I thought there was a thread on rad-era tires?? But I couldn't find one.
I need some 205/55-15s for my '89 Saab 900. I've been on Kumho Ecsta 4Xs, wondering what else I ought to try. Not up for larger rims.
Also stuck in the past? Tell me about your sporty, yet reasonably comfortable, tires.
I ran that size on my 240SX, I recall, because 205/50R15 was too short–fine for track but a little short for street.
Looks like Tire Rack only shows two options; Vredestein Sprint+ and Yokohama Fleva V701. My brother has those Yokohamas on his Miata.
Based on my love of the DWS06 I would try the ECS02. That is,, if you don't need an all season.
https://www.onlinetires.com/tires-continental-extremecontact-sport-02-205-50r15-03151110000.html
Unfortunately the Michelin Pilot Exalto which was promised to us in all sorts of rad era sizes didn't happen. They have been on back order for over 4 years now
Your options are very limited.
To get that same 24" OD, you could go to a 225/50-15 and fit one of three Super 200's (A052, CRS & RE71RS). A052 is actually quite a good street tire, though don;t expect miracles in a downpour. We ran those on the CRX for OLOA and did not die.
if you are willing to go to a 16" wheel, you can get quite a decent variety in 24" OD tires.
Or just pick from the couple that David mentioned in your OE size and wish you could turn back time. :)
Trent said:Unfortunately the Michelin Pilot Exalto which was promised to us in all sorts of rad era sizes didn't happen. They have been on back order for over 4 years now
They did happen. I have a set in 185/60-14 that I got a couple of years ago. But they have MADE IN RUSSIA stamped on the sidewall and a 04/21 production date so I suspect there was just that one shipment.
Given the options, the Yoko Fleva is a good summer tire that doesn’t have the noise/stiffness drawbacks of a 200TW. It’s our go-to for our fleet cars.
I got some too. Tire Rack still the Michelins floating around and Coker still lists them. They are made in Serbia so if you have a problem with that with the current situations, you know.
Coker lists them whether they're available or not. They're happy to take backorders though.
Keith Tanner said:Coker lists them whether they're available or not. They're happy to take backorders though.
Coker has listed them as available for years and will happily take your order only to call you later and say no. I talked to a rep at SEMA about it and he just shrugged.
I have been trying to purchase the 185/60-13, 175/60-13 and 185/55-14 from them for over 3 years. They have no expected restock date.
I don't actually know if they are decent tires, they are just listed in a bunch of extinct sizes that would be super handy for a lot of cars we do.
Which wheels are you running on that 900? I run 195/60/15s on all of mine. That really opens up tire options.
Trent said:Keith Tanner said:Coker lists them whether they're available or not. They're happy to take backorders though.
Coker has listed them as available for years and will happily take your order only to call you later and say no. I talked to a rep at SEMA about it and he just shrugged.
I have been trying to purchase the 185/60-13, 175/60-13 and 185/55-14 from them for over 3 years. They have no expected restock date.
I don't actually know if they are decent tires, they are just listed in a bunch of extinct sizes that would be super handy for a lot of cars we do.
I ordered my 185/60-14s in January 2023. They showed up in June 2023 after being just one or two months away from shipping the whole time.
They're a great match to a stock Miata. Enough grip to wake up the chassis but not so much that the car is just stapled to the ground and doesn't want to play. Enough flex in the sidewalls to absorb road shocks.
I feel guilty, mine are just sitting in the garage since I replaced my stock wheels with the 15x8 daisy replicas shortly after.
If I remember correctly, I found 15" white letter tires that were pretty RAD.
Trent said:Coker has listed them as available for years and will happily take your order only to call you later and say no. I talked to a rep at SEMA about it and he just shrugged.
I have been trying to purchase the 185/60-13, 175/60-13 and 185/55-14 from them for over 3 years. They have no expected restock date.
I don't actually know if they are decent tires, they are just listed in a bunch of extinct sizes that would be super handy for a lot of cars we do.
It is all about testing the market to see if anyone would buy them.
Have you tried overseas like Longstone in the UK? ( I think there is another seller of odd sizes as well )
Andy Hollis said:Your options are very limited.
