rogie

I've got an '80 vette with a 425 hp 383 stroker and 3.73 gears. I still have the stock 15" aluminim rims to help the sleeper cause. I'm wondering what is the best tire available in 15" that will give me good handling and great traction and still fit in the stock wheel well. Any suggestions would be great.

Thanks.

litevette

With that much hp, your going to want some drag radials. Nitto or Mickey Thompson. As far as sizing goes, just go with what you've got. If you've got a little extra room then go with a little wider/taller if you want to maximize grip/fill your wheel wells.

rogie

The radial slicks may be good for traction but what do they do for handling and cornering ??

zrusny

Check these out.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes

I just put them on my 81 (had radial t/a's) but didn't get the chance to try them out yet cause I'm still waint on my brake calipers to show. If you've got a few weeks to decide, I'll get back to you and let you know what I think of them.
Gary

norvalwilhelm

Go to the tire rack. Pick a size and they rate it for traction, wet and dry, cornering, wear, noise, stability etc etc.
Some really are awful and some have solid green rating.

norvalwilhelm

Mickey Thompson's new ET street is a really nice looking tire, More tread then before for a street look and better more stable side walls.
If they made it in 18 inch I would have gotten it. They make up to 17's.

rogie

Thanks for the info...I think I'll try the g-force as well.

litevette

Yeah, I wanted to go 18's in the rear and 17's in the front but was limited by the tires.

81 Vette

Look at some made by Yokohama... AVS Sport, or the series above that are specified for racing applications and will handle the loads nicely. I dont think they come in 15" rim applications though.

rogie

After researching the g-Force some more I found out that they are a great handling tire but not so well for acceleration. The side walls are so stiff that under acceleration they don't allow the tire to squat and grab the road (like a slick does)...therefore you will likely end up with accessive wheel spin. It doesn't seem that there is a good all purpose tire on the market in a 15" any more. I think I'll end up putting a 255/60/15 radial T/A on and see how that works. The '80 vettes came with either the 225/60/15 or the 255/60/15 as an option. Mine has the 225 right now but I'm leaning toward the 255's which are about an inch higher and wider...should work well with my 3.73 gears.

Any thoughts ??