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EnergyFX · 07-27-2004, 09:30 PM

So I have been running Firestone Firehawk SS20s for nearly 4 years now. 275/60/15 on the rear mounted on 8 1/2" rims. Always seemed to think they did pretty good. Good looks, good traction, nice handling. Never could do a full burn out on them, even with 3.73 gears. Didn't seem to be for lack of power, the car just honestly accellerated so fast that it would catch up with the tires about early to mid 2nd. Best 60' time on them was a 1.90 with quite a bit of tread. They were finally getting worn and there was very little tread left. I watched my 60' times climb up to 2.20 but I was still getting good acceleraton on asphalt burn outs.

I recently bought a set of wheels from a member of this board and he had a set of hardly worn BFGoodrich T/A Radials 295/50/15 on 10 inch rims. Mind you the 50s are about 1 1/2 inches shorter than the 60 series Firestones. Still, with the extra width I was expecting a noticible improvement in traction.

WRONG!!! Much to my surprise these BFGs get WAY less traction than the near bald Firestone Firehawks did. I noticed the loss of traction instantly! Comming out of the neighborhood I got on the gas a bit like I often do and the back end quickly let go and gave a bit of a fishtail. I proceeded to my usual "tuning" location, an industrial road with only one access and little to no traffic after hours, to do a "proper"

traction test on the tires. From a dead stop I hit full throttle... I wrapped through first gear much faster than usual... shifted into second and was quite surprised at how fast the RPMs continued to climb... and climb... and climb... OK, time to shift again... I hit 3rd and the RPMs continue to climb... 3500-4000-4500-5000... JEEZ, WTF!!! looked at the Speedo, yup over 100 mph... 5500 rpms, time to let off! Let the tires grab and I was only going about 40 mph or so.

I can understand the 1 1/2 inch difference in tire diameter making a bit of a diference in the tire to asphalt ratio vs. the Firestones, but damn!!! The Firestones were almost bald and nearly an inch and a half more narrow on the contact patch!!! Could the Firestones simply be that much better of a tire?

I'm hoping to hit the strip again next Friday to see what kind of 60' times I get now, but the way it's acting right now, I'm going to have to get reaquainted with my launch all over again.

EnergyFX · 07-27-2004, 09:30 PM

So I have been running Firestone Firehawk SS20s for nearly 4 years now. 275/60/15 on the rear mounted on 8 1/2" rims. Always seemed to think they did pretty good. Good looks, good traction, nice handling. Never could do a full burn out on them, even with 3.73 gears. Didn't seem to be for lack of power, the car just honestly accellerated so fast that it would catch up with the tires about early to mid 2nd. Best 60' time on them was a 1.90 with quite a bit of tread. They were finally getting worn and there was very little tread left. I watched my 60' times climb up to 2.20 but I was still getting good acceleraton on asphalt burn outs.

I recently bought a set of wheels from a member of this board and he had a set of hardly worn BFGoodrich T/A Radials 295/50/15 on 10 inch rims. Mind you the 50s are about 1 1/2 inches shorter than the 60 series Firestones. Still, with the extra width I was expecting a noticible improvement in traction.

WRONG!!! Much to my surprise these BFGs get WAY less traction than the near bald Firestone Firehawks did. I noticed the loss of traction instantly! Comming out of the neighborhood I got on the gas a bit like I often do and the back end quickly let go and gave a bit of a fishtail. I proceeded to my usual "tuning" location, an industrial road with only one access and little to no traffic after hours, to do a "proper"

traction test on the tires. From a dead stop I hit full throttle... I wrapped through first gear much faster than usual... shifted into second and was quite surprised at how fast the RPMs continued to climb... and climb... and climb... OK, time to shift again... I hit 3rd and the RPMs continue to climb... 3500-4000-4500-5000... JEEZ, WTF!!! looked at the Speedo, yup over 100 mph... 5500 rpms, time to let off! Let the tires grab and I was only going about 40 mph or so.

I can understand the 1 1/2 inch difference in tire diameter making a bit of a diference in the tire to asphalt ratio vs. the Firestones, but damn!!! The Firestones were almost bald and nearly an inch and a half more narrow on the contact patch!!! Could the Firestones simply be that much better of a tire?

I'm hoping to hit the strip again next Friday to see what kind of 60' times I get now, but the way it's acting right now, I'm going to have to get reaquainted with my launch all over again.