To get that same 24" OD, you could go to a 225/50-15 and fit one of three Super 200's (A052, CRS & RE71RS). A052 is actually quite a good street tire, though don;t expect miracles in a downpour. We ran those on the CRX for OLOA and did not die.
if you are willing to go to a 16" wheel, you can get quite a decent variety in 24" OD tires.
Or just pick from the couple that David mentioned in your OE size and wish you could turn back time. :)
Really? I've been looking for 24" OD options and I'm finding an ever-decreasing number of options. The size I'm running is 205/50-16 and right now Tire Rack has four Extreme Performance options:
Yokohama ADVAN NEOVA AD09
Bridgestone Potenza RE-71RS
Toyo Proxes R1R (not in stock)
Yokohama ADVAN A052
Jason Cammisa and his podcast co host really like the Vredestein Sprint+, the both of them seem to use those on all of their "old" cars.
Tirestreets has the Accelera PHI R for like $65ea in your size. I've run them on my Solstice GXP as a sporty all season, and they seem fine within that lens.
I am running the Haida Racing HD921 tires on my VW
They are....... cheap. That is about all I can say about them
15" tire choices are definitely lacking these days, and in some cases, they are EXPENSIVE.
My Trans Am desperately needs new tires, and it takes a 255/60/15. I really want to stick with RWL tires since they look right on the car. The old go-to, the BF Goodrich Radial T/A, is now $235+ per tire! That's significantly more per tire than I paid for the BFG All Terrain KO2's on my truck last year, and I don't want to pay that much for tires on a car that gets limited use.
The only other major name brand choices in that size are the Cooper Cobra GT Radials, some Mickey Thompson tires and a set of Hankooks, and all of those are between $165-200/tire.
The funny thing is that a lot of the ones available are made by Cooper. Cooper (of course), Mickey Thompson, Mastercraft, and Futura tires are all made by Cooper at various price points. I've had mixed experiences with their tires over the years, and the other former major brands (Goodyear, Firestone, Dunlop, etc) don't make a tire in this size anymore.
That leads me to the bottom of the barrel. One brand I've been seeing a lot is Gripmax. They are supposedly a Chinese brand made in South Africa of all places. They made a copy of the Radial T/A that they call the Gripmax Max Grip Classic.
Now, here's a real Radial T/A:
Reviews basically say that they are round and hold air. They are $125/tire, which is more palatable, but they are probably awful. Then again, I have a thing about weird off-brand tires and laughing at the names, so I might have to get a set of these. That is, unless I end up changing wheel sizes to a 17x9.
I think Maxxis has some tires in that spec
In reply to Tony Sestito :
If it is any consolation, the modern Radial T/A also has awful traction.
I didn't buy them for the performance, I bought them for the white letters.
Tony Sestito said:
Then again, I have a thing about weird off-brand tires and laughing at the names, so I might have to get a set of these.
Masher_Mfg said:Tony Sestito said:
Then again, I have a thing about weird off-brand tires and laughing at the names, so I might have to get a set of these.
My most prized SEMA souvenir
Pete. (l33t FS) said:In reply to Tony Sestito :
I didn't buy them for the performance, I bought them for the white letters.
Same. Actually the only reason.
Pete. (l33t FS) said:In reply to Tony Sestito :
I didn't buy them for the performance, I bought them for the white letters.
Why not just put RWL on a better tire?
Masher_Mfg said:Tony Sestito said:
Then again, I have a thing about weird off-brand tires and laughing at the names, so I might have to get a set of these.
Oh, I know all about the MuchoMachos! 😆
Andy Hollis said:Pete. (l33t FS) said:In reply to Tony Sestito :
I didn't buy them for the performance, I bought them for the white letters.
Why just put RWL on a better tire?
That isn't genuine, though, which is a quality I prefer for personal reasons.
Besides, I wanted to support the notion of BFG selling 205/60R13 tires again with my wallet. I did remember them being a much better tire, too, maybe nostalgia colored my memories. Or maybe I spent more time on Eagle STs than BFGs.
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