any truth to this idea about flat tires??

[jetuomi]

I've had two sets of z-rated tires, no flats or blowouts.
but for 3 months I had a set of 180km/h rated (can't remember the letter) and the rear blew out on me..

with my moms car, she gets flats once a year.

Is this because the z-rated have thicker sidewalls, stronger steel belts, and generally can handle more abuse??

I've always wondered about this, why you never see vettes and stangs, etc on the side of the road, but mainly corolla's and tempo's....

[Mr 5 0]

I don't have any hard evidence to support that contention but logic tells me that a stronger tire (Z-rated) will hold up better than a tire rated for lower speeds.

I suppose manufacturer quality standards are a factor (think Firestone Wilderness and ATX tires) as is usage. Consistant high speeds on a 112 mph-rated tire would probably stress it more than it would on a 150 mph-rated tire, thus leading to possible frequent blowouts.

I've always had V or Z-rated tires on my Mustang and have never had a blowout and only one flat in 12 years.

[Crazy Horse GT]

on the other side i have had 3 blowout's in one year, with the goodyear eagle zr rated junk, they last one cost me over 8,000 buck's in damage, no i wasnt running fast, so im changing them to khumo's , goodyear will not back a 17 or up tire, the small sidewall's & they are soft as ---- , so i hate to buy rice tire's, but the 2 khumo's have been fine, harder sidewall

[father joe]

I am so broke right now I don't even buy new tires i had a set we pulled off my sisters' mustang which were brand new but my susepension is tweeked and after 6mo. i blew the front-driver and it wasn't pretty after that my brother scored me a set from ford where he works as pullofs and used one at a time on that wheel. lets just say i've had 4 blowouts in three weeks. i'll never do that again.

[Bake]

On the topic of tires. i have a few questions.
first off... is $300 CND for 4 Perelli P400 Pro touring tires good?

also my tires are 205's i only have the stock 2000 V6 Polished rims and have been told by some friends that its possible to but wider tires on without getting new rims to a certain extent, like to 215 or maybe even 225. any truth on this?

And last. I have heard of Re-Tredding tires.. to me this sounds like a strange and potentialy dangerous idea, but i dont know anything about the process so i am probably completely wrong. does anyone know the process and has anyone had any experience with it? i have been told and R "Radial" can be re-treaded. just curious as to what this is and if it works or if it causes problems.

[Stangrrr]

Originally posted by Bake
On the topic of tires. i have a few questions.
first off... is $300 CND for 4 Perelli P400 Pro touring tires good?

also my tires are 205's i only have the stock 2000 V6 Polished rims and have been told by some friends that its possible to but wider tires on without getting new rims to a certain extent, like to 215 or maybe even 225. any truth on this?

And last. I have heard of Re-Tredding tires.. to me this sounds like a strange and potentialy dangerous idea, but i dont know anything about the process so i am probably completely wrong. does anyone know the process and has anyone had any experience with it? i have been told and R "Radial" can be re-treaded. just curious as to what this is and if it works or if it causes problems.

$300.00 for the Pirelli's sounds like a excellent price providing that the tires are new/like new.

You could probably get 225's on your rims no probs.

I would go anywhere near retreads....

Check out the Greater Toronto Area Mustang Club site, it's for all types of Mustangs, V8, V6, old, new, etc etc.

GTAMC site

[Bake]

Thanks for the link Stangrrr. i filled out their join us form and im gonna tell a few people i know about it too.
Do you go on the rides or events they have?

[PKRWUD]

The speed rating of a tire is actually it's heat resistance rating, or how much heat it can handle, externally. This has very little to do with blow-outs. By far, the primary cause of 90% of tire blow-outs is caused by internal heat, usually created by running too low a tire pressure. This causes blow-outs on even the highest "speed" rated tires. Whether you spend $30 a tire or $300, if you run your air pressure below the recommended minimum, you run a high risk of having a blow-out. Unfortunately, tires with lower profiles are even more likely to have blow-outs, for two main reasons: first, the closer the rim is to the part of the tire that contacts the road, the higher the internal heat will be, and secondly, because the tire has much less "give", and if turned too fast, or upon the slightest bump of a rock or a curb, is likely to break it's seal.

Percentage-wise, high "speed" rated tires have a much higher failure rate, but you have to take into consideration the kind of driving they are often subject to.

As far as high dollar sports cars not getting flats, they get them all the time. The reason you don't see them on the side of the road very often is because the owner usually wants it off the road ASAP. If you had a Yugo and a 'vette on the side of the road with a flat tire on each, which one would you get home first?



Take care,
-Chris

[Crazy Horse GT]

why the yugo, of course so i could jump bridge's heheheh

[jetuomi]

hey pkrwud, thanks for the detaisl, that's what I was looking for..

and I'm glad to see that someone else HAS seen that MIDAS commercial !!! They do that shoot up here in good ol' canada..
by the way, what's that puppy got under the hood?? 1.2 litre??

[jetuomi]

hey Bake, I know a person here in Waterloo running 255 55 16's on the stock 16" rim (94 model) which I think is just as wide as your rim (16x7.5) so I wouldn't worry, cause he isn't worried...

[Stangrrr]

Hey Bake, here's a link to the GTAMC's message board..

GTAMC message board

I do go out to their events/meets all the time. Actually, there's a meet today at Hooter's at 3757 Keele (just south of Finch), that is, if it stops raining . If it's called off, the rain date is Sun Apr 21.

[jetuomi]

hey Ray, I sorta hope it is cancelled, that way I can make it there next week !!!!


have you pulled your car out yet??

[Unit 5302]

Hmmm....

