89 15 inch tires

gearhead77

Active Member
Mar 13, 2019
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Pittsburgh PA
About to pull the trigger on an all original 89 GT convertible. I want to keep it as close to stock as original. It has the original 15x7 "turbines" on it that are in good shape and I like the style of those wheels. The tires it has on it are decent but 10 years old and showing dry rot ( the original owner hasn't used it much in the past 10 years).

I see my options as this ( besides paying LMR $325/tire for original Gatorbacks!):

-If I want to stick to the turbines (which I prefer), I'll have to use an "off-brand" Asian tire from Nankang or something like that if I want the V speed rating. Not that I plan on running it to those speeds, but just for the fact a V speed tire should have the same handling characteristics as another V tire
- I can do a touring tire from Cooper, Falken, etc. with an H speed rating.
- As much as I love the turbine wheels, upgrading to 16" Pony wheels seems to be the best bet and going for 16" tires. But they aren't as distinctive as the turbines, but they do brighten the appearance of the car.

Really, my only objection to the Asian tires is that putting unfamiliar or off-brand tires on any car has never been my thing. And something about a Mustang wearing Nankang or Ohtsu tires seems off to me. But if I want to keep the stock look...

Any help and feed back on any 15" street tires you're familiar with is appreciated. Thanks!
 
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I'm in PGH and currently have Pony's on my 88 GT. I've been thinking about picking up some turbines, so if you want to trade yours for some Pony's with newer rubber let me know!

Good luck!
 
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Check in Puerto Rico, my friend grabbed some wide 13" tires over there and had them shipped back here, the size he wanted was not available in the states. Was not that expensive.
in reality how often you gonna run over 110 mph anyway, unless it's the tread design your try'n to match.
 
Check in Puerto Rico, my friend grabbed some wide 13" tires over there and had them shipped back here, the size he wanted was not available in the states. Was not that expensive.
in reality how often you gonna run over 110 mph anyway, unless it's the tread design your try'n to match.

That's an interesting idea, Puerto Rico. Not planning on running it that hard, but yeah, trying to match the tread and handling dynamics more than anything. Although, a current H rated touring tire could be just as good as a V rated performance tire from 30 years ago.
 
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I had cooper cobras on my convertible, 300 tread wear, and they didn't last 20k, I never drove the car aggressively most of those miles where highway miles, alignment was good too. I always thought they should have lasted longer. Not saying they are a bad tire just didn't last very long.
 
I had cooper cobras on my convertible, 300 tread wear, and they didn't last 20k, I never drove the car aggressively most of those miles where highway miles, alignment was good too. I always thought they should have lasted longer. Not saying they are a bad tire just didn't last very long.

They aren’t even available anymore, at least not in this size. I had a set of Cooper Zeons on my Mazda 5 and they were decent for what I paid for 205/50/16 with a W speed rating. I wish BFG made their Traction T/A in this size.
 
I put these on my turbines.
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tire...5HR5EAST&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes
Kumho Ecsta AST - Size: 225/50R15
IMG_0305.JPG
 
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now I've run General ( owned by Continental) Altimax RT43 tires on several cars and loved them
got at least 40-50K miles, great ride and grip in the rain and not expensive
They are on my 2013 Mustang, 2012 and 20017 Altimas
I may put them on my 86 Gt when the BFG's wear out
 
I decided on Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring. They are H speed rated and I’ve used Coopers before with decent results. I found them on Amazon for $77/tire, which is way cheap (usually $100/tire)

They won’t be as sporting as a V performance tire obviously, but for my needs, should be fine.
 
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