Cooper, Yokohama, Goodrich?
- Thread starter Rapid
- Start date
mfp4073
Founding Member
I had a lot of problems with coopers coming apart on me about 10 years ago. This was before the SUV roleover issue and the dealers would not replace them as defective. BFG are hard and get great mileage for the price.
zookeeper
Founding Member
Better be careful recommending BFG's, I did a while back and was told how horrible they were in wet weather. Funny thing is, I live very near the Oregon border, where it rains more often than not, and the guy telling me how bad they were lived in Texas, I think. Hmmm, who do you think has more wet weather? IN all seriousness, I've run Radial T/A's on my wife's '69 Corvette and Euro T/A's on my '68 with zero problems ever. I'd buy them again in a heartbeat.
mfp4073
Founding Member
I didnt say they were good wet weather tires....only that they were hard and had good life. Coopers were just as hard and nearly killed me several times over.
zookeeper
Founding Member
Really? Man, I can't believe all the people that have said that same thing about various brands of tires. Over the years, I've driven in wet weather about as much as anyone, and I've never owned a set of tires that I felt were dangerous in the rain. My '88 GT is a little squirmy in the rain regardless of tire selection, but that's because of it's stiff suspension, but it's still far from a death trap. By comparison, my wife's Corvette corners like it was rails, even in the wet with T/A's on it. But it's sprung a touch softer (especially in the rear).I've also ridden sportbikes in the rain more than once and I've noticed the people that drop their bikes in the rain are usually pretty rough at the controls. Hard stops, abrupt turns, ect are a big cause of crashed bikes in the wet or dry, just like cars. Like I said before, I'd bet I drive in the rain about as much as anyone, and haven't have any hairy moments that I didn't cause, maybe I'm just lucky.
65ShelbyClone
Founding Member
I had 14" Torque Thrusts on my '65 notch with Radial T/As and they were a REALLY durable tire. I put about 10k on them before selling and they still had at least 80% tread left. They can be slick in the rain, but if you take it easy they are just fine. The only time I had a slick scare was in a warm cloudburst. The oils on the road hadn't washed away and it was really slick. I just spun across an intersection and then backed off. Another time I drifted across some frost, but how many tires actualy stick to ice?
zookeeper
Founding Member
That's pretty much all I was saying as well. My thinking is that you can only ask so much from a tire, period. If you want a rain-only tire, it's so soft it won't last in the dry, same as road-race tires. Super-sticky dry pavement tires suck in the wet due to half-depth tread. But I think any DOT-approved, all weather tires (no, not drag radials or pro-street tires) are safe. I remember when I rode sportbikes, I used to hear some of the more squidly riders talking about how they really need a super soft, sticky set of tires. Then you look at the wear pattern of the tires on their bike and only the center of the tread was worn at all since they were afraid to even lean the bike over to use what they had. Same with most, if not all vintage Mustangs. We have primitive suspension, flexy-flier chassis and yet I remember one guy in particular talking at a local show, telling everone who'd listen how he had to put 17" Z-rated tires on his fastback because it just wouldn't handle with anything less. Yeah, right. Nevermind they rubbed pretty bad in the front, he was stylin'...
65ShelbyClone
Founding Member
Let alone the fact that all the original Trans-Am Mustangs were going faster on 15" bias-ply tires than he ever would on 17" radials.
zookeeper
Founding Member
Amen to that, brother! I went to the Monterey Historic Races in '03 and you'd be flat out amazed at the speeds generated by "old" cars on "out-dated"bias ply, 15" tires! I stood next to the fence near turn 11, which leads onto the main straight at Laguna and I can tell you this much, for heavy cars with small brakes (by today's standards) and hard, narrow rubber, they flat-ass got it on, both on the brakes and on the gas! I remember one '70 T/A Mustang in particular that was soooo smooth on the brakes and got back up to speed in a huge hurry, giving the big-block Cobras fits in one of the open practice sessions. What most of today's street guys don't realize is that big wheels were devoloped to accomodate big brakes on race cars. They had to have small sidewalls to keep the overall diameter the same. The big wheels were NOT developed to aid traction in any way. Tire compounds were (are) so good that a little traction can be given up without too noticeable a loss. Nextel Cup cars use narrow, 15" wheels and they seem to do ok as well. Street guys being what we are, we copied the big-wheel thingie to absurdity as can be seen any Saturday on "Pimp My Ride".
65ShelbyClone
Founding Member
I just saw the Vintage Auto Racing Association's last round here at Willow Springs a few weeks ago when they did the Ford vs. Chevy Challenge. There was a pile of '65-66 GT350s running what looked like Hoosier-type slicks and they were keeping up with the bigblock 'Vettes. All of them were just slightly sliding around the turns and I even have a '65 notch on video trying to dive under a 'Vette, but he ran out of road. I'm having fits trying to find 15x8 Vintage 48 style wheels for my '68. Everyone says to just get 16s, but I can't bring myself to go any larger than 15". 
S-Car-Go
Member
Can't speak to wet driving since I avoid it in the older cars, but I'll take Yokohama's over BFG's any day of the week. Cooper Cobras are slightly better than the BFG's also. This is based on dry roads though. I've had all three at one time or another. Personally I do appreciate a sticky tire even if it is only a 15". Finding them in our sizes is the trick.
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