Going to get new tires for a new 88.5 GTB. Looked at tire rack, and there’s lots of great options. What are people going with these days? thanks in advance. Andrew
The fronts are easy to get, there are far fewer options for the rears & that's what limits the choice overall. Michelin Pilot Sport 4 are by far the best option IMO.
Thanks for the quick response: tire rack has these: Michelin Pilot Exalto PE2 (Ultra High Performance Summer, 225/45R17) What We Liked: Excellent ride quality and relatively low level of tread noise What We’d Improve: A slight increase in steering response when driven at the limit Conclusion: A very refined performance tire that doesn’t leave much on the table Latest Test Rank: 1st Previous Test Rank: 1st (September ’04)
What's your use pattern? Summer weekend runs, or daily driver, or? Is it warm or cold where you are? I have found the Kumho brand a good combination of value and performance.
I enjoy spirited driving and I really like the Bridgestone RE71 RS’s. They have a great ride, grip well and aren’t noisy. I have an 88 GTS by the way.
Assuming you have standard wheels, that's the wrong size. You need 225/50 16 on the rear & 205/55 16 on the front. I've also used Pirelli P7 Cincuratos & they were OK but I think the Michelins are better You can check Michelin's website for dealers
I have driven on a lot of those and do not care for them. Have had the Michelins on our AMG, pretty good. The Continentals now, just OK. Have the Pirellis on the 328. It was a mistake. The Bridgestone look good but may not be great in the rain but generally have really liked Bridgestones. We have the BF Goodrich's on our TR because that is what was available when I needed them. They are cheap and better than tires twice the price. I love them rain or shine. Would happily put a set on the 328.
Some cool options. That is the size they spec, correct stock wheels. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I have been running Firestone Firehawk Indy 500's for the past few years. Fairly inexpensive and way better than the Pirelli's IMO.
Agreed. If you can get past the (arguably) hokey Indy 500 branding name, these are excellent tires, and cheap. In all other world markets outside the States, this same tire is sold with a Bridgestone sidewall for relatively big bucks.
100% Agree. Have them on my car and they're terrible. They tramline like crazy. I am constantly being pulled around and having to correct. Looking forward to replacing them.
Any current tire of the proper size/speed rating will outperform the car and far outperform the tires that were available in the 80's. There's a Firestone repair center less than a mile from our house so the current (two years old) set of tires on my 328 are Firestone Firehawk 500s!
Andrew: I just fitted a second set of the Michelin Pilot Exalto PE2’s to my 1988.5 GTB and am very happy with them. The previous set aged out after 10 years. I purchased both sets from TireRack. Very good traction, ride comfort and noise characteristics. No regrets at all. Good luck, Alan N.J.
I got into an online "discussion" with the proprietor of a classic and vintage tyre supplier about Pirelli P7 tyres that they had recently convinced Pirelli to remanufacture. The P7's were being promoted as the only tyres you should be fitting to your 328 if you want your car to be period correct, and it was being suggested that more modern tyres were not really suitable for the 328 because they weren't designed for the 328 confused I pointed out that the P7's weren't designed for the 328, and that in fact, due to Ferrari's F1 tyre supply situation at the time, the standard fit tyre for 328's were Goodyear Eagle NCT's, with Pirelli P7's being an option tyre for customers. I said that people have been fitting more modern tyres to their 328's for years and have had zero issues with them, and that the construction, material compound and tread designs more modern tyres will be superior to the construction, material compound and tread designs of both the Goodyear NCT's and Pirelli P7's from back in the 1980's. Another issue I noted, was that I could replace all four tyres that came with my 328 (14 year old Pirelli's), with Michelin Pilot 4's, for less than the price of just two of their Pirelli P7 front tyres. When I concluded that that meant I could get 4 tyres, with a more modern construction, material compound and tread design than the Pirelli P7's, for over half the price, it was revealed that the remanufactured P7's are being made with a more modern construction and material compound, and that they only retain the original P7 tread pattern - So I said that they're basically a modern tyre then, with an ancient tread design, that costs twice the price of other modern tyres! (which went down well ) The reality is: Ferrari 328's work perfectly well with modern tyres - I have no way of checking, but I genuinely believe that they will handle and brake better with good quality modern tyres than they did on the Goodyear NCT's and Pirelli P7's "back in the day". If looking "period correct" is important to a 328 owner, then the remanufactured Pirelli P7's would be the way to go, but they aren't cheap, and they're hardly likely to perform any better than other less expensive but known brand modern tyres (they may even perform worse due the age of the tread design) If looking "period correct" is of zero interest to the owner, there is absolutely no reason whatsoever to pay the extra money for the Pirelli P7 - Tyres such as Michelin Pilots or Continental Contacts will do the exact same job or better, for half the money.
Yeah, I have often found the "Pirelli for that OEM look" thing to be really strange - at least for the 328s - since they came with Goodyears. When I bought my 328 in '08, Goodyear F1's were still available so I installed a set of those. But subsequent tires have been several different brands. For street use I never noticed any real performance difference between any of them.
328 came with the Goodyear Eagle, a very different tire from the NCT. The NCT was the tire used on the QV and was not particularly good. The Eagle on the other hand was a very good tire and would compare well to many modern tires. Also it is a mistake to say the P7, the XWX or any other resurrection of an old design is the same as produced back in the day. They all benefit from a number of later developments like materials and rubber compounds. No one is making up special batches of 60's or 50's compounds. My own 328 has had modern name brand tires that were absolute greasy garbage compared to the Eagles. Just because its modern and made by one of the major companies does not make it a superior tire.
My apologies for getting the exact Goodyear tyre model incorrect (still wasn't designed for the Ferrari 328 as was being suggested, and it was only the standard tyre because Goodyear were Ferrari's F1 tyre supplier at the time - They didn't select it because it was the most superior tyre available) So in your opinion, the 1980's Goodyear Eagle was a superior tyre to the modern Michelin Pilot 4 / Pilot 5, or the Continental contact series of tyres?
Did I say or imply any of that? Please reread my post and do try to understand it with your remedial language skills. You seem to have completely missed the point. Also the Pilot 4 that is available (no Pilot 5 that I can tell) is the all season version. Have had them on our AMG and hardly what I consider a performance tire. Michelin advertising seems to be attaching the Pilot name to everything for sales purposes. Same with the Continental. Not much of a tire in my experience based on the ones we currently have on the AMG.