Scarebird · 07-27-2004, 09:42 PM

My only set of BFG's were garbage- could not give me another set...

EnergyFX · 07-27-2004, 09:49 PM

BTW.. I believe the Firestone Indy 500 replaced the Firehawk SS20. They are available in 295/50/15s. I will have to give them a try when these BFGs are spent, but that shouldn't be for a while.

T/A 70 · 07-28-2004, 07:21 AM

The only reason I use the T/A's is for looks/era correctness. They're wide and flat and like to spin. Pretty smoke tho...don't ya think?

68GTOConv · 08-19-2004, 10:02 PM

Digging up an older post! I've had a few "tire experts" tell me how crap the BFG Radial T/A's are since I bought my GTO a few days ago. I realize they probably aren't the best tire out there, but they just match the car so well. It just looks like it should, and a little tire spin behind this 455 tends to put a smile on my face anyway. These are 295/50/15 rears on a 10 inch rim. Pic in Sig.

Mike M

462conv68 · 08-20-2004, 09:31 AM

Glad to hear this as I am getting the firehawk indy 500s installed as I type. After installing new springs and shocks my tires needed to be replaced as they looked too small and you could see the air in the rears. I went from 215/6015 in front to 225/70/15 and from 225/60/15 in rear to 275/60/15. hopefully the 2 inch gain will not have a adverse effect on the launches.Hopefully I can get them to hook up.

PMDRACER · 08-20-2004, 06:05 PM

As much as I like BFGs, I do have to admit the Radial T/As lack in the traction department.

But... You guys also need to remember the Radial T/A is not a 'performance' tire. It's BFG's version of a regular grocery-getter tire. In that class, the Radial T/A shines.

I'm guessing the Firehawk Indy 500s would compare more with the Comp T/A or the g-Force T/A.

I will say though I have a set of Kelly Charger SRs on the '71 right now. I've hated them since the day they were put on the car. Worst set of tires I've ever bought for any car.

mike nixon · 08-20-2004, 06:51 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by PMDRACER:

I will say though I have a set of Kelly Charger SRs on the '71 right now. I've hated them since the day they were put on the car. Worst set of tires I've ever bought for any car. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

this has been my experience with every set of firestones that have been thru this household. belts shifting/ breaking, poor wear [truck] ,ect.

they do make good "starters" for brushpiles tho.

my experiences,

mike

PMDRACER · 08-20-2004, 11:57 PM

Firestone almost lost the entire kitty over those 721s. You think the recent rash of failures was bad, check the Internet about the lawsuits from the 721 failures. Good thing for Firestone that 20 years ago lawyers weren't like they are today.

thunderjet · 08-22-2004, 11:04 AM

who actually makes bf goodrich tire's? i remember seeing on the news once that they were actually just a trade name leased or sold to another company.

claypoolxx · 08-23-2004, 11:11 AM

I believe that Michelin makes them now. I have a friend who is an engineer at Goodrich and he mentioned that they were changing the name of his company somewhat because they dont want to be associated with the tire aspect anymore.

EnergyFX · 08-24-2004, 05:58 AM

Well here is the 60' time results on the full tread BFGs.

Best 60' for the night was a 2.33!! One thing about it though... the local track has really gone downhill in the past couple years I have been here. The new management refuses to put any money into the track. I don't think I saw them cook the launch surface all friggin night!

Still... the bald Firestones were cutting a 2.2 under the same conditions @ nearly 2 inches more narrow and well over an inch taller tire.

My conclusion... I shouldn't be drag racing with street tires anyways... so I need to quit being cheap and go buy some slicks to race on and get my 60' down in the 1.5 range and just use the BFGs as "fun" spinning tires on the street (how's that for a run-on sentence!!). I have to agree that having an easy spinning tire for normal driving is pretty fun.

autoholic79 · 08-24-2004, 06:55 AM

I have the Radial T/A's on my Formula and they look great, no problems with traction yet either... oh, wait I have a 301
well they look good anyway

462conv68 · 08-25-2004, 07:02 AM

I love my new Indy 500s. Great traction handle and look great also.

My 2002 avalanche had Firestones on it.When I turned my lease in at 50000 miles still had good tread and handled pulling a 10000 lb boat. Never had a problem even busted a rim with one on a curb. Just pulled it off put it on the new rim.

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