Z Rated vs V Rated Tires

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00gtconv

Founding Member

Oct 25, 2002

516

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0

Apr 22, 2004

#1

• Apr 22, 2004

• #1

I'm on my third set of Z rated tires at 66,000. Its starting to get a little old. I drive the car for a year and my tires are bald. I've spent some big bucks on Z rated tires and they dont hold up. I really dont care if they are a softer tread or can go 255mph; If I need to hook up I have slicks and If I want to go 255mph I'll jump out of a plane.

I just purchased some Mowhawk tires that are V rated. They were $100 bucks each, installed. They seem to ride very well (although I havent had them over 200mph, yea right!) and have a great tread desgin.

I anyone else happy(or not) with a non- Z-rated tire?

 

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FriscoGT

New Member

Dec 16, 2003

36

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Frisco, TX

Apr 22, 2004

#2

• Apr 22, 2004

• #2

Perfect timing.

I am getting ready to purchase a set of tires as well and was wondering the same thing. Do I get a set of 30K mile Z rated tires or for the same money get a set of H/V rated tires that will last 60K miles.

From talking to a few tire shops they say the biggest difference will be in cornerning and that the car will handle completely different. Have you noticed this at all?

 

White360RFnSwee

Founding Member

Nov 4, 2002

869

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West Palm Beach FL

Apr 22, 2004

#3

• Apr 22, 2004

• #3

the Z/V rating is speed, not wear.

The treadwear is what you should look for if you want a tire to last long.

 

chevylover

Member

Sep 27, 2003

190

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16

Castro Valley, CA originally St. James Missouri

Apr 22, 2004

#4

• Apr 22, 2004

• #4

00gtconv said:

I'm on my third set of Z rated tires at 66,000. Its starting to get a little old. I drive the car for a year and my tires are bald. I've spent some big bucks on Z rated tires and they dont hold up. I really dont care if they are a softer tread or can go 255mph; If I need to hook up I have slicks and If I want to go 255mph I'll jump out of a plane.

I just purchased some Mowhawk tires that are V rated. They were $100 bucks each, installed. They seem to ride very well (although I havent had them over 200mph, yea right!) and have a great tread desgin.

I anyone else happy(or not) with a non- Z-rated tire?

Click to expand...

What is the treadwear rating on the tires your replacing??
You don't usually find a Z-rated tire with to high of a number because their usually made a little stickier and wear out faster. But then again if your comuting at 150+ mph you might need a Z-rated tire. Nothing says you can't run an H or V rated tire at the track, the speed ratings are for sustained speeds not quick 1/4 mile runs.
I'm looking at my Hankook book for tires and I run the HRII H405's and the TWR is340 (A/A). Now comparing that H-rated to their Z-rated K-104's with a TWR of 280 (AA/A), I commute alot and don't need a Z tire. Plus alot of it is just hype, ooohhh your running a Z-rated, that's nice. Whatever, all that means is that you shelled out another $50-75 per tire and will be in the shop replacing them 30-40K miles before me.
I think the only time you'd have to run a Z tire is if it's under a 40 series and you run road courses alot, due to the constant cornering and heat build up.

 

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bjtheman

New Member

Apr 13, 2004

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Texas

Apr 22, 2004

#5

• Apr 22, 2004

• #5

My next set will be V-rated just to save a little cash and get more tread life...

 

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00gtconv

Founding Member

Oct 25, 2002

516

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0

Apr 23, 2004

#6

• Apr 23, 2004

• #6

Thanks

Thank for the feed back. I had the tires on the car for a few days now. I cant tell any difference; other than the extra weight in my wallet.

I really like this tire.

 

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FriscoGT

New Member

Dec 16, 2003

36

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Frisco, TX

May 21, 2004

#7

• May 21, 2004

• #7

00gtconv,

Any new thoughts on your tires now that you've been running them for a month or so now? I am going to purchase tires next week and am strongly leaning toward an H rated tire, specifically the BFG Traction TA which actually have a 60,000 mile warranty.

 

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tjm73

Founding Member

Aug 3, 2000

2,418

2

48

Rush, NY

May 21, 2004

#8

• May 21, 2004

• #8

FriscoGT said:

00gtconv,

Any new thoughts on your tires now that you've been running them for a month or so now? I am going to purchase tires next week and am strongly leaning toward an H rated tire, specifically the BFG Traction TA which actually have a 60,000 mile warranty.

Click to expand...

I'm getting Traction T/A's this weekend. Speed rating has nothing to do with tread wear. They're two different things.

Speed ratings are not really worth anything in the real world. They are rating for tire construction stability at sustained speeds. A quick burst above the rating will not hurt it. Top fuel slicks are not rated. They only see 300mph for a couple seconds at a time.

Now if we had the Autobahn and could drive at very high speeds for long periods, then they would be more valuable. When looking at tires, I look at the treadwear. Nitto Drag Radials are 100 treadwear, BDG Drag's are rated 000. I ran my BFG's for 2 summer's which was about 15,000 miles on my 90 GT. I hear Nitto's are usually good for about 20,000 miles.

 

pony_vert02

New Member

Mar 16, 2004

285

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AUSTIN,TX

May 21, 2004

#9

• May 21, 2004

• #9

try conti's:

 

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Phoenix00GT

New Member

Apr 26, 2004

245

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0

Bay Area, CA

May 21, 2004

#10

• May 21, 2004

• #10

If you are looking for great Z rated tires with very good tread-life the Goodyear Eagle F1s are the way to go.

If you tires are going bald after only a year you are either driving A LOT of miles or you aren't paying attention to correct maintenance schedules (rotation and alignment) and air pressure (the more air pressure you can run the better your tread-life will be and the worse your traction due to smaller contact patches).

I haven't had the Stang for long enough to know how it wears, but my Porsche got about 40,000 miles to a set of tires (and it was on road courses twice a month) and had a lot more power and a lot more aggressive camber than our Mustangs do.

 

StngStr

Member

Jun 24, 2003

616

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17

Central Florida

May 21, 2004

#11

• May 21, 2004

• #11

I just ordered BF Goodrich g-Force T/A KDWS all around. They are Z rated tires AND have a treadwear rating of 400 with a traction rating of A. Hopefully I'll get 50-60k miles out of these. So far I have 26k on the stock goodyears with another 5k left in them. Those only have a treadwear of 260.

 

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codyGT

New Member

Apr 11, 2004

365

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0

Nebraska

May 21, 2004

#12

• May 21, 2004

• #12

The BFG G-Force KDWS are awesome tires. They last a long time and are sticky as well. Not to mention the sidewalls on the G-Force tires are almost solid.

 

Bee Bop

Founding Member

Aug 21, 1999

682

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0

Temple, Ga

May 21, 2004

#13

• May 21, 2004

• #13

I currently have a set of Dayton Daytona ZRs on my stang. I currently have around 32,000 on them and there is still at least half the tread left. One feature I like is the rimguard they have. It is a bump out in the tire just above the rim that helps protect the rim from curb damage. I wish I had gotten them sooner, then I may not have gotten the curb rash on two of my rims.

Later,

Bee Bop