I am beginning to think about putting new tires on my 1978 Pace. I am not planning on upgrading the tire size from stock ( P255/60R15 ). Are there any particular tire brands that people recommend?
It is not a parade car, and I like twistys so handling and speed on dry pavement is important to me. (I never drive the car in "weather", so wet traction is not really important to me.)
I like the sounds of the Firestone Firehawk SZ50 EP from a Corvette Fever article I read recently...
If you are looking for the best performing tires, I would recommend a set of "police pursuite tires". They are V-rated and available in 225/70R-15 and 235/70R-15 - Goodyear Eagle RS-A, General XP2000V, and Firestone Firehawk PV41.
Current 255/60s are only available in low speed ratings and hard compounds. I refer to them as "cosmetic performance tires".
I am ignorant. :withstupid: Can you explain to me what it would be the implication of having different tire sizes on? (225/70R-15 or 235/70R-15 verses my factory size P255/60R15 .)
- Obiously they are both on 15" rims, so I wouldn't have to buy new rims.
- These are thinner width tires, so I obiously wouldnt be extending past my fenders
- Would my speedometer be off?
Beginning in 1973 C3s were equipped with GR70-15s, which are speced at 760 revs per miles. In 1978 these were replaced with metric sized 225/70R-15s, which have the same revs per mile spec. Also in 1978, the 255/60R-15 became optional or standard on some models, and it runs at 775 revs per mile. As far as I know, speedometer gearing was not changed, so the 255/60s just added about two percent speedometer error, which is within DOT accuracy requirements. From '69 - '82 all C3 wheels - both the steel Rally wheels and optional aluminum wheels were 15" x 8" by -0.50" offset.
The 235/70R-15 is speced at 744 revs per mile, but consider that this will be reduced about two percent as the tread wears from new to the wear bars, so if they make your speedomenter read two percent low when new, it will become more accurate as the tires wear. The greater load capacity of 235/70s should improve handling slightly over the 225/70 size and you have plenty of wheel width and fender clearance to use this size.
Since 255/60s are only available in low speed ratings and high treadwear ratings (very hard compounds), I would highly recommend selecting from the available police pursuit tires if you are looking for the best possible handling characteristics. Contrary to popular belief, there is a lot more to tire performance than aspect ratio and width. The secrets of a tire's performance are in the detailed construction of the carcass and rubber compounds, which are not attributes that we can visually discern.
What do other pace car owners think... Do I take away from the value for my car by switching my tire size from factory? Although, I do not enter my cars in shows, so its not like I will be judged for having a different tire size.
I am leaning towards sticking with stock size, P255/60R15, and go with the Firestone Firehawk SZ50 EP. I never heard any replys, has anyone here tryied the Firestone Firehawk SZ50 EP?
The Firestone website does not show the 255/60-15 size for the SZ50 EP. I recall going through the same sort of thing when I had my 78 with the 255 tires. I woulnd up going with the tried and true Radial T/A's but they are not a true performance tires. The old Euro T/A used to be available in that size and was a "H"-rated tire but that size is gone too.
I did a search at Tire Rack for the tire size and came up with this result: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Compar...erformance=PAS
Looks like only the Dunlop and Yokohama have the highest speed rating available ("T). Check all the boxes and click on the "Compare" button to see the ratings. Hope this helps!!
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1978 Pace: Tire recommendations anyone?