I've never actually had a tire "blowout" on me without some sort of debris causing the problem. Usually within the first couple weeks I own my new tires I pick something up Get's kinda frustrating, but I've come to expect it. Heh, these new Nitto NT450 Extreme's I have seem to be bucking the trend.

As far as non debris related blowouts, my 195/70R14 tires on my 88 LX's were stressed much more from tire rollover during hard cornering. The sidewalls were scuffed significantly and they were beginning to develop large patch bubbles on the sidewall from damage. Those tires could have actually experienced a blowout had I kept driving on them.

My best piece of debris was picked up on some 195/60 HR15 Escort GT tires, I think that was the size anyway. A valve stem, yes, that's right. I picked one up right in the middle of the tire, core side in. The stronger belting didn't help me too much there, but I would agree with Mr. 5.0's theory that stronger is better when it comes to debris resistance.

Also worth noting is the way the car handles with a flat tire. Take a normal 205/70R15 tire and blow it out. There's going to be some MAJOR handling problems, and you'll likely know the tire is blown right now. On a high performance low profile tire, it's a lot harder to tell if the tire is low or flat. The extra strong belting and sidewalls mask the problem. It's important to check your air pressure on high performance tires because of that reason. It's hard to tell when they are down by looking, or driving. Too bad the tire can still tell as the inside belting will be destroyed in short order, and could potentially cause a catastrophic blow out.

On the technical issue of speed ratings, I thought it had to do with heat dissipation rates, not actual temperature ratings. The actual temperature the tire can endure is listed on the sidewall under Traction (AA, A, B or C) and Temperature (A, B, or C). Traction refers to wet road stopping ability, and temperature relates to resistance to high temperatures. Of course, Treadwear is also an issue. On a high performance tire with a softer tire compound you might see a treadwear of 180-220 (BAD), and on a touring tire, I've seen treadwear rating as high as 400. Treadwear isn't directly related to tire life expectancy. It's related to how fast the tire wears. On a tire with a deeper tread, a 300 treadwear tire might outlast a 320 treadwear tire with a shallower depth. As tire technology advances, you might find a higher treadwear tire like my Nitto NT450 Extreme's to be a better traction tire than the old 220 treadwear garbage Goodyear Eagle (gatorbacks). Here is a real question. Why in Kell's name does Ford still put the Eagle's onto the Mustang? The GT's rolling off the line are using a tire that was designed nearly 20 years ago, and came from the factory on my 1987 GT. Pathetic. The Eagle's have a horrible reputation for wet traction, and are mediocre at best when it comes to traction in the dry. Adding to that, they have horrible treadwear and life expectancies. With all the tire ruckus, you'd think they'd put a good tire on the GT, anyway.

Here is a breakdown.

P245/50 VR16 Traction A Temperature A Treadwear 300

P stands for passenger car (LT stands for light truck)
245 is the width of the tire in mm
50 is the aspect ratio, meaning the percentage of tire width that the tire is in sidewall. This tire has a 123.5mm tall sidewall.
V is the speed rating (149mph)
R stands for radial belted tire
16 is the rim size.

Traction A stands for the distance it took their test vehicle to stop in wet conditions. AA is best, C is worst.
Temperature A stands for how well the tire resists temperatures. A is best, C is worst.
Treadwear 300 based on their tests, a treadwear rating is given to the tire. In this case 300 would be okay. 400+ is excellent, 350-400 I'd probably consider good, 300-350 is okay, 250-300 is pretty poor, and below 250 is bad. Of course, those are just MY little brackets. The DOT just rates actual treadwear, it doesn't specify classes.

[silverv6]

I had a experience with a blow out before about 3 weeks ago i was driving back home from Los Angeles and I heard a pop in im car but i dint pay attention well 5 mins later my car started shaking from the back real bad I almost lost control of my car Like I was in the fast lane I got scared cus I thought I was goin to crash so i got out to the middle of the freeway but like I coulnt change the tire I had to wait for a bout 20 mins there so the freeway would clear cuz i had tried to get back on but the back was shaking to bad well at the end I finally had a empty freeway for a bout 3 or 5 mins and i got on the freeway and pulled over to the right. the tire that had completly blown out was the read drivers side I had 18" rims. Well now i put my stock rims back on because I dint have money to replace that tire $135 for a ZR tire so I put the stock rims back on and the tires are still new because I drove them just 100 miles at the beggining

[Stangrrr]

Jani - Yes, the Hooter's event is postponed (rained out) til this coming Sun Apr 21 . We still had the event for those who wanted to have lunch (still got ~20 cars!). I've had my car out many times now...

See you there Sunday? Check the GTAMC board, I think that there's a cruise to Hooter's from the K/W area or something....

[Ponycar_302]

I worked for Goodyear right after I got out of the military. I was only there for 3 months, so I'm no expert with tires; however, I do remember some of the training videos.

Vette's use a special tire by Goodyear. I don't remember the kind or size, but in '95 they cost $450 apiece. Vette's have some kind of sensor mounted on the inside of the rim which warns the driver of low tire pressure. The sidewalls of this particular tire are SUPER STRONG. They are designed so that they can be driven 200 miles with no air in them. These sidewalls prevent the owner from crushing the sensor on the rim.

[Unit 5302]

The Vette uses a Goodyear Eagle F1 "Run Flat" tire. It was setup with those tires because GM wanted more cargo space so when they ditched the spare, they need a tire that could be driven flat. The size of the tires also has a lot to do with the price, but even the standard F1's aren't exactly cheap.

I believe the run flat has a speed rating of 50-55mph when flat.