When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Get yourself some Nito Tri-Fives. You are only dealing with a couple of bucks differences and most people have had good luck. I have a set on my ZR1 and am satisfied.
I decided to put Sumitomo HTR A/S PO3 on my 91 Coupe. They get very good reviews on Tire Rack, moderately priced at $145.94 and are produced in Japan. Kumho, Riken, and Toyo are built in lesser Asian countries. Living in western Colorado's high desert, winters are cold but normally dry with very little snowfall. I'm going with a UHP all season tire due to most tire makers discouraging driving summer UHP tires when the temp is below freezing. I enjoy taking off the targa and going for a ride in the cold sunny western Colorado weather.
Another option if you’re a risk taker is Uniroyal’s new Power Paw A/S UHP. There is a $60 rebate on a set of four for one more week. They look nice. That’s all I can find out about them other than the company literature.
I went with the Raptors, I'm really not too happy with them. For a 275 sized tire they seem narrower than my old 255s. They are mounted on wagon wheels btw.
We need to cross the Nitto 555 G2 off the list right now. It's a poor quality tire with mediocre performance at best, but they are priced like a good tire. You'd be far better off paying an extra $4 for the BFGs, which are good high-performance all-season tires. But do you really need all-seasons? Are you driving this car in true winter weather? If not, you don't need them. The BFGs are actually pretty good performers on dry, warm roads too, however.
The Rikens are a real value gem. Riken is a subsidiary of Michelin, like BFG. They revamped that tread compound about five years ago and started billing it as an all-season. It may have the same compound as the BFG all-season - I'm not sure. t isn't really a good snow tire at all, and it's not even great in the rain. But you can drive it in cold weather with worry about cracking. It is good at staying round, and it rides decently. It has decent dry grip, especially longitudinally (braking/accelerating). It has pretty slow steering response, which is probably why some people don't love it; but which also probably helps it ride well. I used these as my "street/winter" tires on my 96, which was well modified for autocross and track duty. They were good for those uses. At the price, I thought they were great. The logical step up from them is really the BFG, which is similarly fast in the dry but a lot better in the wet and snow. The other step up from the Rikens is the Continental ExtremeContact Sport 02. It will have more grip in the dry and a ****-ton more grip in the wet, better steering response, and a little harsher ride (but still not harsh compared to other tires in its category). It is even good in the cold, but not in snow. It will beat the BFG in the dry and wet (but not snow). The Conti is just more expensive, but if you need to do any serious driving (track, autocross, serious canyon carving), it's a great tire.
I honestly don't know much about the current Sumitomo: I have to go by Tire Rack's test numbers. Previous Sumis have not been great tires at all. The Tire Rack test results (look at the charts) show them as okay but not great performers. That said, if they are good quality (round, don't develop defects), then they may be a good option for your needs on this car because they are priced below everything but the Riken. The Riken is actually a little faster on a dry road, but slower in the wet (if wet performance matters to you). If I had to pick one of these two just based on quality, I'd put my money on the Rikens, and my own experience supports that they are good quality tires. Basically the Sumitomos are better for rainy driving and that's it. But to put them in perspective, the BFG all-season is faster than the Sumi even on dry roads.
I notice that on Tire Rack, the Firestone Indy 500 (also a Michelin product) has a rebate right now that brings their price to about $187. They are a good performer in dry weather, but not amazing in the wet. And of course they aren't meant for winter driving. But if rainy driving doesn't matter that much to you, they'd be a good choice and they are a few cents cheaper than the Shittos. They are faster tires in the dry than the Sumis, probably pretty close to the Contis; and about as fast as the Sumis on wet roads. There quality has been well regarded, too.
Last edited by MatthewMiller; 04-06-2023 at 10:58 PM.
This has been a very interesting tire discussion. Tire wear on a C4 that is not a daily driver and might see a few thousand miles a year is not a major concern for me. My car will seldom see rain (western CO 10" annually against a US average of 38") and never snow. I chose an all season UHP tire because of manufactures statements like Contis "Flexing of the specialized rubber compounds used in Extreme Performance Summer tires during cold-weather use can result in irreversible compound cracking. While compound cracking is not a warrantable condition because it occurs as the result of improper use or storage, tires exhibiting compound cracking must be replaced." I have seen reviews of the Sumitomos complaining about road noise. If I want a quiet drive, I take the Avalon. It's great we owners of most 88s to 92s have a wide selection of tires to choose from.
This has been a very interesting tire discussion. Tire wear on a C4 that is not a daily driver and might see a few thousand miles a year is not a major concern for me. My car will seldom see rain (western CO 10" annually against a US average of 38") and never snow. I chose an all season UHP tire because of manufactures statements
I understand the concern. The reality is that any of those "summer" tires are fine down to at least freezing, and the Continental EC Sport is safe in temps even lower...especially if you start your trip from inside a garage. You have to remember that as soon as you start rolling, the tires start generating their own heat, so they are only at ambient temps when you first roll out of your driveway. The Conti in particular is a good tire in cool weather: it retains more of its grip than a lot of other "summer" tires. And it's one of the two best street tires on a wet road that you can get (the other is the Michlin Pilot Sport 4S that doesn't come in this size). It's faster on wet roads than any all-season. It really should be a called a "three season" tire.
