Tire choice for G-body

[MeanMike]

I'm getting ready to order wheels and tires for my car. I want to be able to drive my car on these tires without fear of rain. I want a tire that handles well and I don't want to have to pull to the side of the road if I get caught in the rain. I'm not concerned so much with hooking the power, but it would be nice to have some traction. The car can make a lot of power with the boost turned up, so some traction would be good, but I have a set of drag radials on 15" wheels for when I go to the track.

I can run a 18x11 wheel pretty easily on the rear. I am torn between a 295/35/18 BFG KDW2 or a 315/30/18 BFG rival. The KDW2 is a bit taller and would fill out the wheel well better and the side wall might help a bit with traction. But I hate to not take advantage of the notched frame and extra room for a 315. But the 315 is shorter and there will be a bigger difference in front and rear tire sizes. I've looked at 305/35 and 315/35's and they are all either drag radials or autocross/road race tires.

I think I'm going to run a 245/40 on the front on an 18x9 wheel. Both tires are available in that size and it roughly matches the height of both rears.

So, which rear tire is a better daily driver type street tire?

[SSLance]

I drove my Falken 615Ks on the highway through a raging thunderstorm today... First time ever I've had to slow down for hydroplaning...but there was a TON of water on the road. For the most part they work great in the rain. They are pretty sticky for a launch as well.

[GregWeld]

Neither of these are "rain" tires... and if you're going to try to run a SUMMER PERFORMANCE tire --- then rain/wet roads are going to always be an issue.

It's the old "you can't have your cake and eat it too!" problem. Performance? Or Mud and snow...

All I'm saying is that if you want a high performance tire -- then just make that choice. It's like wanting a solid lifter motor but you don't want to adjust them. Not going to happen -- so just make your choice based on your ultimate goal.

Originally Posted by MeanMike

I'm getting ready to order wheels and tires for my car. I want to be able to drive my car on these tires without fear of rain. I want a tire that handles well and I don't want to have to pull to the side of the road if I get caught in the rain. I'm not concerned so much with hooking the power, but it would be nice to have some traction. The car can make a lot of power with the boost turned up, so some traction would be good, but I have a set of drag radials on 15" wheels for when I go to the track.

I can run a 18x11 wheel pretty easily on the rear. I am torn between a 295/35/18 BFG KDW2 or a 315/30/18 BFG rival. The KDW2 is a bit taller and would fill out the wheel well better and the side wall might help a bit with traction. But I hate to not take advantage of the notched frame and extra room for a 315. But the 315 is shorter and there will be a bigger difference in front and rear tire sizes. I've looked at 305/35 and 315/35's and they are all either drag radials or autocross/road race tires.

I think I'm going to run a 245/40 on the front on an 18x9 wheel. Both tires are available in that size and it roughly matches the height of both rears.

So, which rear tire is a better daily driver type street tire?

[MeanMike]

Originally Posted by GregWeld

Neither of these are "rain" tires... and if you're going to try to run a SUMMER PERFORMANCE tire --- then rain/wet roads are going to always be an issue.

It's the old "you can't have your cake and eat it too!" problem. Performance? Or Mud and snow...

All I'm saying is that if you want a high performance tire -- then just make that choice. It's like wanting a solid lifter motor but you don't want to adjust them. Not going to happen -- so just make your choice based on your ultimate goal.

I'm not specifically looking for something that I can drive in the rain. I just don't want to have to pull to the side of the road if I get caught in a rain storm. I have M/T drag radials on the car now and I wouldn't drive more than 10mph on them if there is standing water on the road. Even that is a bit sketchy. I've decided on the KDW2's, Both because of the size (295/35) and the treadwear and wet traction.

I have a solid lifter motor that I haven't run the valves on since last september. But the valvetrain is nothing but the best stuff and I haven't put a lot of miles on it since then.

[SSLance]

Here is a video of me autocrossing in the rain with my Falkens...



They do pretty damn well in the wet for a performance tire, they only started hydroplaning when there was several inches of standing water on the highway and at speeds over 60 mph.

[MeanMike]

I looked at the Falken's, but they don't offer them in a 295/35. They have them in a 315/30/18 but they are quite a bit more expensive than a rival or kdw.

[SSLance]

Yeah, I didn't look at the sizes to see. I had the same problem with the Rivals, nothing wider than a 255 for a 17" rim.

You have to go with what works given all of the parameters, I just wanted to show that the Falkens work well in the wet.