newbe60

thanks everyone for the advise on white letters in or out.. someone mentioned the bf goodrich were not that great of a preformance tire..was wondering if i should switch to cooper cobra's.. again copper has it with the bold white letters ..either in or out... the tires are going on my horizon blue 1960..these would be on the crager ss mag

thanks again for everyone's opnion..almost 50%- to 50% whether people like the bold white letters in or out

66427-450

of those 2 brands, i think you might be better off with the BFG, don't that make a "Touring" version of the Radial TA that is rated (speed rated that is) higher than the base "TA". Tip: always look for the higher speed rating.

PS: I always vote blackwall, for sure on a '60


[Modified by 66427-450, 2:29 PM 9/27/2003]

Plasticman

Frankly, I think his comment about BFG's being a lesser tire is not really correct. I have used them for virtually all of my vehicles, and have always marveled at their overall performance characteristics. Agreed, they are not supperior in any one catagory, but they are a terrific selection for both dry and wet weather (and M&S if you drive your Vette in those unlikely conditions). I use Comp T/As on my 87 Vette, but stuck with the "standard" T/A for my 62. Am very happy with ride and handling on both Vettes. If I was doing AutoX or Drag Racing, or more High Speed events, there are better tires, but for everyday usage and great looks (and great value/wear), I will stick with the BFG's. BFG makes a great Drag Race tire, but quick wear is a resulting fault.

If you want to try comparisons between various tires, go to http://WWW.TIRERACK.COM They have an area where you can compare any of the tires they handle.

Don't know if they handle Coopers, but they certainly handle most performance tires.

Good luck,
Plasticman

allanb63roadster

On all my other driver cars, I do prefer Cooper tires. I had a set of the Cooper Cobra radials on my wife's Cavalier Z-24 Convertible and they worked great, just wore them out.

I just replaced my ancient bias ply tires with new BFG Radial T/A tires on my 63 Convertible, and I'm delighted so far. I have 15 by 6 inch Cragars, and I went with the letters out. Sometimes looked a little too plain with the old black walls.

Not a good direct comparison because the bias ply tires didn't handle very well and always seemed lumpy. These are great, very quiet and smooth, and seem to handle very well, but we're talking a couple decades of improved technology too.

I went with the 215/70 by 15 standard radial T/A, speed rated as 'S', which is 112 mph. I don't plan on being at that speed (or higher) for very long, so they should be just fine.

They have good clearance all around and don't seem likely to rub anywhere.

I was also concerened with staying close to the original tire diameter used on my 63, which was 27.1 inches. The size I chose has a diameter of 26.9, which will keep the speedometer close to accurate, with a just slight error.

hope that helps

vettewine

I have Cooper Cobras on my '65 roadster and, at the time I bought mine, they could be ordered with or without the white lettering. I have the blackwalls with a raised outline of the "snake" figure which doesn't show up from a distance but looks "cool" up close and personal! I have put about 10,000 miles on them in the past 4 years and they still look great and perform fantastically on the road and at the strip! (only a couple of times at the strip, though!) The Coopers are/were used by the CA State Patrol for many years (and still may be...?) and I've had the BFGs separate at high speed on the deserts of CA, NV and AZ but never the Coopers (yet!)...
;) )


[Modified by vettewine, 1:04 PM 9/30/2003]


[Modified by vettewine, 1:04 PM 9/30/2003]

SWCDuke

Frankly I think both those tires are junk, and I don't personally care for the look of raised white letter tires, especially when they have some foolish "super jumbo cobra daytona wide oval" lettering - very tacky and low rent looking on a vintage Corvette IMO. Blackwalls or period white, gold or red sidewall treatment looks much better. My personal preference is just plain blackwalls.

If you want a quality high performance tire, the Z-rated 215/70R-15 Pirelli P4000 Super Touring is a good starting point.

If you have at least 6" wide wheels, preferably 7", and adequate fender clearance, the three V-rated 225/70R-15 police pursuit tires are good candidates, and two are available with narrow whitewalls.

Duke

vettewine

Duke...

Easy boy! I agree that blackwalls look the best unless you're going for the correct vintage whitewall or red/gold line, etc. Blackwalls is what I've got as you cannot even see the outline (all in black) of the cobra until you get up close! There is no white lettering on my tires at all and not everyone can afford Pirellis. Even so, the traction rating on my Coopers was better than the Pirellis at the time I bought them! I also don't think most of us need Z-rated (over 150mph sustained) on our vintage 'Vettes. I have H-rated which is 130mph sustained and is certainly more than adequate. Enough of the soapbox - time for a beer!
:cheers:

sams'66

Duke,
Who makes the Police tire?......Pirelli?

Thanks

Sam :confused:

vettewine

Sam...

I don't know if they still do but recently the CHP were still using Coopers and had for many years...
:flag

SWCDuke

The Pirellis cost $80 each from The Tire Rack. By today's standards this is a very moderate price and a real bargain for a Z-rated tire. Consider that a new set of tires for a current Z06 cost well over $1000 and are good for about 20K miles. If one can't afford 350 dollars to shod a vintage Corvette with tires that will last 40K miles or at least 10-15 years at typical mileage accumulation, they should sell it to someone who can afford decent tires.

You may not need a tire with over 112 MPH speed rating, but all H-and-above-rated tires have spiral wound nylon cap belts that will keep the tires from disintegating if there is an internal structural failure due to a defect or overheating from insufficient air pressure whether due to operator error or a slow leak. It's about SAFETY MARGIN more than how fast you plan to go. Tires without the nylon cap belts are JUNK, JUNK, JUNK!!!

Current tire performance standards are over 30 years old and totally inadquate for today's driving conditions. Nylon cap belts are the best insurance you can buy. What's your car worth? What's your life worth and the lives of your family and friends who ride with you? If SUV tires had nylon cap belts over 200 people would not have been killed and many more injured when the junky tires had tread separations. Poor driving skills certainly contributed, but if the tires hadn't failed those people would still be alive.

The three police Pursuit tires are the Firestone PV 41, Goodyear Eagle RSA, and General XP2000V. The Firestone and Goodyear are available from The Tire Rack. I don't think they carry Generals, but the XP2000V can be ordered from any General Tire dealer.

If you are an NCRS member you received my full 4500 word treatment on how to select tires for you vintage Corvette in the last two issues of the Corvette Restorer.

Duke

vettewine

Whew! And I thought I had a soapbox...! Anyway, Duke is making a good point albeit in a roundabout manner and that is to buy the best tires you can afford and at least as good as an H-rating (BFG, Cooper, Pirelli or ?). He is right that you can't protect your car, yourself and your passenger with "cheap" tires! And I, for one, would not run my tires to the full warrantee period (i.e. 40K miles) on a classic car as, unless you put an inordinantly large amount of miles on your vehicle, you should replace the them before they're even half worn due to the time factor...

By the way, Cooper is one of only three U.S. manufacturers left and makes tires for many other so-called manufacturers.
:flag Go USA!