Came to ask this question, this thread seems like a place to ask. What about used tires? I have had good luck with getting them off forum members over the years but just now resurrecting my car from a 5 year sit. I would rather have used Michelin Pilot than a new cheaper brand tire. Problem I'm seeing as I look around the net is no one is posting the tire age. My tires currently are about 12 years old and they hold air, look good, but we all know they aren't.
Any suggestions since I see nothing posted for sale in the 275/40 zr17?
I have had really good experiences buying used tires from United Tires in Chicago. They list a lot on eBay, but you can purchase directly off their website for a little less. They put a disclaimer that the tires may have been repaired. You can email them on a specific tire to see if they have as well as a dot. I recently purchased a set of 4 Pirelli Zero 275/40ZR20s for my SRT8 for $357 shipped. No repairs, 5022 DOT and the tread was over 9.5/32. My friend just ordered 4 275/55/20s for his truck for $188 shipped.
I've bought used tires before, but not sight unseen. I think topfuel's advice is good: request tread depths and age codes if they don't post them. Also ask if any repairs (patches or plugs) have been made, and where on the tire they are. If they'll send you a pic of any repair spots, even better.
PS - I didn't realize United Tire has it's own site. Thanks, topfuel!
I put a set of General G-Max RS's on my vert last year and I'm quite happy with them. They were about $930 out the door with all fees and taxes from Discount Tire. Most of the reviews I've read on them were pretty positive. They are quiet and seem to grip well although I will admit I don't push it to the limit. Seen a few verts upside down on my days on the road and it typically isn't pretty and I have no intention to add a roll bar. I'm thinking about swapping them over to the ZO7 for a while and see how they do with a more rowdy approach.
Came to ask this question, this thread seems like a place to ask. What about used tires? I have had good luck with getting them off forum members over the years but just now resurrecting my car from a 5 year sit. I would rather have used Michelin Pilot than a new cheaper brand tire. Problem I'm seeing as I look around the net is no one is posting the tire age. My tires currently are about 12 years old and they hold air, look good, but we all know they aren't.
Any suggestions since I see nothing posted for sale in the 275/40 zr17?
There is only one situation in which is buy a used tire. I need 1 tire, and the other 3 are high quality tires that have most of their life left. Theyr usually not significantly cheaper than new and 9 times out of 10 I would rather a new tire that's a little lower end brand than a used higher end tire.
Truth be told, the difference in performance and quality between high end brands and mid tier and low end brands is slimming dramatically and quickly. A cheap tire has NEVER been better or closer in performance to a high end one than now.
It's also worth remembering how much tire tech has improved in the last 10 years. Let alone since these cars were new nearly 30 years ago at a minimum. A mid range all season performance tire in the 500ish treadwear rating is likely all the tire that even a semi aggressive c4 driver would ever use. A cheap summer tire is probably more grip than 98% of C4s can even handle nowdays. If you're on your original rubber bushings, stock or OEM replacement shocks, etc... Any summer tire isn't gonna be your weak link.
I have both riken raptors (OEM staggered 17” sawblades) and conti extremecontact sports (18” 10.5 wide square).
I like the rikens, they do exactly what I expect them to do. I don’t expect them to be the most grippy tires, but they do the job safely (much safer than old tires). I will say their cold + wet performance is not great but again I stay within in their limits/know their limits and have had no issues. Wouldn’t hesitate to buy again if not wanting to do track… these are now my “off season” wheels/tires. I have driven very aggressively on these (IMO) and never felt uncomfortable or unsafe.
I don’t have many miles on the contis but I can tell a pretty big difference..super grippy when wet too which is nice (tried to break the rear loose a little in the rain and they wouldn’t budge!). Definitely more lateral G…but I’m also running 2 inch wider fronts so that would make a difference too… so this is not apples to apples (the staggered setup would “push”/understeer under sustained sharp turning). If I try to kick the rear end out it might slip slightly and then it grabs again…it definitely seems to oversteer now at the limit which makes sense…the rikens I can blip the throttle from a stop into a turn and keep it sideways with ease if I want, the contis I’d really have to work it I can tell.
Truth be told, the difference in performance and quality between high end brands and mid tier and low end brands is slimming dramatically and quickly. A cheap tire has NEVER been better or closer in performance to a high end one than now.
It's also worth remembering how much tire tech has improved in the last 10 years. Let alone since these cars were new nearly 30 years ago at a minimum. A mid range all season performance tire in the 500ish treadwear rating is likely all the tire that even a semi aggressive c4 driver would ever use. A cheap summer tire is probably more grip than 98% of C4s can even handle nowdays. If you're on your original rubber bushings, stock or OEM replacement shocks, etc... Any summer tire isn't gonna be your weak link.
I agree with you that tires in general have improved a lot over the years. I don't agree about cheap tires being closer in performance to good ones, though. In fact, I'm not sure the gap hasn't actually grown. For example, a really good UHP all-season tire like the Michelin PS All-Season 4 (540 treadwear) will beat a shitty UHP summer tire like the Nitto 555 G2 or even the Sumitomo HTR Z5 on a warm road, wet or dry. To some extent you do get what you pay for, especially when quality is added in along with performance.
That said, there are tires that punch above their weight when cost is factored in. The Rikens are like that. The Continental EC Sport 02 is a performance match for the Michelin PS4S (not available in this size) in every way and yet costs less. There are some uber-expensive Pirellis that aren't worth a damn, too. So you really have to see legit test data and/or try them in a setting where you can really test their limits.
04-06-2023, 03:26 PM
Today's 275/40-17 On a Budget. Which one?
