Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 top speed

I'm about to buy a set of Firestone Firehawk Indy 500s in 255/70/15 for my TA. They're rated S/T (118mph) I want to know how fast I can really go on them. My current crap Remmington (dont even know this dam company) tires that came with the car are also S rated (112mph) but I've definatly done over 130 in them a few times. So if anyone has any experience with them or has some insight into top speed on these please let me know.

Edit: if you know of tires in this size that are rated faster please let me know.

I'm about to buy a set of Firestone Firehawk Indy 500s in 255/70/15 for my TA. They're rated S/T (118mph) I want to know how fast I can really go on them. My current crap Remmington (dont even know this dam company) tires that came with the car are also S rated (112mph) but I've definatly done over 130 in them a few times. So if anyone has any experience with them or has some insight into top speed on these please let me know.

Edit: if you know of tires in this size that are rated faster please let me know.


a tire does not blow right away if you go into that speed for only a short time, if you run those speeds for a prolonged time, then yes your tire will fail, it'll start to heat up and,....

You should not exceed the speed rating on your tires. You might have to buy different wheels so you can get higher rated tires for them.

Driving at high speeds is dangerous enough without risking tire failure due to low speed ratings.

Well I'm not about to exceed the rating, I was just surprised that I did. I'm also quite upset that Mitch Hedberg died, Would be kinda funny if it was @ a Double Tree Hotel.

You might not intend to exceed the rating, but it is nice to know that your car isn't too fast for its tires. 130 in a car from the 70's must have felt like a death run :lol:

haha agredd

the speed rating on the tire doesn't mean it'll blow after that speed. The speed rating means the tire can handle the weight rating at that particular speed...since your car probably has plenty of room for the weight rating, you can go faster than the speed rating. But like everyone else said, don't exceed the speed rating, its just common sense.

Its like running into the redline. You can do it, but you are never sure how far you can go.

well I never exceed the speed rating or redline knowingly, and don't plan on it.

lamehonda; as for 130+ in a my '77, it was quite the contrary, the car runs like a dream. 27k miles when I bought it drove it all the way from LA to NYC in 2 days and 14 hrs + 7hrs of sleep. Not much of a chance for that kind of speed on the east coast; but the 40 between LA and Texas was a dream, great pavement, great visibility, no traffic, no cops. Not to badd between TX and TN either.

Edit: found a place that sells 275/60/15 H rated but they don't sell online and are on the west coast :(

Apparently Kumho Ectsa STX KL12 are H rated and come in 255/70-15; I've been thinking and I'm gonna stick with the Firehawks because 1) I like the good snow traction 2) I need to curb my speeding
Thanks for all the help!

Good luck keeping your foot off the floor!