Been watching the "what tire should I buy" threads forever it seems, waiting for someone to decide to try out the Maxxis Marauder, even though it's a "sport truck and suv" tire, which seems to be like the kiss of death.

That means different things to different people, but sometime back I emailed Maxxis and asked them if anyone ever put them on passenger cars in general, and 'vettes in particular. They said yes, successfully. But of course they would say that.

Be that as it may, and because I've never been a fan of either the T/As or the Cobras or MTs, etc, I gave up on all you guys and my Discount Tire guy got me a set in 255/60-15. They don't "handle" Maxxis, but the store's manager that I deal with all the time here in Plano, TX got me a set as he said if it was available, he could usually pull a particular tire in; there's a Maxxis distributor around here somewhere. $621 mounted and balanced with road hazard.

If these don't work, I'll give up and breakdown and get 18"s with some really expensive...something.

The tires aren't on the car yet, but they showed up this afternoon. My real fear because of the stated "application" is that they'd be some tread heavy tank like tire, so I went by to look at them on the way home today. One of the reasons I decided to have them brought in was because I knew if they turned me off when I inspected them, my Discount Tire guy could send easily send them back, since they were brought in locally.

I liked the look of them, and picking them up and taking a close look, I didn't see or feel anything I didn't like. The tread actually isn't too deep, but that's ok at 1000 miles a year or less.

Attached is a pick of the tread, and we'll see how they mount up later in the week. My car is 3:08 geared, and I make more than enough horse power to hit the 130 H rating.....if I ever had the chance. :-)

 

not a bad looking tire, let us know how they work out especially if you get caught in the rain.

 

It appears that they are passenger car tires (P sizeing, not LT), and I didn't see a sidewall rateing (2,4,6 ply rateing). Slightly deceptive advertizing, as I would expect a light truck tire to be 4 or 6 ply rated sidewall and sized LT.
Where were these tires made?

 

Well, I'll do that. Except the car hasn't been driven in the rain for at least 32 years, and best as I recall, not much before that. You might have a wait.

The LS6 was installed in '78, after the car was bought in '76 with 24K miles (currently 42K). I suppose the original owner may have driven it in the rain.

(The are P sized tires; that's one reason I decided to take a chance on them...I wouldn't have touched "LT"s)

 

i dont take mine out in it either but, in florida it can rain with no clouds in sight . so once in a while it will get you.

 

Well, I had a chance at lunch to have the Maxxis tires mounted up, and here's the results.

I've only driven them 10 miles, back to my office, but I can already tell there much better riding than the old P Zeros I had on the car.

I probably won't be able to comment to much on performance, as the car has never been on a track or drag strip, so I have nothing to compare against. But so far so good.

They are rated standard load passenger. I have no idea why Maxxis advertises them as "sport truck/suv"; maybe "all weather" would be a closer fit. Maybe they have something like a WRX hatchback in mind. I don't know, but I've pretty much dismissed that designation in my own mind. To me, the initial few miles suggest they'll do fine.

 

that directional tread pattern would likely grip better if you got caught in the rain. maybe some resident tire experts will chime in. are they white letter?

 

No white letters at all. That's one reason I liked them. Sorry...didn't take a pic of the sidewall.

 

i agree, i dont need the letters

 

FlyLS6: Those tires look great! In same dilemma with tires and came across this thread while researching the Maxxis Maurader. I do have a question as to what brand your hood is? I have been looking at L88 Hoods but I really like the look of yours.

 

Lot of suv owners use pass car tires probably why they advertise them like they do.
Put them (pass car rated tires) on a 3/4 ton van loaded down turned around in a few mi and bought the right ones. Went from downright unsafe to stable