Which tire?

I need some help here GRM'ers. It's time to put tires on the P71 and instead of living with the wimpy 225/60/16's I'm retiring the steelies for winter use and bought a set of staggered 17's (17x9 and 17x10.5).

The tire sizes I'm looking at are 255/45/17 front and 285/40/17 rear. That gives a 26" tall tire, about 1/2" less then stock (I can change the speedo with the Superchips tuner).

So far all I can find that has both sizes available are the Kuhmo Ecsta SPT's, the Firestone Firehawk Wide-Ovals, and Nitto NT555's.

I'm looking for good 3-season performance on a heavy car at an affordable price. They do not need to be as sticky as an ST-class tire. I was hoping for Proxes or FK452's but these sizes seem to mesh very well.

Any ideas?

Anything?

me and tires have a history of hating each other...a lot, sorry Im no help...Bumpasaurus Rex!

Of your choices, I'd go with the Nitto first, Kumho second, Firestone distant third. My opinion is based on my (personal) experience with other tires of those brands.

If you're willing to go 10mm narrower and >0.5" shorter, you can get the Sumitomo HTR ZIII, which I thought was great for 3-season performance tire on my SVT Focus.

Other than that, I got nothing.

All I can say is I don't care for Firestones.

All I can say is reseaching availavble tire sizes and models is somethng I would have done BEFORE I bought wheels.

Oh and 255/40 and 275/40 wild open up ALOT of options.

255/40 and 275/40 are both 1-1.1" shorter than stock, which is just too much to deal with. As it is the 285/40 and 255/45 are .5-.6" shorter.

Tires this tall are always a problem, it's just awkward that the large selection on each size doesn't match up with the brands on the other side.

Also, I can go bigger (295, 305, etc) if there's a size up there that will work.

The wheels were used and way too good to pass up. ;)

Played around with the tire size calculator...

235/50/17 and 255/45/17 should still fit nicely on the wheels and provide good height. LOTS more available in these sizes!

Ziex512's are cheap at this fitment. Like cheaper than the 225/60/16 Toyo Proxes TPT's on it now... GRM loved them when they were new. Still good for mostly DD'ing with a few track days thrown in?

My Miata came with Ziex 512s. I autocross on RT-615s, but I'm perfectly happy with the "original" tires for street use. I'm told they can hold up to autocross use as well, though clearly without as much grip as the Azenis.

Then again, your CVPI probably weighs, what, as much as 2 Miatas? So take my opinion with that in mind. (Not knocking the P71 - I'm considering one for my next daily driver. )

I just put Sumitomo HTR ZIIIs on the Roadmaster's new used Impala wheels. They feel terrific. Way more grip than the car can handle in its current (sorry) state.

Hugely inexpensive, wide range of sizes, they've been great so far through our rainy Chicago late spring and hot hot hot early summer.

Once I get my own P71 back on the ground and put some decent wheels on it, I think I'll nab another set of HTRZ3s for this car, too. I like 'em.

Found out the SPT's are cheaper then even the 512's in these sizes!

Tire Rack has rated the SPT's #1, twice. Has GRM ever reviewed them?

For what it is worth I have found that the new Ziek 912s are way better than the 512s...and they won the GRM budget high performance tire test last year. It looks like they make the size you want for the fronts. For the rear they have a 255/40/17...not a 45 series .

I would like the 912's or the 452's from Falken, but both only come in the too short 275/40 or 255/40.

I've looked through every tire test I can find in GRM and as far as I can tell the Kumho Ecsta SPT has never been tested!

Having owned both, I liked the Wide Ovals more than the SPT's, particularly for a heavy car. They're good tires. I've never owned Nittos though.

Had the SPT's on my E30. Loved them, Reminded me alot of the Sumi HTRZ's actually. The Kumhos were great all around tires that served me well in every weather event except snow. Zero traction in snow. I vividly recall pushing the gearshift from neutral to first at idle without using the clutch and the tach did not even dip. Just instant effortless tire spin. That answered the "Will I make it to work?" question.

I have the steelies to put proper studded winter tires on. Sounds like the SPT's might be winners though.

[thread jack] I still coming on sunday, pm me your phone number or something so I can get in touch with you [/thread jack]

My E30 had SPT's on it when I first got it. I thought they were good street tires, seemed very good in the wet as well.

I ran SPTs on my former M3 and my current 325is.

They have VERY good street manners, awesome in the wet, and survived 5 autoX on the M3 plus 7 on the 325is