360 Tire Replacement

I have the Bridgestone's on my 360 Spider so I am interested in others replies as well.

I did have those Firestone Firehawks on a 2001 Corvette Z06 and while they were great in the rain they were extremely noisy. When I replaced them with the original Goodyear's I could not believe the reduction of road noise level.

 

I looked into Michelin pilot sport. I will likely get them. They were about 1200$ for the set of 4.

 

I have the Ventus V12 because the Bridgestones were backordered and heard the Pirellis are overpriced garbage. They seem to do well for a cheap tire and impress me with how smoothly they transition from sliding to hooked up, no sudden jerks (maybe it’s the car not the tire?).

I really wish you could buy MPSSs in the appropriate size though.

 

I've had the Hankook on mine for the past 6 years and they work fine for usual driving. I thought about the MPSS's but held off cause' price. Had another owner put the V12's on his 360 and he also really liked them.

 

Read this:

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/michelin-pilot-sport-4s.564311/#post-145679125

 

If you are willing to consider the hankooks, try the RS-4's, not the EVO 12's
The korean tyres are surprisingly good for max dry weather grip
really
!
The Michelin PSS4's are probably best choice, but I don't think they are available in "360 sizing".

 

I bought my Michelins from Tire Rack and had a shop put them on. Tires were about $900, to put them on about $137.

 

To me, tires are the most important replaceable component, as their character almost defines how the car rides, stops and handles. I will spend the premium for MP4S tires to get those superior qualities, including noise comfort. Overall, it’s a relatively small added cost, and it can take years before they wear out since I only drive the car on Point A to Point A fun drives.

But the frustrating thing is that all of the very best tires (such as the MP4S and MPSS) are not made in the exact 18” sizes specified for the 360. I don’t want to go to 19” wheels, and I don’t want any ASR or DSC problems.

Right now, I have Bridgestone RE-11 tires in the OEM sizes, and they’re still ok. Not too many heat cycles and tread is still good. They handle great, ride decently, are not too noisy, and have predictable breakaway. But they have been discontinued.

The Firestone Firehawk 500 at least looks similar in tread to the RE-11s, they come in the exact OEM sizes, and isn’t Firestone owned by Bridgestone? I may try those when it comes time.


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Evo 12's or the RS4s?

I'm about ready to dump the 2 year old Bridgestone RE-11s (a good, but heavy / old design tyre) to try the RS-4s ( a modern tyre).

cheers

Craig

 

I did the same thing Michelein Tire Super Sportd ordered from Tire Ravk and then I had Discount Tire Mount them for me.

 

I had a set of the v12's....put them on for a track day and left them on...had removed my Michelin ps3's. Hated the v12's. took them off and gave them to the tire shop. rougher ride, jerky and uncomfortable, and not as good a grip as my ps3's. That said, next set is the mpss's or mp4s
ps: friend slightly changed tire size to accommodate the mpss and hass no issues whatsoever.

 

I have had Michellin PSS on my 360 for about 3 years now. They are holding up fine and no complaints. When due for a change, my thought is give the Continental Extreme Contact Sport. I have 19" rims on my 360, and the fronts are 225/35-19 and rears are 285/35-19. A set of four from TireRack cost $883. The Hankook tires cost $706 and the Michelin PS4S cost $1079.

I checked with Consumer Reports, but they did not test the Continental tires in the Ultra Performance Summer tire category. They did test the Michelin PSS and the Hankook V12 ... the Hankooks came in with significantly lower marks than the Michelins.

In the Ultra Performance All Season category, they ranked the Michelin PS A/S tires as #1 with the Continental ExtremeContact DWS06 as tied at #2 with Pirelli P Zero. The Hankooks were down at #8 in their list. But, to be fair, the ranking scores were small margins.

I think that for my money, I would choose the Continental Extreme Contact Sport. I have had Conti's on several of my other cars and I have been very pleased. They are priced fairly and I doubt that that many of us (any of us even) would be able to tell the difference between Michelin and Continental tires.

Now all that said ... a set of four tires on most of our cars is likely to last 4 to 5 years unless you do a lot of tracking or abuse your tires. With Michelins costing $350 more than Hankooks for a set of four, that works out about $85 per year extra cost. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things.

Steve

 

My guess is those Firestone Firehawks will work just fine. I will go out a limb and state that the vast majority of drivers for the vast majority of time will never push themselves or their car to their ultimate limits. So people arguing that a specific tire is preferred for its ultimate handling capabilities or its dry track traction, etc., will never see those limits.

I like Consumer Reports as I trust they are less likely to influenced by manufacturers advertisiing and marketing. Also, most user reviews on tires are made by people who are likely unqualified to make the review. Here is what Consumer Reports says about the Firestone Firehawks vs. their top tire in that category:

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Top Tire ... Michelin PSS

• Score = 82
• Costs: $$$$
  
• Highs: Outstanding cornering grip, and excellent handling, dry braking, and hydroplaning resistance.
• Lows: Relatively high rolling resistance can impact fuel economy.

Firestone Firehawks

• Score = 74
• Costs: $$
  
• Highs: Excellent braking and handling on dry pavement.
• Lows: Few shortcomings.

Given the significantly lower costs, I believe you made a pretty good choice. the only area the Firehawks seem to have is that they may have higher propensity to hydroplaning ... so stay out of the rain.

Regards,

Steve

 

Will watch for your further report. I currently run Bridgestone RE-11s on OEM 18” wheels so to stay with stock sizes Firestone are one of few who still make them in the OEM sizes.


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Bringing this thread back from last year's graveyard. Robertpel9 is the only owner to recently review these tires here in the 360/430 forums. Just ordered the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 tires from Tire Rack. 225/45/18 front and 275/40/18 rear. They are going on my 18" Challenge wheels that I run on the street. $590 shipped, including sales tax and a $60 mail-in rebate that expires 7/8/19. I'll end up having them mounted somewhere locally for another $30/each but overall this is still a great deal.

 

What's hilarious is that both my Corvette and my Buick Regal cost more to replace tires than my Ferrari....

 

Double-checked the date codes and my current tires have tread but were made in 2013. As I don’t track this car anymore, and don’t drive it as much as I used to, whatever I put on the car next will likely age-out before they wear out. So I think that the Firehawks are the way to go. Any updates on how well they work? They would be replacing RE-11s, which have very similar tread patterns.


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Continental Extremecontact Sport tires are excellent choice. They cost bit more than than the Firestone’s but less than Michelin or pirelli

steve

 

Thanks but the only Continentals that come in OEM sizes are all seasons. After much consideration, I decided to use OEM sizes rather than change the handling balance by going to different sizes. If I was to go to alternative sizes, I’d go with PS4S.


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Got it. I have 19" wheels on my 360 so that is not an issue.

Steve

 

Ah. Thanks


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