16" sticky tires

[Skip Fix]

OK guys car is getting switched back from drag to cornering slowly. I have some nice 16x8 GTA wheels I had on my TA before when I autocrossed it. At that time BFG had an autocross compound in a 255-50-16 I used. Hoosier even had a 305-45-16 bias DOT. Who makes the best cornering tire in 16s 255-50-16 or fatter??

[slowcamaro]

Street tire or Competition tire?

[Skip Fix]

Streetable but no wear worries! So must be a DOT. Now switching to road race slicks is a real kick if you have never done that.

John Berget has some used take off in alot of sizes. Ususally they were used for qualifying and taken off.He has a site you can pull up.

[Bandit]

Skip, I have Nitto 555 Extremes on my TA, 245/35 F 285/35 R. Very nice and sticky on the street for a tire with about a 300 wear rating (very good). Not quite a race tire though.

I hear the BFG KD is the cat's meow in a near R-compound, but still DOT-approved. A close but considerably cheaper alternative is the Kumho Ecsta MX. Both are a 200 wear rating (about 10-15K miles on a set usually)

Paul

[slowcamaro]

well honestly I was hoping you were looking for a autocross only tire because fortunatley you can get the kuhmo v710s in a a decent width 16".

Unfortunately...most of the better street tires arent offered in a wide size. Falken azeni rt-615s and Kuhmo MX are some of the most prevelant street tires I see in competition...but arent available in a decent width for 16 rims.

The goodyear gs-d3 is a great street tire and available in 245/50-16. I know a guy that puts down some serious lap times on these tires but has stated they like A LOT of air pressure.

If you want to go all out Toyo offers the RA-1 in a 255/50-16. Its a DOT rated competition tire, and I believe its the tire they run in the Camaro mustang challenge series. For limited mileage and road course duty it might be a consideration as well.

[Skip Fix]

I drove to the track with autcross compound and swapped on road race slicks before, so driving autocross compound isn't a big issue. And yes a 78 TA CAN fit 4 23x10x16 road race tires in it, Two in the back seat, one in the front seat and one in the trunk !

I hate dropping diameter too much though and wouldn't mind something on the rear a little wider than a 255-50.At one tim eI thought someone made a 275 series 16". I know with the 17s and 18s alot of 16" have been dropped. Shoot the 16" was the standard Corvette size for several years.

[SHANE 73Z]

If using an 8" wheel, I am running 245/50 & 255/50 on my 73. They are Sumitomo HTRZ. Great dry traction (160 treadwear) marginal wet traction and cheap. I think I paid about $85 each. They arent asymetrical, so they can at least be swapped from (the wheels) to compensate for inside/ outside wear on the front.

I will probably try Kumho Victoracers next in 245/45 & 265/45.

Shane

[Skip Fix]

How are the Toyos compared to the Kuhmos fro handling?

[trj20]

OK guys car is getting switched back from drag to cornering slowly. I have some nice 16x8 GTA wheels I had on my TA before when I autocrossed it. At that time BFG had an autocross compound in a 255-50-16 I used. Hoosier even had a 305-45-16 bias DOT. Who makes the best cornering tire in 16s 255-50-16 or fatter??


Hoosiers new A6 and R6. A for autocross compound. R for road race compound. And they make a 275/45/16 as well as a 255/50/16. A's can be used on the road course on cool days. The Kuhmo 710 is also a great track tire.

[andrewb70]

Tire Rack has Sumitomo HTRz in a 255/50-16. The HTRz is a nice, low cost performance tire.

Andrew

[Skip Fix]

For those of you who like a factory wheel that is really light the GTA 16x8s are a pretty nice wheel. Classic repops them also.

Thanks for all the input guys!

[Neil B]

The Toyo RA1's are a great DOT competition tire with excellent wear characteristics for a race tire. When I was racing CMC, we would shave them to 6/32's and they would last 3-4 race weekends. We ran full tread RA1's on the back of a CMC Mustang for an entire 12-hour endurance race and they still had a few weekends left in them.

[68nate]

I have a full set of Yokohama Advan AO32R 255/50/16 I'd like to sell, going with bigger wheels. ZR rated, treadwear 60, traction AA, temperature AA, DOT H compound. All 4 are like new- 2 have been mounted and rolled around shop. Other 2 have about 150 street miles on them- no burnouts- one car show and the shop twice. All the reviews I've read say a little noisey- but excellent traction-very sticky tires. $170 each new-make me an offer

[protour_chevelle]

Kumho ecsta supra 712 comes in 255/50/16. Pretty decent tire.

-Matt

[vanzuuk1]

Does anyone know of a 275 50 16? I have 255s on my car now.

[fast Ed]

BFG used to offer that size in the Comp T/A a long time ago, but not now. A quick check on the Tire Rack site shows nothing available from the manufacturers they deal with, which is most of the majors. Getting tougher to find anything good in big 16" sizes these days.


cheers
Ed N.