17" street tire recommendations

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Greasyfingers

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I just got new wheels for my 66 barracuda, so now it's time to purchase the tires. My plan is to run 225/45/17 in front and 245 in the rear. There are so many tire brands I've kind of got lost. I have no plans for any high spirited driving, so a good streetable tire should do.
 
What kind of driving will you be doing?

How much horsepower are you pushing? How is the suspension set up (torsion bar size, sway bars, shocks, etc)? Will the car see wet weather? How cold? How many miles a year do you drive the car?

The sizes you’re looking at have lots of options, everything from tires that carry a mud and snow rating to DOT rated track tires and everything in between. You could run all season touring tires guaranteed for 50k miles, but if you only drive a couple thousand miles a year they’ll “time out” before they wear out. Or you could run super soft “extreme performance summer” tires with a 200 tread wear rating that’ll handle on rails, but if you’re driving 10k miles a year you’ll wear them out in a couple years or less. And if you drive in cold or wet weather they won’t be great and they’re more expensive.

Really depends on how you use the car.
 
I haven't got to try them out yet but I just got some Firestone firehawk Indy 500. They were highly rated and I got a good local deal on them so figured I'd give them a shot. Worth a look.
 
I have 225/45/17 & 235/45/17's on my 66 valiant. I put Raptor's on mine, have a few hundred miles on them now with no complaints.
drives so much nicer than the 205/60/15's that were on it. 1.03 bars up front, ss 2800lb springs on the back ( they were free and new ) really like it.
will be adding some sway bars on it once funds allow.
 
Like blu said, it really depends on the use. Are you looking t get year around diving and life out of them or max grip at the cost of wear?

Some tires are like brake pads, they need to get hot to operate in their performance efficiency range.

I like Yokahama, Nitto, and Toyo. Currently have BFG Sport Comp-2's on my GTS but I have about 1 mile one them, if that.
 
What kind of driving will you be doing?

How much horsepower are you pushing? How is the suspension set up (torsion bar size, sway bars, shocks, etc)? Will the car see wet weather? How cold? How many miles a year do you drive the car?

Suspension is relatively stock, just lowered a bit. Stock 273, so not a lot of horsepower. Fair weather driving, cruising the hills to the coast and an occasional 22 mile commute to work.
My last experience with tires on this car involved a slide and spin into a hill side when deer jumped in front of me. I have since upgraded to later model dart disc brakes and now want tires that grip better than the 14" garbage that was on it.
 
If the driving will be under mostly dry conditions, I’d run the Firehawk Indy 500’s. They’re almost always the top rated tire in their category on TireRack, they’re a summer performance tire though so they won’t be quite as good in the wet as an all season.

https://m.tirerack.com/tires/tires....R7FHI5XL&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes

But the tread wear is decent, and the ratings and TireRack testing and reviews are awesome. They’re what I would run if they came in the sizes I use.
 
Thanks for all the input. It gives me a good direction on what tires I should be looking at.
If this were for off-road tires I'd have them ordered already. I have way more experience equipping Jeep's and bronco's, than cars.
 
wow, that is a wide tire in front. Are you sure it will fit? I assume no front sway bar?

I have 215/45 and at almost full clock I rub. I do believe 245 will fit in back, I have 235/45. Please sure how that works
 
wow, that is a wide tire in front. Are you sure it will fit? I assume no front sway bar?

I have 215/45 and at almost full clock I rub. I do believe 245 will fit in back, I have 235/45. Please sure how that works
It's close, but it doesn't rub. I had a junk 17" wheel with a 225 that I used to figure what backspace I was going to run. I have lots of room in back for the 245.
 
I run 225/45/17s on the front of my 66 Cuda with a Helwig bar, no rubbing at all. 245/45/17s on the back and no rubbing there either.
 
hmm, I am running the hellwig 55914 up front My wheels are 4.25" back space. What bs are you and greasy running
 
The fronts are 7" wide and I believe they are 4.5" back spacing. Small bolt wheels as well, I think the big bolt conversion that you may have moves the wheels out about 1/4", should give you more clearance. Are you running an 8" wide wheel?
 
Finally pulled the trigger on tires. Due to a financial hit to I my budget had to reexamine which tires to purchase. The recommendations gave me an idea of what I should be looking for. I really liked the firestones and the nittos, but became out of my price range.
I looked at the raptors. They got a decent review, but looked too much like a tuner car tire for my taste.
I end up with the Sumitomo HTR A/S. The price was right for my budget and the reviews seemed pretty good. With the 225/45/17 mounted 25mm offset wheels in the front I have lots of clearance. I could have possibly even went to 245's all around.

IMG_20190901_143910092.jpg
 
Finally pulled the trigger on tires. Due to a financial hit to I my budget had to reexamine which tires to purchase. The recommendations gave me an idea of what I should be looking for. I really liked the firestones and the nittos, but became out of my price range.
I looked at the raptors. They got a decent review, but looked too much like a tuner car tire for my taste.
I end up with the Sumitomo HTR A/S. The price was right for my budget and the reviews seemed pretty good. With the 225/45/17 mounted 25mm offset wheels in the front I have lots of clearance. I could have possibly even went to 245's all around.

View attachment 1715394020
Nice Cuda there, with the 17's and tires filling up the wheel wells it just looks "right":thumbsup:
 
Finally pulled the trigger on tires. Due to a financial hit to I my budget had to reexamine which tires to purchase. The recommendations gave me an idea of what I should be looking for. I really liked the firestones and the nittos, but became out of my price range.
I looked at the raptors. They got a decent review, but looked too much like a tuner car tire for my taste.
I end up with the Sumitomo HTR A/S. The price was right for my budget and the reviews seemed pretty good. With the 225/45/17 mounted 25mm offset wheels in the front I have lots of clearance. I could have possibly even went to 245's all around.

View attachment 1715394020
Looks great! Love the color of the car and the wheels work will with it.
 
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