Performance Tires

[MrZero30]

Hi guys!I am planning to upgrade the tires on my 2002 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. I am currently looking at Toyo Tires Proxes 1. Is anyone familiar with it?

[MP81]

Their other Proxies series tires always seem to perform well. There was a set (I believe T1Rs) on the LP560-4 I drove last year and I was plenty happy with how those worked



Ultimately, what do you like to do with the car? Normal driving, drag racing, autocrossing, etc.

[ktl711]

Depends on what you plan to do with your car -- JoeliusZ28 might have some things to say about the best tires for autocross, and others might have some input about tires for the track. But for all-around street high performance tires with the highest ratings on TireRack.com plus great comfort, look no further than the Michelin Pilot Sport. You will pay through the nose for them, but you will fall in love with them and you'll settle for nothing less in the future. A very good tire for less money is the Continental ExtremeContact DW. In Vegas, you should have no issues with the tires getting cold, but if you for example drive up into the Sierra Nevadas for very long and the tires get a long soaking in the cold, they will be prone to cracking in the sidewalls. It's a known issue, and the tire even comes with a warning to keep them stored within a set temperature range. I had plenty of tread left on my last set on Conti's, but they got exposed to cold a couple too many times and they developed fatal sidewall cracking. This is not an issue with the Michelins.

[pferris]

I was very happy with my pilot super sports, although if you have 17's Im not sure they make one to fit. Also they have been upgraded to the Pilot sport 4s, which sounds like an improvement in every way over what was the best tire. I was pretty good about forgetting what I paid for the tires, so I would buy them over again.

Edit: I bought them shortly after nearly hitting a concrete wall at freeway speed because of some rain

[MP81]

Yes, the PSS is an excellent performance tire without the "on-the-edge" feeling (loud tread, rougher ride) of the Extreme Performance Tires (PSS and PS4S are considered Max Performance) and the 4S is supposed to be even moreso. My buddy runs them on his '11 5.0 and loves them to death.

That said, I have Direzza ZIIs on the Cobalt, which are the aforementioned "Extreme Performance", and the tread growl (when I first got them) was louder than some A/T tires - but they are absolutely outstanding in terms of the level of grip they provide - dry or wet. But I think the PSS/PS4S are an easier tire to live with if you like to have hearing.