them on his 68. Try BFG however, I have P245 60 R14's and love them.

Is your car driven year round? And do you get snow in your area??

Are you looking at all season radials because of a budget constraint?

Is your car driven year round? And do you get snow in your area??

Are you looking at all season radials because of a budget constraint?

Well, right now my car is driven year round because I am still in high school, so it's my only car :-). I live in Chicago, but lately, we have not been getting very much snow. The main problem is the we ground for me right now, and I guess cars like mine usually aren't too good on wet ground no matter what, that I don't know. But I am looking for a tire that handles well on wet grounds and, in case we get snow, can handle that too. I haven't really checked out the radials yet, they were just a suggestion from someone else, but I just want tires that will make me safer on the road, you know what I mean, so budget really isn't an issue right now. I was looking to spend around $400 but the indy 500's were quoted at $500 with installation, everything I need pretty much to drive with, and a wheel balance and allignment, so that really isnt bad with all the extra's.

Ya I kinda figured it was an all year car, and you guys see snow too.

being young and on a budget is tough. If you could swing it, I'd say find yourself a set of crappy rims or steel tires from a junkyard and put on snow tires (at least for the rears). All season or not these cars are the absolute shit in snow - my buddy had an '87 GTA with all season (M+S) 245/55 Uniroyals and these things just clumped up with snow, plus the car was so damn heavy anytime he'd be on uneven street (like banking down toward the curb) the rear end would start to slide sideways even when stopped!

see if you can find some beater rims and price out snow tires to get through winter, then try to save up some dough until summer and shop around for either Max or Ultra high performance summer tires (even if just a sticky pair for the rear, cheaper ones up front). And they do make ultra hi-perf and max perf tires for rain. The SZ50EP Firestone Firehawks I've got are really good wet tires, although I never drive in the rain...

BTW Is your Firebird a V8 or not? I mean if it is and you've got trouble hooking up then definitely go for max/ultra hi perf sticky tires, they will make a huge difference.